The Lions Tale

About the Book

A Slow-Burn Crime Story Set in a Temple Town in Kerala.
Rajan, the hooch distiller, needs a couple of ghosts to scare off anyone coming up the mountain towards Ettunaad. Who better than the penniless Aadi and Saravanan, sons of Ettunaad’s legendary Theyyam artist Chindachchan? When Rajan’s plan works better than he could have imagined, Aadi comes up with a new, far more sinister one.
Over the next few month’s locals begin to mysteriously turn up dead one after the other. Meanwhile, Inspector George Alex and Sub-Inspector Anand make their way to Ettunaad following a double murder in a high-security army facility called Area 11. Is the spate of local murders related to these too?
Macabre and bristling with tension, Akhil K.’s debut novel unfolds in the densely forested mountains of Ekarmala. Published to acclaim in Malayalam, The Lion’s Tale is a slow burn that keeps you hooked until the very end.

About the Author

Akhil K. writes in Malayalam. He lives in Kannur and currently works as a daily-wage JCB operator by day. Working as a newspaper delivery boy in the mornings and at a sand mine by night, he had to discontinue his education after school in order to support his family. His novels include Simhathinte Katha, Tharakanthan and Muthappan. Neelachadayan, his first short story collection, won the 2022 Geetha Hiranyan Endowment Award of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He has also received the Youth Icon Award instituted by Kerala State Youth Commission and the Indian Writers Forum and the O.V. Vijayan Memorial Young Literary Award.

About the Translator

Sarita Ravindranath is a journalist. She has written for The Times of India, New Indian Express, Sify.com and The Statesman. This is her first work of translation.