The Legend of Yuck-Man, by Smarak Swain

Blurb:

Not many years ago, the city was shaken by heinous crimes of all sorts. The mysterious attacker scarred the survivors, and scared the commoners and government alike with his blatant and outrageous acts. He killed at random, committed sexual violence, and kidnapped young women, mostly in crowded public places like restaurants, discotheques, and shopping malls Yet this person remains a mystery. All that the eyewitnesses can say is that this monster looked ugly, smelt repugnant, and was generally loathsome. They swear that this individual had superhuman powers. The Legend of Yuckman narrates the incredible story of this monster. It is a story of conflicts: between greed and hunger, pollution and purity, belief and science, morality and indulgence, and above all, between a man and his demons.

Thoughts:

I honestly have to start trusting my instincts more often. I had a feeling this book might not be one that I could give a proper review on, but the idea seemed incredible, and I was intrigued by that. Turns out, the story wasn't much to my liking. I couldn't really get past the notion itself, that even though the outrageous acts are committed in public, with eyewitnesses, the yuck-man remains a mystery. And though I did muster on, I think the story got a bit too jargon-ed for me to retain complete interest in it. The idea was, I guess, to portray humans in a monstrous skin, but the idea got exaggerated beyond the limits of my liking. It felt like the author was trying to incorporate a lot of things in a single fiction, and got muddled instead with unnecessary details of research work and fights, which diluted the main character itself, unappealing as the name might be. I'd say this book is definitely not to my liking, but the genre being sci-fi with a societal link, it might still find its admirers.

Rating:

2 stars

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Source:

Review copy from author

Reviewed by Vinay Leo R.