Book Review
Title: The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu by Tom Vater
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: 4.5 Stars
As many of my long-term readers will see, The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu isn’t my usually genre as I don’t particular enjoy many crime or thriller novels unless there is an added horror, paranormal or strange element to it. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that The Devil’s Road was a refreshingly different take on the norms of the crime genre as it moves well away from the standards of the crime genre, appealing to me and my need for quirky and strange books. Vater’s writing was also a cut above most other crime writers who prose seems generic and little weak compared to Vater’s storytelling.
The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu opens in 1976 in Pakistan on the hippie trail, the hippie trail goes overland from Europe to India and further. Many people in a certain age bracket may remember similar pilgrimages that thousands of Westerns took including this one. We are follow Dan and his two friends who leave London in an old Bedford bus, picking up many people along the way including Thierry, a Parisian who joins the group. What follows after is a wild ride filled with sex, drugs and complete abandon but the highs comes with some real lows to including death. The narration alternates between the foursome in 1976 and 2000, where the foursome are meeting once more in Kathmandu with the addition of Dan’s son, Robbie. What I thought was going to be a standard crime road trip ended up being much more as the land itself is a character within the novel. However, the end did scream more Hollywood than Kathmandu, I trusted the direction in which Vater chose to take the novel. He spins a great story filled with intelligence and a certain poetry while immersing you in Asia and with the recent lockdowns I felt it was the perfect book to escape into.
The highlights of the novel for mew ere the unique and crazy characters as well as Vater’s keen eye for details. Vater definitely utilizes impressive descriptions coupled with believable and realistic dialogue to create an atmosphere that completely sucks you in from the very beginning. At times you really feel like you are inside the novel, drinking beside the characters and I am really sad to be leaving it so soon. Many will notice that I have avoided my usual spoiler filled review as it feel it will destroy the magic and atmosphere that Vater creates but all I can say is that The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu definitely isn’t your average crime novel as it is full of twists I didn’t see coming. Highly recommended especially if you are looking for something a little different during the Halloween season.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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