The Three Psychos - Book Review

The Three Psychos
By Yash Pawaskar
Review By Ila Garg

The Three Psychos, an anthology of three short stories by Yash Pawaskar, is published by Dimple Publications. The cover is quite simple, with no illustrations, nothing. It’s just black with a red frame. It is a little disappointing; the author could have chosen a better cover—something crazy or maybe illustrations of the three psychos that the stories are about.

Yash Pawaskar is a multi-faceted personality. He is an author, poet, reader, traveller, photography enthusiast, cricket fanatic, movie buff, music lover, and continues to discover himself and the world around. Yash holds an MBA degree and works in the Content industry.
He stepped into the literary world with his much-loved debut novel When We Clicked—A Twisted Love Story? And his short stories are a part of several anthologies. The Three Psychos is his second book.

The blurb reads as, “Three Thrilling Stories, One Gripping Novel. In the first tale (DE22912), a naked man is trapped inside a white box. His only company: 'DE22912'. How long can he survive? The second story, 'Patient Number 9', is about a hospitalized patient, fondly called Number 9, who must save Earth from an alien attack by blue pig-like creatures. The countdown has just begun. In the third narrative (Six Bullets), an angry sixteen-year-old gets hold of a loaded revolver and is determined to make use of all 'Six Bullets'. And no, it's not a toy. The three psychos are part of a connected universe, set in a novel with innovative storytelling, witty narration and an entertaining mix of thrill, humour and drama...”

Belonging to the psychological thriller category, this book has three different stories that are somewhere connected to each other. Alex, Amol and Aakash are the three protagonists respectively in the three stories, titled, ‘DE22912’, ‘Patient Number 9’, and ‘Six Bullets’. Let’s talk about the three stories one by one.

'DE22912' is a story about Alex, who is a millionaire. He is a typical rich spoilt brat and therefore, is reckless. His behaviour is terrible and so are his indulgences. He ill-treats everyone. A day comes when he wakes up inside a white box. He is naked and the box is closed. He is trapped and he is unable to recall his past. He is in a void. He is just left with a number DE22912, which has some strange connections with the incidents from his past. He is served food and water inside the box and is kept alive. He has nothing to do all day but sleep and dream. Gradually, he starts dreaming about horrible and inhumane things.

The second story, ‘Patient Number 9’, is about Amol, who is in a mental asylum. He has no recollection of his past. He doesn’t even remember his name—reason why he is fondly called patient number 9 (9 being his cell number). His doctor told him that he had an accident, after which he was brought to the hospital. Amol keeps seeing a mysterious blue creature which seems to be an alien, named Shahenshah. Now, funny part is this creature is a Bollywood fan. Amol is made to believe by Shahenshah that there is going to be an alien attack on Earth and only he can save Earth from the impending danger. He has only three months to do so and the time is ticking. The doctors are trying to cure Amol of this paranoia.

‘Six Bullets’ is the third story. It’s about Aakash. He is a 16-year-old child, who hates bullies. His father is a policeman. It was the night of Aakash’s 16th birthday when his father came home after his night duty in a drunken state. He started abusing Aakash and his mother. Aakash couldn’t bear it and decided to do something about it himself. Determined to put an end to it, he took his father’s gun and shot the six bullets at him.

The language is simple and easy to comprehend. However, the beginnings can be a little complicated. It’s so well-written that once you pick up, you cannot keep it down without finishing it off. It took me a couple of hours to complete the book because it is so fast paced. I found it quite engaging and interesting. The subject is tackled beautifully by the skillful author.

Who is Alex, how did he get trapped in the white box, what is DE22912, will he survive, who has trapped him, what will happen to him, who is Amol, will he recall his past, who is T, will Amol be cured or be trapped in his imaginative world with Shahenshah, who is Aakash, why did he kill his father, will he kill more people, what will be his future, what is the link between the three stories are some of the many reasons why you will keep turning the pages to find out whar happens in The Three Psychos.

Further, this 160-page book is a compelling book. The book is highly recommended if you are looking for a travel companion.

Ratings: 3.5/5

Buying Link: Amazon