beginning of their deep and lasting friendship that
seemingly changes Shiva for the better.
But like tracks baked into dirt, the debt of violence
owed to the streets doesn’t wash away easily.
Enter Shravan, a dark reminder of Shiva’s past.
Hate is a strong word but not strong enough for him.
It’s when life starts taking an ugly turn that Shiva
realizes that Shravan needs to be stopped. It’s something
Jacob would never approve of. But Shiva knows that
certain debts cannot be repaid with kindness.
They have to be paid in kind.
NINE: CURSE OF THE KALINGAN
Book One
Shobha Nihalani
The past has come to destroy the present and
change the future
261 BC
Ashoka, overcome with remorse, swore never to wage
another war. And to make sure no one else did. His
Navratnas—the NINE—zealously guarded their powers and
knowledge, handing them down through millennia and
generations to ensure lasting peace.
Except that it was not to be!
From the corpses of the Kalingan warriors rose an angry
spirit bent upon avenging the Kalinga empire, destroying
the NINE and using their hidden knowledge to rule the
world and change its destiny.
Present time
The bloodthirsty warrior has possessed the body of a young
man, making him hunt down and kill the NINE one by
one. It is now up to the chosen Trinity—nurse Tara,
DJ Akash and forensic expert Zubin—to stop him.
This first book in a trilogy of fantasy thrillers churns up an
THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN METRO READS
Published by the Penguin Group
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First published in Penguin Metro Reads by Penguin Books India 2013
www.penguinbooksindia.com
Copyright © Durjoy Datta 2013
Cover illustration by Jasjyot Singh Hans
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-0-143-42090-3
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This digital edition published in 2013.
e-ISBN: 978-9-351-18201-6
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