“Despite their differences, the stories have remarkable thematic cohesion. Per the title, there are dead bodies in nearly every story. Many of the narrators suffer from guilt and when reality fails to meet their expectations. And many are sympathetic villains: a bloodthirsty tiger, a murderous wife, and the hangman in the title story. Most of the stories are told in first person –and one in the rarely used first-person plural –and in classic fashion, the unreliable and delusional narrators miss some key truth of their lives; thus, one of the book’s main weapons is dramatic irony. And no mater his subject or style, Parameswaran demonstrates a clear command of prose, plot, and pathos.”
Keith Meatto reviews Rajesh Parameswaran debut short story collection, I Am An Executioner.
