Book Review: Serpentine - The True Story of a Serial Killer's Reign of Terror from Europe to South Asia by Thomas Thompson

One of my friends pointed out 'The life and crimes of Charles Sobhraj' as a must-read but I later found out that the book is banned in India. A Goodreads search led me to this book as an alternative.

One of the best 'true crime' books I have ever read, Thomas Thompson's 'Serpentine' derives its name from one of Charles Sobhraj's most enduring nicknames ('Serpent'). Thompson draws you in slowly, wrapping you in delicately into Sobhraj's tumultuous childhood to begin with. At the third page of the book, I knew it was going to be one of my rare un-put-down-able reads. 

Thompson is a meticulous fly-on-the-wall taking the reader deftly through the many lives of Sobhraj and the lives of those that had unfortunate happenstance of colliding with his. Thompson humanizes the victims very well (much like the authors of another true crime must-read with its roots in India - 'The Meadow'), but he manages to keep the victim/ aide/ eyewitness life biographies as interesting to read as Sobhraj's. The book thus, never loses tempo even when it takes a detour far from the master criminal.

What's disappointing is that Thompson leaves the story in the early 80's, when clearly Sobhraj even today continues to make headlines. Even so, an electric read!