'Night Theater' Is An Intriguing But Uneven Drama
Vikram Paralkar's novel takes place over one eventful night at a clinic in a small Indian village, where three murdered people confront a doctor; if he can treat their wounds, they'll live again.
First lines. I love them. Some people collect coins or stamps, I collect first lines. Night Theater has an excellent first line: "The day the dead visited the surgeon, the air in his clinic was laced with formaldehyde."
Isn't it a beauty? That first line tantalizes the reader, as does the premise. It's the kind of episode, or a great low-budget horror movie. An irascible doctor working at night in a tiny clinic in an impoverished Indian village is visited by three murdered people. If he can sew and treat their wounds properly, they'll be able to come back to life. But he only has until dawn.
