Bunker 13 — Aniruddha Bahal

A brilliant international thriller, set in contemporary Kashmir, about an investigative journalist, espionage, and the temptations of drugs, sex, and corruption in the Indian Army

Our hero, known as MM, is a pleasure-seeking journalist working for an upstart Indian newsweekly. He is also an ex�"army cadet with political connections, able to secure exclusive and dangerous assignments in the armed forces with the promise that he'll write about his experiences. But MM has ulterior motives. Over a period of years he has been clandestinely investigating a source of corruption in the guerrilla war on India's frontier: in the midst of skirmishes with the “Mossies” in Kashmir, the sale of arms and drugs -- often back to the insurgents they have been seized from -- is an ever-renewable source of profit.

MM hits the jackpot when a brutal border-patrol raid on which he is tagging along uncovers an emormous cache of both arms and high-grade heroin; but the goods in hand also provide him with a tempting brokerage opportunity.

Knowing, cynical, highly capable, and deeply motivated, MM is an intriguing new postmodern hero. His action-packed narration of his daredevil, drug- and sex-drenched dangerous life is world-class suspense of an entirely new kind.