Hour Of The Hounds by Roopam Kapoor [Paperback]

HOW DO YOU FIGHT A DEADLY, UNEQUAL BATTLE AND STILL STAY ALIVE?

In the early 1990s, when the underworld dominated every sphere of life, Prakash, a rookie customs officer, gets transferred to Dapoli, a remote station on the west coast of India.

Inexperienced Prakash is soon pitted against the ruthless organization of Salim, an underworld don and smuggler operating from Dubai. Serendipitously, Prakash foils a few operations of Salim, and soon there are cracks in the vast, well-oiled machinery of the gangsters. The vengeful Don now wants Prakash dead.

A conflict that seems one-sided begins to even out as a motley crew that includes Shelley, Prakash’s college crush; Kabir, an upright and adventurous police officer; and a few of Prakash’s lieutenants rally behind Prakash. Salim’s actress girlfriend, Shabnam, infatuated by Prakash’s ideals, also breaks rank. They form the ‘Howling Hounds’, hunting Salim’s operatives in India. Salim expected a conventional retaliation from them, but the fun-loving friends opted to break the rules, bureaucratic procedures and ideals to spring a surprising trap on Salim.