Publishers Weekly
★ 06/17/2024
The death of a crusading Indian journalist opens a window onto poisonous national politics in this searching debut exposé. Journalist Romig recaps the murder of Gauri Lankesh, the proprietor of a small weekly magazine in Bangalore, who was shot to death in 2017. Lankesh’s leftish, antisectarian views and inveterate muckraking meant there were many possible suspects and motives, the most likely being right-wing Hindu nationalists incensed by her harsh criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party, and by her support for Indian Muslims, disadvantaged lower castes, and others stigmatized by the BJP. Romig uses the murder and police investigation to center an intricate examination of modern-day India, with intriguing digressions into everything from controversies over the ancient origins of India’s Christian communities to the sensational 2001 case of a fast-food mogul who ordered his employees to murder a man whose wife he wanted to marry. Romig’s profile of the feisty but warmhearted Lankesh makes her the embodiment of a tolerant, progressive India that rejects prejudice and extremism, but unfortunately doesn’t seem to be winning: later chapters highlight the BJP’s intensifying efforts to silence liberal dissent and strip Muslims of rights and possibly citizenship while fomenting violence and genocidal rhetoric. The result is both a riveting true crime narrative and an insightful and ominous forecast of India’s political direction. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
A riveting true crime narrative and an insightful and ominous forecast of India’s political direction.” – Publishers Weekly *starred review*
“Compelling, sometimes chilling . . . A sharp, captivating, penetrating inquiry that evolves into something more profound than just a true-crime book . . . Each time the narrative twists and turns between past and present, with militant groups, former colleagues, and acts of corruption and inefficiency beginning to bleed together, Romig smoothly, steadily reminds readers of the enormity of what is at stake . . . [I Am on the Hit List] serves as a powerful vehicle for exploring India's precarious position.”—Kirkus Reviews *starred review*
"If you want to understand the grave threat to democracy in present-day India, and South India in particular, you could do no better than to read Rollo Romig's gripping book of reportage. It's a murder mystery, travelogue, and deeply felt homage to Romig's adopted country. Reading it will inform and outrage you. (It will also make you crave a dosa)."—Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City
“Rollo Romig expertly crafts this tale of an awful murder and its ramifications while bringing alive the dark underbelly of India’s Silicon City, Bangalore. You may never have heard of Gauri Lankesh but her assassination has serious ramifications for everyone everywhere who fears escalating political violence.”—Paul French, author of Midnight in Peking
“Rollo Romig is a powerful storyteller. I Am on the Hit List, he charts India's strident march towards autocracy by telling the remarkable story of Gauri Lankesh —her life, death, and the ideas that made her dangerous. Romig writes with lyricism and empathy, fear and hope in equal measure, telling stories within stories that meander across three southern states.”—Suchitra Vijayan, author of Midnight's Borders
“Romig’s fascinating book carries the beguiling title of a Bollywood potboiler, but I Am on the Hit List is much more than that. It is a gripping, multifaceted inquiry into the nature of India itself — an exploration of its mythologies, its faiths, and of the battle currently being lost by secularists in the face of rising Hindu nationalism in the era of Narendra Modi. Along the way, readers meet a cast of characters that include bluntly-spoken journalists, philosophical mobsters, and mystical preachers of violence. What emerges is a portrait of an India caught in the grip of rapid change and a scarily uncertain future.”—Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-05-09
A journalist's murder demonstrates India’s increasing vulnerability to terror.
In September 2017, Gauri Lankesh, a self-described “activist-journalist,” was killed at her home in Bangalore. Her assassination sparked protests and drew international attention to India’s rising culture of intolerance. Following years of reporting on southern India for the New Yorker and New York Times Magazine, Romig uses the story of Lankesh’s life and work, her murder and its investigation, to track India’s risky path from the “world’s largest democracy,” known for its religious plurality, toward the autocracy spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Covering a vast and diverse country, with centuries of relevant mythology and history, the author impressively synthesizes the various narrative threads that not only comprise Lankesh’s story, but also cast an urgent warning about India's trajectory. This is an ambitious project, and it can be challenging to track both time and characters over the course of the text. Lankesh’s murder case alone spanned more than five years and involved a multitude of co-conspirators and investigators. Romig considers the backstories for each possible motive and provides useful details on her subject’s family and the radicalized factions determined to define India as a Hindu state. Each time the narrative twists and turns between past and present, with militant groups, former colleagues, and acts of corruption and inefficiency beginning to bleed together, Romig smoothly, steadily reminds readers of the enormity of what is at stake. With religious discrimination and formerly fringe activists gaining notoriety and momentum, the compelling, sometimes chilling, text serves as a powerful vehicle for exploring India’s precarious position; questioning the role of religion and other institutions; and promoting the possibility for exemplary multicultural nationhood even as current events challenge such optimism.
A sharp, captivating, penetrating inquiry that evolves into something more profound than just a true-crime book.
