Praise for The Price You Pay

“A terrific debut: wry and witty, pacy and addictive, and held together by riffs of pitch- perfect Delhi dialogue. Somnath Batabyal looks likely to do for India what Raymond Chandler did for LA.”
 – William Dalrymple

“The Price You Pay reveals how corruption, power games and ego clashes shape the way we respond to crime and how we report it. Somnath Batabyal gives us an evocative and thought-provoking tour through newsrooms, copsheds, TV stations and the underbelly of modern India. Part thriller, part social critique, it is an absorbing and compelling read.” 
 – Shehan Karunatilaka, author of Chinaman and winner of 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize

“Faster than a speeding bullet in India’s meanest megapolis”
– The Sunday Guardian (read full review)

“There is not one false note in this very topical thriller.”
– Deccan Herald (read full review)

“An awesome read… a very welcome addition to this genre in India”
– Live Mint and The Wall Street Journal (read full review)

“A superb book – quite literally, unputdownable”
– Reflections VVK (read full review)

“Masterfully constructed”
– Time Out Mumbai (read full review)

“Keeps you engrossed to the last page”
– The Sunday Tribune (read full review)

“An engrossing read”
– Indiblogger (read multiple reviews)

“Vivid and unpretentious”
– Curious Books Fans (read full review)

“If made into a film… is bound to be a stopper”
– The Statesman (read full review)

Praise for Batabyal’s Non-Fiction

“‘[Making News in India, Star News and Star Ananda] is a must read not simply for the media students and researchers but also sociologists not directly concerned with news, media and information. Sociologists would be pleased to see a work on media that is undilutedly rich in theory, methodological imagination and data that also tells you about the big divide between the cable-enabled and the non-cable enabled segments of our society.”
 – Bihar Days review of Batabyal’s 2012 book Making News in India: Star News and Star Ananda (Read full review)

“Batabyal’s essay, Where Art Thou? News Practices in Indian Television, is brutal even though it carries a neutral, inquiring tone. The article shows how the lines between editorial and corporate in the news media are beyond blurred…”
 – Jahane Rumi on Batabyal’s 2011 essay ‘Editorial Where Art Thou? News Practices in Indian Television’ in Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change (Read full review)

“[Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change] addresses the changing world of the media through some stimulating essays written mostly by young graduates from the Centre for Media and Film Studies of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Some of the essays are not only interesting but provide valuable insights…”
– Bhaskar Ghose on Batabyal’s co-edited collection Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change (Read full review)