I picked the book without much expectation as it is a debut, but am pleasantly surprised. Somnath Batabyal draws you in with his wry wit, vivid description of vice and politics, and a never-let-go plot. A young journalist’s ambition and anxiety are well captured as he treads Delhi’s high and low, sly and corrupt, and tries to balance between age-old-values and ever changing technology. The author gives us a real feel of a crime reporter’s life and the uncertainties of the profession. He also ...

Excellent book. Very nicely written thriller. Reveals the media hypes and the glamour of TV news anchors shouting on debates with very minimal facts.

I was hesitant to read this book as I feared that I would have to give the author honest feedback.... let me tell you, my fears were in complete vain. I loved the book and have since bought about 15 copies to give away to others to read! Singing it from the rooftops - this is a great read :-)

I bought the Kindle version of this book as soon as I heard about it. My bad that I expected it to be a fast paced thriller. On the contrary, it is pretty slow and meandering. You will never know where the story is going. Every 20-30 pages or so, there is a dinner / lunch or a booze scene where the characters would go out of the way to tell their biodata -- their birth, schooling, what their parents do, what they would like to do in life and blah blah. Frankly speaking, it made me sleep. On t...

A brilliant read – stark, vivid, witty. Fast-paced take on a crime-reporter’s life in Delhi that breaks many myths. Gives us the real deal on how news is made – in print and media; how far people strive to get noticed. The dialogues are just Delhi – raw and explosive. And a very imaginative plot – that can strike any common man, or the mighty. Looking forward to read more such from Somnath Batabyal..

If you are looking for a fast paced, edge-of-the-seat read, this is NOT it.

"The Price You Pay" by Somnath Batabyal is more like a super slow afternoon 'local' train - it goes slow and stops at every station. You wish you could sleep through it but are worried you might miss the action if and when it happens.

In my opinion, our only gain is some incomplete knowledge about the relationships between cops and reporters.The action in the book when it does happen, is so weak it won't even regi...

Just finished the final bit of TPYP. Very intricate, even complicated, plot dealt with great eye for detail. Not one loose end. The characters breathe, even minor ones like Mishraji. Excellent pace makes it unputdownable. And one can smell the biryanis, feel the sagging sofas, shiver the early winter mornings, taste the extra sweet tea and visualise Matera and Ombir in Somnath's Delhi. TPYP does to a social critique what Robin Cook does to medical issues. Highly recommended.

The Price You Pay belongs to the rare breed of fiction through which you actually learn more about a topic than by reading academic analysis of it. For some reason the book reminded of the American TV-series The Wire. What The Wire did for allowing a rare insight into the politics drug trade in Baltimore in the US, The Price You Pay does for contemporary Delhi. Part sociological analysis; part crime noir; and always fully readable - I highly recommend this excellent debut by Somnath Batabyal.

A smashing debut by Somnath: The Price You Pay is a real treat. I finished it overnight a while ago now and will certainly be taking my highlighter to it sometime in the next few weeks.
The first pass was quick mainly on account of the story (stories) - beautifully narrated vignettes from a young reporter's life.
I have passing familiarity with men in khaki, and could identify some of the characters in specific, and all of them in general. Yes, there's a 'rushed feel' to each episode but th...