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Devil's Garden: Tales of Pappudom
Author: Shreekumar Varma
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Price: Rs 175
ISBN: 0143335375
Format: Paperback

Pappudom is a normal run-of-the-mill village on the banks of the Tarangam River — or so everyone thinks. But Pappu, a boy living in the village, knows better. He visited the past once, with the ghost of his great-granduncle, Grand Pappu, after whom the village is named, and together they had defeated the British army using the ‘Forces of the Future'. But now, events are taking a turn for the worse.

In ancient times, the most horrific spirits known to man had been sealed in Chekuthan Thodi, or Devil's Garden, the forest adjoining the village. A pact between the humans and the spirit world had ensured a boundary between Pappudom and Devil's Garden. But someone from the village has violated the pact and ventured into the forest. Now the spirits too want to break the pact and enter Pappudom, which can only lead to havoc and destruction. And, to add to everyone's concern, a boy has gone missing…

Pappu goes into Devil's Garden, looking for the lost boy. But there are some ghastly   shocks awaiting him there, and he finds himself confronting armies of marching trees, a tapping spirit that will sap his soul, and the crafty Transformer Spirit. Will Grand Pappu reach him in time to save him? And how does Jolly Jones of the British army fit into all of this? Can the Guard of the Bridge repair the breach, or is this the beginning of the end . . .?