A man in a black, flowing robe stepped out from the shadows of the banyan tree. In the dim light, and from a distance, Tara could not make out what it was, but it looked like…Was is possible?…A third eye?
How will Tara escape the malevolent gaze of the Third Eye?
For Tara and her brother, Suraj, the year since their mother and grandfather fled the village of Morni, has been a nightmare. Their new stepmother is cruel and deceptive, and their father is indifferent to their suffering. Villagers have been disappearing, often returning in a strange, horrifying form.
When a new healer, Zarku, a mysterious man with a third eye possessing strange power, suddenly appears in Morni, all are mesmerized by his magic—all except Tara, who sees through his evil disguise.
With nothing but her own courage and wit, Tara tries to find her missing mother and grandfather—the true healer, in time to save her village. Alone and lost in the forest, she must enlist the help of the god Ganesh and the lord of death, Yama, or she, like others before her, will fall victim to Zarku’s third eye.
★ Winner of the Silver Birch Fiction Award