Description

---

A gripping investigation into the mysterious assassination of a journalist in India, revealing the courage and vulnerability of those who are fighting the decline of democracy around the world

When Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken journalist in the South Indian city of Bangalore, was assassinated in September 2017 outside her home, it wasn’t just a loss to her close-knit community of writers and activists—the shock reverberated nationwide, making headlines and sparking mass protests. Why was she targeted, and who was behind it? Following the case to its stunning, unsettling conclusion, Rollo Romig uncovers a world of political extremists, fearless writers, organized crime, and shadowy religious groups. I Am on the Hit List is an epic narrative that moves between a historic booksellers' district and brand-new high rises funded by IT wealth, to a secretive ashram in Goa and the kitchens of an international vegetarian restaurant chain, boldly interrogating whether we can break the cycle of polarization and bloodshed inspiring political murder across the globe.

About the Author

---

Born and raised in Detroit, Rollo Romig is a journalist, essayist, and critic. He has been reporting on South India since 2013, most often for The New York Times Magazine.

Praise For…

---

"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 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