Blurb:
From being an aimless youth in Patna battling his own inner demons of failure and self-doubt, to a penniless drifter in Mumbai, Jay Alani’s story is one for the books. From being reduced to almost begging on footpaths to running a tea-and-eggs cart for daily survival, he endured it all to achieve his life’s burning mission: spreading awareness against supernatural beliefs and malpractices.
Jay’s life’s journey has been that of a crusader who chased a calling off the beaten path.
His passionate quest to expose blind superstitious beliefs and faith prevalent among the masses led him to abandoned ruins, cursed wells, and haunted houses. Many of the stories he encountered blurred the lines between myth and reality. Along the way, he even created India’s first and only paranormal helpline to support people trapped in fear or confusion about alleged hauntings.
From exposing a 16-year-old girl’s staged ‘demonic possession’ in Patna to risking his life during a midnight investigation at Mumbai’s infamous Vasai Fort, he has fearlessly challenged the culture of irrational faith propagated by self-proclaimed ‘babas’ and godmen.
In this gripping narrative, co-authored with bestselling author Prasun Roy, Jay peels back the curtain on the murky paranormal world. He exposes the age-old machinery of exploitation that thrives on manipulating people’s unquestioning spiritual faith through terror tactics. His life’s purpose became clearer with every haunting he solved, and every lie he exposed.
In The Paranormal Boy, the authors chronicle Jay’s extraordinary journey of transformation— fraught with danger and risks—to emerge as one of India’s foremost paranormal investigators.
Raw, gripping, and brutally honest, this is the story of one man who stepped into a dark world so others could step out of it.
My Review:
“The Paranormal Boy” is an interesting blend of memoir and a collection of paranormal stories. Jay Alani, a paranormal investigator, has a singular aim: to explore paranormal experiences in order to remove blind faith among people.
While Jay believes in the existence of ghosts and spirits, he is careful to ensure that those who reach out to him don’t fall prey to fraud or the fear that often surrounds paranoia.
Written in a very simple, accessible style, the book transitions between his personal life and his experiences dealing with paranormal entities—whether real, fraudulent, or mentally constructed.
I appreciated how the author attempts to expose the fraud prevalent in India by offering logical explanations for several incidents. At the same time, he doesn’t outright deny all paranormal experiences, which adds balance to the narrative. My personal issue, however, is that the experiences presented as authentic often feel as though the author himself isn’t fully convinced of their reality. He seems to leave room for doubt—whether they could be false, imagined, or something else entirely. As a paranormal investigator, I would have liked it more if he appeared more convinced by his own observations.
Overall, it’s an engaging read for paranormal enthusiasts and for readers interested in uncovering facts behind fiction.
Suitable for age: 16+