Excerpt from Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Leaves us little choice, fix it."

"I said we were saving hyenas."

"Hyenas? Ah, Senegalese! They buy that?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"They leave, people find out, can't have that – "

"The money – "

"Ours now. Invest."

As The Commander rose, his frame obscured a fading color photograph given a place of prominence in the office. A bald mustachioed man faced the camera, his hand resting on a little girl's shoulder. The man was average looking, in gardening garb. On his shirt lapel was stenciled his name, Moosa Kutty. Behind him hung plant stalks balancing little brown babies hanging upside down like napping bats. A sign in the foreground said "BATCH 24, July 2003."



The sun steamed the morning sky. Out of the corner of his eye, Vimto spotted The Commander. Chandu was with him. So the requested meeting had been arranged. The rescued men wanted to thank The Commander in person for the camp's hospitality. They didn't want them to get in trouble with Management, whom they hadn't seen yet. They also wanted to know when they could expect to get on the next bus to the city. And Vimto toyed with the idea of asking The Commander why their labor camp looked older instead of more recent, worse than any Vimto had been in, and why the men seemed unperturbed to be housed inside shipping containers.

Vimto nudged Tinto who had recovered and joined him outside, cheese sandwich crumbs sticking to his mustache. They both waved.

Excerpted from Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan. Copyright © 2017 by Deepak Unnikrishnan. Excerpted by permission of Restless Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.