
The Pickpocet's Letter
by
Anil Nijhawan
Genre/s
Fiction, Action and Adventure, Contemporary, Crime
Publish Date
October 27, 2025
Short Description
The Pickpocket’s Letters sweeps readers into the turbulent life of Deenu, a seventeen-year-old whose world has been marked by abandonment, betrayal, and relentless danger. Unable to read or write, Deenu pours out his soul in an impassioned letter to India’s Prime Minister, recounting an odyssey that begins in an orphanage and plunges him into the menacing shadows of child-trafficking in Bengaluru. When his only friend is brutally murdered, Deenu flees to Kolkata, clutching a stolen photograph—unaware it holds the key to a deadly secret. Pursued by the vengeful trafficker Vikram, Deenu is thrust into a high-stakes quest sparked by a chance encounter: a lost wallet, a forgotten love letter, and the possibility of reuniting two souls separated by time. As violence erupts around him, Deenu faces an impossible choice—risk everything for justice or lose himself to the darkness. Heart-wrenching and triumphant, this electrifying story is a testament to the unbreakable strength of the human spirit and the redemptive power of compassion.
$5.49

Book's Awards
Description
Seventeen-year-old Deenu can’t read or write—but he has a story the world needs to hear. Dictated aloud to his friend Sanju, a university student, and addressed as an open letter to India’s Prime Minister, Deenu’s extraordinary journey unfolds.
Abandoned at birth and raised in an orphanage near Haridwar, Deenu’s life takes a dark turn at fifteen when he is kidnapped by a child-trafficking gang. Groomed in the art of pickpocketing and sent to Bengaluru, his world shatters when he discovers his best friend has been murdered by their handlers. Fleeing to Kolkata with a stolen photo—unaware of its power as a blackmail tool—he tries to rebuild his life as a lone pickpocket.
But fate has more in store. A stolen wallet, a decades-old love letter, and a trail that leads to an elderly woman in a care home set Deenu on an unexpected mission of the heart. As he helps reunite two long-lost lovers, danger closes in. Vikram, the ruthless trafficker, is hunting him—and he won’t stop until he gets what he wants.
When violence strikes close to home, Deenu is forced to make a life-or-death decision. What follows is a gripping tale of survival, redemption, love, and justice—told through the voice of a boy who once had nothing but his story.







