Rollo Romig, American journalist, essayist, and critic, has spent considerable time in South India since 2013 and his first book, I Am on the Hit List: Murder and Myth-making in South India, takes its title from the late activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh’s own darkly prescient inclusion of herself in a self-prepared list of potential targets of Hindu right-wing elements. The book begins with her murder on September 5, 2017, which shocked both the nation and the world.

Through extensive reportage and research, Romig sensitively captures Lankesh’s life and death, chronicles the investigation that followed, and examines how Indian politics and society have transformed since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014—a context essential to understanding both Lankesh’s life and death. In his first interview with an Indian publication, Romig speaks to Frontline.