Title:
Private India
Author:
Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson
Price:
350 INR
Pages:
450
ISBN:
978-0099586395
My
rating: 3/5
It has my first time reviewing a thriller. And thank
you Blogadda for giving me the opportunity to do that. I enjoyed being in this
train of thriller and here is what I discovered.
At first you would dismiss it being some run and
catch thriller but when you start it you would know you picked up something
different. The cover of the book takes inspiration from the James Patterson’s ‘Private’
series . Two masters in their own art Ashwin
Sanghi and James Patterson have collaborated for the first time to bring
Patterson's popular 'Private' series to India. The story is true to its
highlight “It’s
the season for murder in Mumbai”.
In Private India, Sanghi's taste for mythology comes through with its
cults, the Navratri festival and even Goddess Durga becomes an important part
of the plot whereas Patterson's love for high drama and suspense mixed equally
well with it. The starting of the book is with a murder-of a Thai doctor in a
Mumbai hotel. She has a yellow scarf around her neck and her hands are tied
with strings. There is a flower on one hand, and a fork on the other. There is
also a small, Viking toy helmet tied to one of her toes. Eight such killings
take place in Mumbai.The first murder is followed by many others. Afternoon Mirror reporter
Bhavna Choksi being the second victim,then Elima Xavier, a school
headmistress, Anjana Lal, the Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court, Ragini
Sharma, a politician and so on the list continues. Every victim has a yellow scarf, with trinkets placed
around them.
Private India is headed by Santosh Wagh an Ex-policeman and he is picked
by Jack Morgan, a former CIA agent who heads Private Inc.
The 51-year-old investigative genius is traumatized by his painful past where
he has to live with the guilt of killing his own family, which he tries to
drink with regular whiskey shots. Wagh and his peers drink a lot
but apart from that he has a sharp mind and superb power of reasoning.
The case
of the serial killings is handed over to Wagh and Co by Mumbai Police. The
serial killings have a pattern and the killer makes sure to leave a clue each
time. Wagh connects the clues which lead to a discovery of the truth which is
pretty scary. If you have never been to Mumbai, it is sure to take you some of the places such as Taj Hotel to Colaba and Haji Ali, to suburbs like Bandra, Andheri and
Thane to the Tower of Silence and its vultures, Arthur Road Jail,
Chowpatty Beach, Cooper Hospital etc.
The central
characters are portrayed well, but others are also defined equally. There is a
vile godman, an underworld bhai and a powerful lawmaker with his love for
gambling. It has a detailed story and you would not know exactly where the
mystery points to.
It is a
fast paced thriller but has details about the not so central characters as
well. You would think that you got the mystery but wait till you spiral down
another twist. Though there are editing and grammar mistakes at some places but nevertheless one should give this book a try, when you pick it up, you can’t
put it down.
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