Private India – Book Review

My heart was longing to read a murder mystery for a very long time and this wish was fulfilled by Blogadda when they sent me an author signed copy of Private India. Here’s the review.

Authors: Ashwin Sanghi, James Patterson

Paperback: 480 pages

Publisher: Random House (20 July 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0099586398

ISBN-13: 978-0099586395

About The Book:

In Mumbai seemingly unconnected people are dying, strangled in a chilling ritual and with strange objects carefully arranged with the corpses. For Santosh Wagh, head of Private India, the Mumbai branch of the world’s finest investigation agency, it’s a race against time to stop the killer striking again. In a city of over thirteen million, hed have his work cut out at the best of times but this case has him battling Mumbai’s biggest ganglord and a godman who isn’t all he seems and then he discovers there may be an even greater danger facing Private India. Hidden in the shadows is someone who could destroy the whole organisation along with thousands of innocent Mumbai citizens.

About The Authors:

Ashwin Sanghi is an entrepreneur by profession but writing historical fiction is his passion and hobby. He self-published his first novel, The Rozabal Line in 2007 under his pseudonym, Shawn Haigins. It was subsequently acquired by Westland in 2009 and went on to become a national bestseller. His second novel, Chanakya’s Chant remained on AC Nielsen’s india Top 10 for over two years, won the Vodafone Crossword Popular Choice Award and UTV acquired movie rights. His latest thriller, The Krishna Key, was released in August 2012 and went straight to number 1 in the charts. 

James Patterson is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade – the Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club and Detective Michael Bennett novels and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

My Take:

The story throughout was a simple read and would encourage first time readers to read more. However, those expecting a mystery thriller like that of Sherlock Holmes, it might be a disappointment. (Yah, I couldn’t stop myself from comparing). The story bores a little at times but comes back with a bang each time. The book is targeted at Indian readers and mainly Mumbaikars would relate to it much better with all the mentions of the various locations and events. It perfectly showcases the true picture of what goes behind the scene of a celebrity life. Once in while, it also becomes informative digging out some history.

The story can be said to have a gripping plot with the mystery deepening as the murder count increases in the similar fashion. Telling more about plot wouldn’t do justice to the mystery it holds. But I assure you that you might be surprised to see how the mystery unfolds.

The end is way too dramatic and I see it becoming a major Bollywood movie. Yes, it actually looks like a scene straight out of a  bollywood movie!! And I’m not exaggerating! Read it and you will find yourself nodding your head in agreement. This was the main reason I lost interest in the end. What had been a quick read, came to a not-so-interesting revelation in the end.

The characters are purely Indian and their stories come to life as the book moves forward.

My Rating:

3/5

And now I’ll leave you with a few lines from the book.

Anything and everything is possible once you decide to make it happen.

One woman’s hobby could often be another woman’s hubby.

“Listen to your Dad, He loves you. Just ask an orphan and she will tel you how empty life can be.”

There are always second chances-both in metal and in men.

Why were men never interested in what was happening on the selected channel but always interested in what else could be happening on some other channel?

He often found it tiresome to explain how he had figured out certain things that eventually panned out to be true.

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