Book Review: Private India

Blurb:

"When a series of seemingly unconnected murders rock the city of Mumbai with the macabre rituals and artefacts found around the corpses, Private India, a leading investigation agency takes the case. Santosh Wagh, the head of the organization, has only one mission. He needs to stop the killers before they strike again. However, in a city of over 13 million people, he finds that the clock is ticking too fast. He finds himself pitted against underworld dons and a Godman who isn't what he seems. However, the worst is yet to come and Private India itself may be threatened with a revelation that could destroy the entire organization."

After almost a year’s hiatus, I went on to Blogadda to find something interesting to read. I liked the idea of collaborating authors, both of them famous in their own right and with very definite writing styles. I wondered how the synergies would work out. It was interesting in some places but most of the time I knew who contributed for the specific parts. It was a sort of amalgamation of Sanghi’s mythologist style with the fast paced world of Patterson.

It’s a definite page turner with crisp chapters and speedy murders to solve. It was like Indian CID but with cooler gadgets (I am assuming at this point because I have not seen CID but their TVF spoof). I watch too many police procedurals to know that the plot line is compact with thorough research on Indian mythology used as a back story. The story is based in Mumbai and in a way the city becomes the canvas on which the author constructs his story. The not so glamorous parts of the city are used to build the plot.

A little bit about the about the plot before I go into why I like/dislike the book. There are a series of ritualistic murders. A PI is brought in by the Mumbai police to solve the case. There are a lot of supporting characters and back stories involved but essentially it was a typical Patterson book where everyone is rushing to solve the problem.

The story is weaved very well and I should probably confess, I was not able to guess correctly. The book doesn't leave room for thought, it gets to the point from the start and is able to maintain the reader's attention, which essentially is what you are looking for in a vacation read. An interesting plot line, a bit of character development and a story that would keep you interested. In all, Patterson's slickness combined with Sanghi's flair for mythology make Private India a very attention-grabbing read.

The one part I liked in the book would be the mythological and religious angle portrayed. I expected to find more of it in the later chapters.  I wouldn't be surprised if this book is optioned for a movie soon enough. It has everything required for a Bollywood potboiler script starting from politicians, gangsters and prostitutes. Lets not forget the names of all the characters which have that Bollywood tang to them.

I would consider this book a one-time vacation read. 3/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.