Private India-Book Review

 

Title: Private India Series : Other Private Offices

Author:  Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson

Pages: 384 Paperback (Indian Subcontinent Edition)Release date : Aug 28th 2014Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Century

This is the third time I am reading a mythological thriller by Ashwin Sanghi. I had great expectations from this book since I was looking forward to a racy mysterious thriller. Much like Rozabal Line and Krishna Key this book was a disappointment, with neither the plot or characters staying back with me. The beauty of an interesting book is that you would want to read it over and over again, but this one is not even a one time read.

I was confused by the main plot and the sub plots thrown around it carelessly. The one that emerges towards the end like a rude shock was the biggest turn off in the book. Since I have not read any of the previous books in the series, this book started off as a riddle. And sadly I could do nothing to unravel the pathetically disinteresting plot in the book. Sanghi did his best to stick to what he does the best, writing a mythological thriller, but he failed from the starters. This book was aimed for an international audience and the author wanted to make a foray into the american thriller market. That's why the mythological elements were explained which read like definitions in the course book. Sanghi did his best to make this a mythological thriller by carefully putting the mythological research to use, but alas this time he has failed to create a magic moment. While in Rozabal Line and Krishna Key, the mythological twists and turns narrate the story. But the murders do not take the story forward this time. Infact it bores you. A few cliches that made me sleepy were a bomb attack plan on the financial capital of India, mad killings that leave the cops bewildered and the portrayal of politicians as puppets or friends of the rich and the famous. The helplessness shown by the police also adds to the boring storyline.

Also I wonder as to why were the characters in the story abusive. Did that in any way make the story interesting and readable?

It is amusing to note that the chapters in the book were shorter than in the earlier books written by Sanghi, which save you from the boredom created by the tens of characters and weak plot.

The authors did the bored readers a favour by keeping the stories of the supporting characters short.

I liked the idea of a hater of goddess Durga let loose on a killing spree, which could have given rise to a racer of a thriller, but much like it was in the Krishna Key the book failed and read like a cliche. The murders of women without the traces of evidence was decorated by the portrayal of nine forms of Durga.

I was disappointed by the weak characterization of the main character Santosh Wagh, and the forceful inclusion of multiple characters and plots which leave the reader bored. There were grammatical errors here and there with a few spelling mistakes as well.

I give the book 2 out of 5, for the mythological thriller that the book wanted to be, but failed to be. Don't know if James Patterson was disappointed by the outcome of the book, maybe that's why he didn't do much to promote the book.