Review : Private India by Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson

Title: Private India

Series : Other Private Offices

Author:  Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson
Publisher: Century

Pages: 384 Paperback (Indian Subcontinent Edition)

Release : Aug 28th 2014
Genre: Mystery |Thriller

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, he'd have his work cut out at the best of times, but this case has him battling Mumbai's biggest gang lord 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

With this book the Author Ashwin Sanghi has given us the Indian's a much advanced technified detective agency, Private India, an Indian Chapter of world's top-notch detective Agency controlled by Jack Morgan. Private Investigator Santosh Wagh with a troubled past is the head of Private India and his team is rather more fascinating with Hari the one-of-a-kind Techie who has a personality like Hritick Rohshan (with too much bollywood-ness in the book, Hritick's comparison fits perfectly :P ) , Mubeen the medical guy and  Nisha - an indispensable irresistible ex-cop turned Private Investigator.

Thumbs up coffee points :

If you have read the rest of the series by James Peterson in the "Other Private Offices" series then you will know the his detective-story manner but I have't read the books so this was an absolutely fresh story for me, the suspense was maintained throughout. The collaboration between the two authors who have a good history of writing this genre delivered a fast-paced page turner. The Part where this book become 'Indian' was written well as well, it was pretty easy to differentiate which author wrote which part and this guessing game help my attention.

High-profile murders are happening in the metropolitan city that stays up all night, the city of dream- Mumbai and the Mumbai police is more than happy to hand over the case to the mentioned agency and they came with their Dr Salunkhe’s-style laboratory and equipment.

The mythological angle that explained why the killer is so set upon the murders and as to nine forms of Gurga is connected to all this was fascinating. The illustrative narration by the killer gave me goosebumps. Each aspect of the story had it's own mysterious angle.

Thumbs down coffee points:

With everything of Mumbai was touched upon from celebrities, politicians, Gangsters, evil guys, good guys, beggars, police, journalists, orphans, nomads, prostitutes, the famous local trains, ramshackle buildings, terror attacks and gazillions of people lead to a complete bollywood-ish novel. Though it can be a likable point too but I wasn't much enthralled by it.

Verdict :

All in all it is one band-on absolutely compelling thriller which will hook you till the last very page, a collaboration India was in high need of. I enjoyed it.

Thanks for the signed copy :)

Ratings: 

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About the Authors 

Ashwin Sanghi 

Ashwin Sanghi—entrepreneur by day, novelist by night—has all the usual qualifications of an Indian businessman. Schooling at the Cathedral & John Connon School, a B.A. (Economics) from St. Xavier’s College, and an M.B.A. (Finance) from the Yale School of Management. Besides being a businessman, Ashwin manages a parallel career as writer of fiction. Ashwin’s first novel, ‘The Rozabal Line’ was originally self-published in 2007 under his anagram-pseudonym—Shawn Haigins. The book was subsequently published by Westland in 2008 and 2010 in India under his own name and went on to become a national bestseller. ‘Chanakya’s Chant’ is his second novel in the historical-fiction genre. The book has remained on AC Nielsen’s India Bookscan Top-10 for all of 2011. It won the ‘2010 Crossword-Vodafone Popular Choice Award’ in September 2011. UTV has purchased the movie rights to the book and a film based upon the story is expected soon. Dr. Shashi Tharoor released the novel in Mumbai calling it an “enthralling, delightfully-interesting and gripping read with historical research that is impressive.” The Hindustan Times has called it “a cracker of a page-turner.” Ashwin is currently working on his third novel, as yet untitled, that explores business strategies in ancient India. Ashwin is also working towards a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Bangor University in Wales. Ashwin lives in Mumbai with his wife, Anushika, and his eight-year old son, Raghuvir

James  Patterson

The subject of a Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every fifteen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In the past three years, James has sold more books than any other author (according to Bookscan), and in total, James's books have sold an estimated 220 million copies worldwide. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year—a record-breaking feat he's accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels, and holds the New York Times record for most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author (63 total), which is also a Guinness World Record.

From his James Patterson Pageturner Awards (which rewarded groups and individuals for creative and effective ways to spread the joy of reading) to his website ReadKiddoRead.com (which helps adults find books that kids are sure to love) to his regular donations of thousands of books to troops overseas, Patterson is a lifelong champion of books and reading. His first foray into books for all ages was the critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series, which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #1 and remained there for twelve straight weeks. The series has so far made appearances on The New York Times bestsellers lists ninety-four cumulative times, proving that kids of all ages love page turners. He captured the attention of boy readers with the Daniel X series, and his third series for readers of all ages debuted in December 2009 with Witch & Wizard, which spent five consecutive weeks atop the New York Times bestsellers list.

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