Book Review: Private India by Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson

Source: Amazon

Mystery thrillers fall in a category of writing that is not so much about the literary flavours it brings to the story as it is about the pace and the ability to shock the reader out of their senses with the narration and conclusion. If a mystery thriller keeps me glued to its pages, on the edge of my seat and leaves me as the not so proud owner of a set of half bitten nails, I can confidently say it has done justice to its Genre... at least for me. 

Was that the case with Private India? Not really.

A collaboration between two extremely popular Authors is something that makes eyebrows rise and the book lover in you sit up. It sounds like the perfect marriage, one made in the heavens and celebrated in the fictional world. A nuptial of that calibre makes you curious; will they gel well together? They are each known for their characteristic style, will they come together to produce another unique panache? Will there be a conflict or a harmonious confluence of two established minds?

Too many questions with only one answer- to read and find out. Thanks to a good friend Sid Balachandran, I got my hands on a copy last week. Frankly neither Ashwin Sanghi nor James Patterson are Authors I swear by, but the bibliophile in me is always curious about these ‘partnerships’ when it comes to authoring a novel and that was the only reason why I wanted to read this book.

Private India is the Indian arm of the world famous private investigation agency called the Private headed by Jack Morgan.  Santosh Wagh, the head of Private India supported by his team Nisha, Mubeen and Hari are baffled by a series of murders that happen across Mumbai. Each murder is as gruesome as the next, with the victims found with a yellow scarf tied around their neck and each holding a different object in their hand. The only common thread they find across the victims is that they are women. What follows is a pacey investigation with Santosh Wagh’s intuition working overtime to deduce the pattern and finally help the team connect the dots to reveal the dark story that led to each murder. The investigation is also interspersed with a few stories here and there which add a shade or two to a few characters.

Did the marriage work for me? Yes and No.

It worked to some extent mainly because it wasn't that strong a collaboration as I would have hoped it to be. The authoring seemed to be primarily done by Sanghi with some crucial parts written by Patterson thus keeping the narration style uniform to a large extent. The research that went into setting up the context was quite obvious and gave a depth that was needed for the story. Yes, it did engage me but it did not make me sit on the edge of my seat and my nails very left very much intact. Thankfully.

Despite being a good engaging read, the thrill in finding out who the killer is was missing mainly because of a few subtle hints the Author(s) drop which makes you deduce the conclusion upfront. The reason you keep going is to figure out why s/he does it and how the Author(s) will connect them to the serial killing. While the narration was tight through most of the book, the over usage of expletives felt a tad bit unnecessary. Similarly Santosh Wagh with his brilliant mind, cane and addiction to alcohol kept reminding me of Gregory House making me wonder about the originality of his character. 

Finally what stood out were the mixed feelings that I was left with once I had put the book down. In hindsight, a few of the sub stories started seeming like they were forced and made me wonder if they had really been necessary. What also left a bitter taste was the ‘Bollywood’ flavour that was given to the end. 

However while  it might not have been the perfect marriage; the knot seemed to have stayed tied.

I firmly believe that every Author/Writer has their own voice, their own unique way to interpret situations and their own expressions to tell what they feel or think. Two different Authors being able to express their thoughts and weave words into one perfect story without there being any disconnect seems a task quite impossible to achieve as far as I am concerned. But if a collaboration such as this happens, where the glares aren't as significant then I suppose I can safely say that one day I may be proven wrong.