Private India leaves you high and dry!

A fast-paced gripping thriller, with an obvious Ashwin Sanghi flavor, almost conspicuously though; lacks the richness he generally brings and the weave of a story.

The Thrill: A look at the book and the names of authors really raises the bar and sets a note in your mind of what you can expect from it. It begins with the killing of a doctor immediately followed by another, of a reporter.  Private India, a detective agency run by Santosh Wagh has been handed over the investigation business. The plot thickens with abstract rituals identified and more added as murders followed – all victims being women. By one-third of the read, you’re introduced to an ingenious Indian-mythology-linked theme. Your curiosity doubles up, raising your expectations. In between, you’re given a peek into the mind of killer doing self-talk and reveling in his accomplishments. In an interesting style – all the lives of the victims converge in one individual’s life and the role they played at different points in time to merit the manner of their death.

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The Dampener: Well, there seem to be two climaxes to the book. Unsure of which one’s more important, the murder mystery is solved first in an almost insipid manner. Though all the murder rituals tie in to Durga’s nine avatars, all the excitement and curiosity built up fizzes away when one realizes there was not really much purposeful utility of the Sanghi spiced theme. The murderer is given away tad too early to move over to the next climax. For one who has been an ardent reader of Private series, the second climax might make much sense. For a stand-alone novel, the second climax about the agency’s own security would sound a true spoiler. The hero of the book – the series of cult-murders – the theme behind it – how it concluded, had left me high and dry!

Last word: Based on Ashwin’s string of bestsellers like The Rozabal Line, Chanakya Chant and The Krishna Key, he’s got readers’ expectations soaring. Giving a mythology-based theme just for sake of adding spice to story without any depth eventually leading to an unrelated climax was worryingly conspicuous.

Final Rating: Might awe and work for an average reader. James Patterson, sad to inform, but I would generously rate it 6/10. But, seriously, no wow-factor, disappointed.

P.S:- Immediately after finished reading, I had tweeted tagging one of the authors - Ashwin Sanghi  

“#PrivateIndia: page-turner thriller, li'l flavour of @ashwinsanghi, lacks his richness and weave of a story. No #wow, almost disappointed.” 

Within five hours, I’d received his response:“@manohr will try to give you more excitement with my solo title in mid 2015... Sialkot Saga.”

Really looking forward to Sailkot Saga now!