Private Delhi by Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson

'Private Delhi' by Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson. This book is published by Random house in 2017 and has 480 pages. This is Book 13 of Private series. 

Jack Morgan has convinced Santosh Wagh to go to rehab and then move to Delhi to open Private's Delhi office. A house is discovered in Greater Kailash with more than ten bodies in acid drums. Chief minister and Lt. Governer of Delhi don't see eye to eye. CM recruits Private. A serial killer is killing a number of high profile persons.

Who is behind all these murders? What is the connection? Would Private solve the case? What role will politics play?

The story is fast. First murder happens in the first chapter and then the killings continue. New angles come in to play. However there are two main themes. One is the racket if Organ harvesting from poor and helpless for the benefit of rich Americans. Second is a serial Vigilante killer who is targeting corrupt high and mighty.

This story has murders, good guys, bad guys, grey guys, investigators whose heart says one thing and brain says another, politicians, medical malpractice and hope. In short, everything. 

I identified two candidates for killer. My prime candidate was not the killer, it was the second one. However authors, inexplicably, gave away the killer on a platter in the final 1/3rd of book instead of delaying the revelation till the very end. 

Ashwin Sanghi has teamed with James Patterson again after previous venture 'Private India'. More books may be in the pipeline. 

It was the first time for me to read an epilogue consisting of two chapters. Interesting!

Why did I read this book? Ashwin Sanghi. 

What I didn't like? Killer's identity given away too early. 

What did I like? The end. 

Recommend reading.

Murder on the orient excess by Andy McDermott

"Murder on the orient excess" by Andy McDermott. The book was published in 2013 and has 56 pages. This is Book 1 of Leviticus Gold series.   

Air Thiland flight Airbus A380 from Bangkok to Hethrow is approaching Hethrow when the stewardess of first class finds Mr. Perch, occupant of private suit, dead. Detective Inspector Brownlow investigates. Suspicion fallen on co passenger Leviticus Gold, handsome, young, flirty, wise ass, know-it-all kind and wealthy businessman.

Is Leviticus the murderer? Is Leviticus his real name? What was the motive. 

Why there is no gun but a bullet entry? Why no one heard gun go off? How was the gun smuggled through security? How come security cameras found nothing? It's a closed door murder mystery. 

Leviticus thinks, thinks back, thinks hard and comes out with a solution on his own and tells the police. Murderer is identified and still Leviticus is arrested. Why?

Police appear shallow, ready to jump to conclusion, not thorough investigators and impulsive. Leviticus, though amature, has impeccable logic, perfect deductions, supreme confidence and know-all attitude, all with no experience. Both extremes are far fetched and exaggerated, but enjoyable. 

A lot of things happen in this small book. There are two twists. The story is fast paced. No slack. Reader completes the book in one sitting. But nothing appears abbreviated or cut short. Credit to the author. 

While reading the book I had a feeling that the flamboyant character of Leviticus Gold was inspired by Virgin fonder Richard Branson. Is it?

Title  of the book is very similar to Agatha Christy murder mystery 'Murder on the orient express'. Why? There was no real need to bask in the reflected glory. 

This book was published in 2014 but Book 2 was never published. Are there plans? Or has author's interest petered out?

Why did I read this book? Small book. Not from Nina Wild series. 

What I didn't like? Title. 

What did I like? The story. Character of Leviticus Gold. 

It's a 'Chota patakha' (small firecracker). Recommend reading.

Treasure by Clive Cussler

"Treasure" by Clive Cussler. This book is published by Pocket Books in 2011 and has 688 pages. This is Boo 9 of Dirk Pitt series. 

Ahmed Yazid wants to take over Egypt by deposing its elected President and establish a Muslim fundamentalist rule. A plan is hatched to assassinate Hala Camille, an Egyptian, female & Head of UN. A leader claiming to take the population back to Aztec religion has arisen in Mexico. A new leader has risen in Brazil. Pitt finds clues that the treasure (Alexander's coffin, Scrolls, Books, Artifacts, Statues etc) from Alexandria library were hidden before it was destroyed by Christians, about 2000 years ago. 

Can America handle this quadruple jeopardy ? What will be Pitt's role? Where is the treasure?

The treasure or ancient secret in this Book is contents of Library of Alexandria. Burning if this library is seen as the death of a civilization. (Something similar happened at Nalanda-India when the Nalanda library was burned down by Turkish invaders, about 1000 years later).

The story is interesting, but I felt it had too many ingredients and too many variables. Thus author had to cater to all and the book length was not optimal. It was a bit longish. 

Clive Cussler is an expert in anything related to sea. Thus when he writes about salvage, sunken ship, preserved bodies, dives etc. he is at his best. However this is only in the first part of the book.

The wise ass cracks between Dirk an Al Giordino are entertaining and witty. There is a customary beautiful and intelligent lady who falls for Pitt, but can't tie him down. 

This is the second fiction about an Islamic Revolution in Egypt that I read in last few months. Is this an indication of changing times where fiction tries to anticipate the reality?

Why did I read this book? Clive Cussler. 

What I didn't like? Length. 

What did I like? Wise ass cracks. 

Not a must read.

Private royals by James Patterson with Rees Jones

"Private royals" by James Patterson with Rees Jones. This book is published by BookShots in 2016 and has 160 pages.

It's Queen's 90th birthday celebrations. Jack Morgan, head of Private, and Peter Knight head of Private's London office are on the venue. Abbie Winchestar, daughter of Duke of Aldershot, member of Royal family, is kidnapped. If ransom is not paid her head would roll on the parade ground.

Can Private save Abbie? Who is behind this? Will Queen's birthday celebrations be destroyed?

The story is fast. Narration is good. Plot is interesting. Reference to Queen's birthday is mostly redundant. Even if it was not there it would have made no difference to the story. So the book's name could very well have been Private Wealthy or Private Kidnap or such. 

The perpetrator of the crime was not camouflaged at all. I recognized the person in first 20% of the book. Then it was a verification of whether the deduction was correct or not. I believe some more efforts on that front were in order.

Since this is a BookShot edition, it is called Book 12.5 of Private series. Book 13 Private Delhi co authored with Ashwin Sanghi is recently released. 

This book is from Bookshots series. Bookshots are short, high impact stories that can be read in one sitting. 

Why did I read this book? Private series. 

What I didn't like? Very apparent villain. 

What did I like? Compactness. 

A good quick read.

The House husband by James Patterson with Duane Swierczynski

"The House husband" by James Patterson with Duane Swierczynski. This book is published by BookShots in 2017 and has 144 pages.

Teaghan Beaumont, a new mom and detective, resumes duty after six weeks of maternity leave. Her husband is a freelance writer and stays home. On her first day there is a case of Familicide. Familicide is when a person kills spouse, atleast one kid and oneself. Two more Familicides have happened in last six weeks. It is followed by Familicide of her partner at work. 

Are there Familicides? Is there a connection? Who is behind it? Can Teaghan connect the dots?

It's a fast story. Readers know the House Husband who is committing the crimes. His identity is not a mystery but his real identity is. Teaghan has a hunch that there is something wrong. Hence she tries to find the commonalities. However what is missing from the story is investigation! There are murders and then suddenly there is conclusion. Investigation is so brief that you don't notice it. Did authors run out of page space?

It's a good plot, good build-up but abrupt end. The reasoning or justification for murders is lame. Murderer's infatuation is also not digestible. End is not as good as the story. 

While reading a thought came to my mind. If I were the author, how would I end the book? I would have introduced a double twist in the climax by turning protagonist into a villain. Then it would have become a wow book.

This book is from Bookshots series. Bookshots is a series of Thrillers under $5 and 150 pages. These are stories at the speed of life. 

Why did I read this book? Short length. 

What I didn't like? Abrupt end. 

What did I like? Build up. 

Read if you have time.

I hate Bollywood by Rohit Khilnani

"I hate Bollywood" by Rohit Khilnani. This book is published by Om books international in 2015 and has 198 pages.

Raghu has grown up in Chembur, area frequented by film stars. He becomes a film journalist, mentored by Rajeev. His career has starts, pauses, rises and falls. At every stage of his life he feels that he hates Bollywood, despite being closely associated with it. 

Why does he hate Bollywood? Is his hatred misplaced? Or is it justified?

Rohit has written this book about Bollywood from reporters point of view. He has used a number of facts and has blended them with fiction. It's difficult to tell them apart. The story and narration is OK. He peels off layers  from goody, glitzy and glamorous facade of Bollywood to show the cut throat competition, nepotism, back stabbing and monotony of the proffession. It's not as rosy as it appears. I read the book during one international travel. 

The protagonist goes from a roukie to a seasoned print reporter to a promising TV reporter to a blunderer to a star reporter to head of channel to criminal to back in action guy during the course of the book. He also regrets that a disaster becomes an opportunity for him as a reporter. 

Some of the entities are evidently based on the real ones. Thus Rajeev Masand, Rajdeep Sardesai, NDTV 24x7 make an appearance with a different name whereas Parveen Babi, Abhishek, Amitabh, Aishwarya etc appear as them selves.

I was happy to read the book because of the references to the places I know well like Chembur, Geeta bhavan, RK studio, Bus numbers 90 & 352 etc. 

The back cover includes reactions of film stars like Kareena, Hritik, Karan Johar, Ranweer Singh, Ajay Devgan, Mahesh Bhatt, Ritesh Deshmukh. As compared to the book, these reactions are overstated. Typical Bollywood hyperbol?

Cover concept may be good, but execution isn't. It's a small book, I read it during one international travel. 

Why did I read this book? Ravi's recommendation. 

What I didn't like? Reasons for hating Bollywood. 

What did I like? The end. 

Read if you have time.

The adventures of Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle

"The adventures of Brigadier Gerard" by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Brigadier Etien Gerard worked in the Napoleonic army (The Hussar of Conflans). Brigadier Gerard tells the tales of his adventures sitting in the cafè, in Paris, towards the evening of his life. This book is a collection of short stories of Brigadier's adventures. 

How Brigadier Gerard lost his ear: Gerard falls in love with daughter of the Duke of Venice and is captured for this indiscretion. He makes a great sacrifice for his love. 

How the Brigadier captured Saragossa: Here he acts as a spy to blow up the powder repository in the city of Saragossa-Spain and capture the city. 

How the Brigadier slew the fox: Gerard is hated by the English for his unpardonable crime. And he was unaware of it. 

How the Brigadier saved the army: Gerard is tasked to give a signal to the army, stationed away from main army, to retreat. He has to do this in hostile territory, even at the cost of his life.  

How Brigadier triumphed in England. While he was guest of Lord Roughton Gerard stood up for the honor of a lady. But it all ended differently. 

How the Brigadier rode to Minsk: Gerard is tasked to aquire food for starving French army in snow covered Russia. 

How Brigadier bore himself at Waterloo: Brigadier was assigned a special task by the Emperor. That made him miss the war. Then he takes on the responsibility of saving the Emperor single handedly. 

The last adventure: Gerard reaches the island of  St. Helena, where Napoleon was banished. Objective rescue Napoleon. But the mission fails for no fault of his. 

Marriage of Brigadier: Brigadier is given an option to either marry or forget his lady love. His nemesis, a bull, chased him. To what end?

Gerard is very brave and chivalrous man.  He has peculiar personality traits. His most notable attribute is his vanity. He is proud, pompous, boastful, lucky, lady killer, good story teller, never gives up, thinks on his feet and is a survivor. His ego is boosted by his achievements. He even goes on to suggest that had he been able to participate in the battle of Waterloo, the out come might have been different & Napoleon might have won.

Narration is very good. The French induced English is entertaining and compliments the story. Character of Gerard undergoes subtle  changes with age as the stories progress. Earlier stories have a enthusiastic Gerard, then he becomemes flamboyant, then wise, then wistful and then tired. Author should be applauded for this gradual and natural progression.

Author has used French view of English and vice versa to enrich the characters, enhance drama and add to hilarity. 

The adventures takes place in Napoleon's times, that means more than a century ago. It was an era without modern weapons, modes of transport and means of communication. Horses were the mode of transport, guns and muskets were the weapons and communication was through messengers. Despite this author does not allow any degradation of interest. 

Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his immortal character Sherlock Holmes, a franchise still making money. However I did not know about his Etien Gerard until I read the book. Here he displays a very different writing style. Here he is hilarious and witty. This book is a delight. 

Why did I read this book? Author, Curiosity. 

What I didn't like? Story of Napoleon's defeat. 

What did I like? Everything else. 

A good book. Recommend reading.