| After peddling 'millionaire' dreams with his international | | | | 1970s' Angry Young Man. The most incredulous is the |
| bestseller Q&A, diplomat-turned-author Vikas | | | | tribal, from the little-known Onge tribe in the |
| Swarup doles out a murder mystery that has all the | | | | Andamans (Swarup quotes Googled sources in the |
| trappings of a Bollywood potboiler. Little wonder, | | | | acknowledgements), who comes to the mainland in |
| they're already talking about making a film based on | | | | quest for an ancient Shivalinga. Of all the characters, |
| this one. | | | | it's that of the don-turned-minister of the likes of |
| The plot's simple. Vicky Rai, the son of a high-profile | | | | Shibu Soren and Mohammed Shahabuddin, that is the |
| minister, is shot dead by one of the guests at his | | | | most credible of the lot, sadly. |
| own party. The police find six people with a gun in | | | | In his attempt to make the book newsworthy, |
| their possession. They're an assorted lot - a film | | | | Swarup tries hard to weave front-page news stories |
| actress, a mobile thief, the deceased's dad, an | | | | into the plot. Through his characters, he desperately |
| American fork-lift operator, a tribal from the | | | | tries to find a way to link Bhopal Gas Tragedy, |
| Andamans and an ex-bureaucrat-turned Gandhian - | | | | Osama Bin Laden and Jessica Lal together. The book |
| and each had a motive to see Rai dead. "The murder | | | | also features Q&A's protagonist Ram |
| may be messy but the truth's messier," it's with | | | | Mohammed Thomas and Salim Ilyasi. The effort is |
| these words an investigative journalist starts | | | | obvious and at times it seems desperate. Thankfully, |
| "combing the life histories of the six suspects" to find | | | | the writer manages to keep his pace and much like |
| the real culprit. | | | | his previous book, he manages to keep the suspense |
| Swarup's fertile imagination has helped cultivate the | | | | till the end. |
| plot with the help of these six characters. He uses a | | | | What works for this book is its plot. It's a classic |
| different narrative style and tense for each | | | | whodunnit - with its twists and turns - and is a good |
| character. Swarup borrows heavily from breaking | | | | pick for leisure reading. Where it fails is in the cliches. |
| news stories to create his characters. So Rai is Manu | | | | Like Q&A, it portrays a side of India every |
| Sharma (convicted of Jessica Lal murder), Sanjeev | | | | Westerner wants to see - dirt, grime, poverty, |
| Nanda (BMW hit-and-run case) and Salman Khan | | | | slums, corruption, bureaucracy, debauchery, |
| (killing blackbucks!), all rolled into one. The American | | | | ignorance, illiteracy, religion, glamour and Bollywood. |
| (suitably named Larry Page, after the Google | | | | But unlike Q&A's distinct 'this-is-how-it-is-here' |
| inventor) has come to India to marry his love, the | | | | tone, this one's exaggerated. Like a Hindi potboiler, |
| Nietzsche-spouting film actress (only, she doesn't | | | | Six Suspects has action, drama and emotion - a |
| know about it). | | | | complete entertainment package. Where it lacks is a |
| The bureaucrat lurches between debauchery and | | | | good storyline and editing. It's Bollywood in pages! |
| sainthood, while the mobile thief comes close to the | | | | |