Book Review: Six suspects

QnA (later called Slumdog Millionaire) is one of my favorite books. Vikas Swaroop has the ability to weave multiple interesting tales into one coherent story. 

Six suspects is his second book and I picked it up with a lot of anticipation. 

At 470 pages, it is not a quick read. But the really unfortunate part is, it could have been. It could have been a much quicker read with some editing. 

There are seven intertwined stories in the book. But they do not intertwine very well. 

What is most painful is that each story is dragged out - like reaaaalllllly realllllllly stretched out. It is frustrating to have to speed read entire chapters because the author wants to illustrate the same thing... over and over again.

#SpoilerAlert 

After the first 2-3 yo-yos, we get the picture with Mohan. We do! 

#EndofSpoilerAlert 

The loose reference to real life incidents is interesting and amusing. It adds to the reader's enjoyment, but not really to the story itself. 

The probability of a coincidence happening in this book is about 10 times more than the probability of the same coincidence happening in anyone's real life. But that's what stories are about - they are about the unreal, so we will leave that aside. 

I really enjoyed the parts where the taut storytelling was back. Some of the episodes were narrated through short incident snippets. That was very nice and very enjoyable. 

The end of a Whodunnit is meant to be surprising, and so it was. But very credible. Credit to the author for tying it up so well. 

But the motives...oh! In spite of the buildup to try and create strong motives in each case, most of the motives are watery and weak. They just don't make sense. 

The book was finished very quickly, so it is a page turner and an attention keeper for sure. But with just a little bit more editing, this book could have been so much more! 

#SpoilerAlert 

The characters are well crafted. Eketi would be the favorite character of most readers (he was mine). I also liked Shanti. Only the naivete of Shabnam in grooming Ram Dulari led to the shaking of the head. Surely, someone warding off starlets like the lion swats flies would know the risk of having a look alike in the house?