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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is definitely one of the better finds from Twitter this year. A good old murder mystery featuring a slightly eccentric protagonist and his almost faithful sidekick. Captain Wyndham is an outsider in Calcutta because he is an ex-Scotland yard inspector who is now a part of the British police force in India. Surrender-not Banerjee even more so because he is an Indian working for the empire. How they solve a baffling murder story forms the crux of the story. What makes the book stand out though is the backdrop of the story. It is set in a pre-independence India where freedom fighters are labeled terrorists and the Rowlatt Act is in place. The conversation snippets when Captain Wyndham is either talking to someone else or himself is so delightfully done. It makes the book what it is. It is not a compulsive page-turner mind you, but it is not the type of book that is meant to be read at a breakneck pace anyway.
First in a new series (to me and fairly new anyway - 2017) set in post WWI Calcutta. Lots of incidental history. As usual with novels set in an era when customs and mores were very different some things are difficult to read and historical context has to be remembered (such as the use of the term wogs to describe Indians and turning 'unpronounceable' names into something 'easier', let alone getting ino the whole way the Indians were treated by their British 'masters'). The protagonist and his sergeant were both likable with the sergeant probably doing more of the heavy lifting.I know India, but not Calcutta, well and enjoyed this mystery set in a time and place of which I know less and yet much is still recognisable. I look forward to reading the next two in this series.
dark
mysterious
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyed it so much, I started book 2 immediately thereafter!
A RISING MAN by Abir Mukherjee
Rating: 1/5 stars.
*I received this title in exchange for an honest review*
First of all, I'm a brand new member of NetGalley so I wanted to give a quick shout out to NetGalley for supplying me with my first review book. I haven't really connected with this side of the book world yet (bookstagram is my main form of book talk) but it's something I'm looking forward to!
Anyway, this book is listed as a historical fiction, mystery/thriller. This is my first complaint. Though the book has aspects from both genres, to me, it felt a little too far fetched to call it both. I think it would have been a way better book if one or the other was taken out. That probably doesn't make sense. Let me try to explain this further:
- Starting Scene: we're thrown into the middle of a place with no background information, no hints as to what we're doing there, nothing. This bothers me in so many ways. If you're going to start off a book in the middle of who knows what — make sure you do it right. You don't want your readers to be confused!
- The Setting: Once the first chapter is over, you finally start to get a sense of where we are, and who we're dealing with. Namely, the city of Calcutta and Captain Wyndham, a British veteran new to the area. Or that's what we're told. The readers are told from the first time we meet Captain Wyndham that he is new to the area, having been living in a hotel for a few days to settle in until he can find himself a suitable apartment. But as the investigation continues and Captain Wyndham is walking through the city (oh did I forget to mention there's a dead body in the middle of an alley? Sorry.), he continuously references different aspects of the city (architecture, the people, etc) like he's the all knowing Calcutta god. HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT A PLACE THAT YOU'VE ONLY BEEN LIVING IN FOR MAYBE A WEEK??? I guess that's where the historical fiction comes in.
ALSO, speaking of Captain Wyndham, what an a*hole. He is absolutely appalling. First of all, he's a BAD detective. He doesn't even know what to do! How can you be in charge of an investigative team and have no recollection of how an investigation works? I get he's supposed to be new to the area but sheesh. Captain Wyndham is also a morphine and opium drug addict. Yeah. You read that correctly. I mean, I understand that he's supposed to be somewhat distraught (having lost all of his family and friends to the war or disease or epidemics) but COME ON. Between that and the misogynistic references to noticing women's legs before he speaks to them, how might he get a particular woman into bed with him because SHE is CLEARLY flirting with HIM, and about how women need to be in the kitchen.....eh, not my thing. I mean, I don't even classify myself as a feminist and this stuff was WAY too degrading for me.
Nonetheless, I couldn't even finish the rest of the book because I didn't want to waste my time on it. If you are a recurring crime fiction reader, this one is not for you. I can think of SO many other crimefic books that are worth your time. Maybe this one is more for the histfic lovers out there — I have no clue! Histfic readers let's here your thoughts! I'd be delighted to get a histfic point of view on this. But overall, just not for me.
Thanks for taking the time to read my first review!!
Megan aka @chroniclesofabookworm
PS: In light of all the negativity I spewed above, I did want to say something positive! Namely, that Surendranath "Surrendernot" Banjaree (a sergeant underneath Captain Wyndham) is an adorable little self-conscious character that I could see myself loving so much! *Sighs* If only he was the main character...
Rating: 1/5 stars.
*I received this title in exchange for an honest review*
First of all, I'm a brand new member of NetGalley so I wanted to give a quick shout out to NetGalley for supplying me with my first review book. I haven't really connected with this side of the book world yet (bookstagram is my main form of book talk) but it's something I'm looking forward to!
Anyway, this book is listed as a historical fiction, mystery/thriller. This is my first complaint. Though the book has aspects from both genres, to me, it felt a little too far fetched to call it both. I think it would have been a way better book if one or the other was taken out. That probably doesn't make sense. Let me try to explain this further:
- Starting Scene: we're thrown into the middle of a place with no background information, no hints as to what we're doing there, nothing. This bothers me in so many ways. If you're going to start off a book in the middle of who knows what — make sure you do it right. You don't want your readers to be confused!
- The Setting: Once the first chapter is over, you finally start to get a sense of where we are, and who we're dealing with. Namely, the city of Calcutta and Captain Wyndham, a British veteran new to the area. Or that's what we're told. The readers are told from the first time we meet Captain Wyndham that he is new to the area, having been living in a hotel for a few days to settle in until he can find himself a suitable apartment. But as the investigation continues and Captain Wyndham is walking through the city (oh did I forget to mention there's a dead body in the middle of an alley? Sorry.), he continuously references different aspects of the city (architecture, the people, etc) like he's the all knowing Calcutta god. HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT A PLACE THAT YOU'VE ONLY BEEN LIVING IN FOR MAYBE A WEEK??? I guess that's where the historical fiction comes in.
ALSO, speaking of Captain Wyndham, what an a*hole. He is absolutely appalling. First of all, he's a BAD detective. He doesn't even know what to do! How can you be in charge of an investigative team and have no recollection of how an investigation works? I get he's supposed to be new to the area but sheesh. Captain Wyndham is also a morphine and opium drug addict. Yeah. You read that correctly. I mean, I understand that he's supposed to be somewhat distraught (having lost all of his family and friends to the war or disease or epidemics) but COME ON. Between that and the misogynistic references to noticing women's legs before he speaks to them, how might he get a particular woman into bed with him because SHE is CLEARLY flirting with HIM, and about how women need to be in the kitchen.....eh, not my thing. I mean, I don't even classify myself as a feminist and this stuff was WAY too degrading for me.
Nonetheless, I couldn't even finish the rest of the book because I didn't want to waste my time on it. If you are a recurring crime fiction reader, this one is not for you. I can think of SO many other crimefic books that are worth your time. Maybe this one is more for the histfic lovers out there — I have no clue! Histfic readers let's here your thoughts! I'd be delighted to get a histfic point of view on this. But overall, just not for me.
Thanks for taking the time to read my first review!!
Megan aka @chroniclesofabookworm
PS: In light of all the negativity I spewed above, I did want to say something positive! Namely, that Surendranath "Surrendernot" Banjaree (a sergeant underneath Captain Wyndham) is an adorable little self-conscious character that I could see myself loving so much! *Sighs* If only he was the main character...
This is the second time I’ve read A Rising Man, the first of the Capt Wyndham / Sgt Banerjee mysteries set in 1920s Calcutta. (I wanted to reread it for a book group so I wouldn’t sound ignorant.) I’ve read all four in the series and can’t get enough.
Wyndham and Banerjee are sympathetic characters, the former wrestling with the horrors of WWI and the loss of his young wife, the latter wrestling with his position as a policeman in the service of the occupiers of his country. The city of Calcutta is vividly drawn: the crushing heat and humidity, the noise, the smells, the Victorian architecture proclaiming that the British are powerful overlords, the decrepit homes and businesses of the poor Indians.
This book centers around the death of an important white man outside a brothel and the suspicion that Indian revolutionary nationalists are behind it. Wyndham has been in Calcutta only two weeks and is overwhelmed by the different culture and climate. He’s saddled with an imperious underling and the staunch and steadfast Surrender-not Banerjee. His supervisors - his immediate boss in the police department, and obliquely the Lieutenant Governor and the head of secret intelligence - are pulling him in different directions and he’s not sure whom to trust. Overall an excellent book.
Wyndham and Banerjee are sympathetic characters, the former wrestling with the horrors of WWI and the loss of his young wife, the latter wrestling with his position as a policeman in the service of the occupiers of his country. The city of Calcutta is vividly drawn: the crushing heat and humidity, the noise, the smells, the Victorian architecture proclaiming that the British are powerful overlords, the decrepit homes and businesses of the poor Indians.
This book centers around the death of an important white man outside a brothel and the suspicion that Indian revolutionary nationalists are behind it. Wyndham has been in Calcutta only two weeks and is overwhelmed by the different culture and climate. He’s saddled with an imperious underling and the staunch and steadfast Surrender-not Banerjee. His supervisors - his immediate boss in the police department, and obliquely the Lieutenant Governor and the head of secret intelligence - are pulling him in different directions and he’s not sure whom to trust. Overall an excellent book.
A historical thriller sset in Calcutta in 1919. Well written, you can feel the heat and the turmoil afflicting both the English and the Indian people at this time.