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A review by jtobin
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
4.0
This book does exactly what a noir should, which is show in an interesting and exciting way how difficult getting justice out of an unjust system can be. For this reason, the British Raj is an exceptionally well chosen setting and Mukherjee does a great job steadily building up just how broken and unjust that government was.
The main character/narrator was very frustrating for me, however. I generally avoid "privileged dude learns racism is bad" stories, and although the author does a great job with this one, it still irked me. Sam Wyndham's fresh arrival to India and war trauma-based disillusionment with the British empire was a great base for a character with a white officer's access but a slightly different point of view. However lots of little details added up that were eternally frustrating, such as the (first person) narration by Sam calling his subordinate/friend Sundernath Banerjee "Surrender-not" for the entire novel. What is more, despite his lack of political enthusiasm, Sam was a literal Fenian hunter at Special Branch in his last job. Even with his increased disillusionment and bitterness at the end of the novel,!! His opioid addiction is one of the few traits that distinguishes him from a regular hard-boiled detective, which may provide interesting drama in later stories. He also has a tendency to make bizzare decisions primarily for plot reasons, which can be rather annoying.
Despite these frustrations, I will likely read more books in this series. Besides the main character, the author does a very good job in exploring power and society in 1919 Calcutta while also making a exciting story. I hope that our main character goes through some serious change later in the book, and that there will be more notable women characters, but overall pretty enjoyable book.
I am giving it an extra star because the setting. More books not set in the UK please!!
The main character/narrator was very frustrating for me, however. I generally avoid "privileged dude learns racism is bad" stories, and although the author does a great job with this one, it still irked me. Sam Wyndham's fresh arrival to India and war trauma-based disillusionment with the British empire was a great base for a character with a white officer's access but a slightly different point of view. However lots of little details added up that were eternally frustrating, such as the (first person) narration by Sam calling his subordinate/friend Sundernath Banerjee "Surrender-not" for the entire novel. What is more, despite his lack of political enthusiasm, Sam was a literal Fenian hunter at Special Branch in his last job. Even with his increased disillusionment and bitterness at the end of the novel,
Spoiler
clearly didn't feel bad enough about it not turn in his undecover IRA flatmate to British security forces he both hates personally and knows engage in torture of prisonersDespite these frustrations, I will likely read more books in this series. Besides the main character, the author does a very good job in exploring power and society in 1919 Calcutta while also making a exciting story. I hope that our main character goes through some serious change later in the book, and that there will be more notable women characters, but overall pretty enjoyable book.
I am giving it an extra star because the setting. More books not set in the UK please!!