Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2009
480 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Seven years ago, Vivek "Vicky" Rai, the playboy son of the Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh, murdered bartender Ruby Gill at a trendy restaurant in New Delhi, simply because she refused to serve him a drink.
Now Vicky Rai has been killed at the party he was throwing to celebrate his acquittal. The police recover six guests with guns in their possession: a corrupt bureaucrat who claims to have become Mahatma Gandhi; an American tourist infatuated with an Indian actress; a Stone Age tribesman on a quest to recover a sacred stone; a Bollywood sex symbol with a guilty secret; a mobile-phone thief who dreams big; and an ambitious politician prepared to stoop low.
Vikas Swarup's eagerly awaited second offering is fiction at its best. Swarup unravels the lives and motives of the six suspects, offering both a riveting page-turner and an insightful peek into the heart of contemporary India. Audaciously and astutely plotted, with a panoramic imaginative sweep, Six Suspects is the work of a master storyteller.
"While there are some funny moments, this is likely to please neither traditional mystery fans nor readers interested in contemporary India." - Publishers Weekly
"Despite some inevitable repetition and a gimmicky frame, a teeming, beguiling Indian panorama wrapped in a clever whodunit." - Kirkus
"Swarup has attempted an ambitious, complex project that required more cooking time, fewer plot lines and liberation from the desire to write a "great Indian novel." - The Guardian (UK)
"It pretends to be an exposé of what Indian newspapers call 'page-three celebrities' ... But the plot is thin, the language insipid and abounding with clichés. And what about the six characters? They are in search of an author. They remain cardboard cut-outs." - The Independent (UK)
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Vikas Swarup was born in Allahabad, India in a family of lawyers.
In his diplomatic career, Vikas has been posted to various countries such as Turkey (1987-1990), the United States (1993-1997) Ethiopia (1997-2000), the United Kingdom (2000-2003) and South Africa (2006-2009). He served as Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe, Japan from 2009 to 2013. Currently, he is posted in New Delhi as the Official Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
He penned his first novel, Q&A, in two months, when he was posted in London. Published in 2005 by Doubleday/Random House (UK & Commonwealth), Harper Collins (Canada) and Scribner (US) it has been published in 43 languages. It was short listed for the Best First Book by the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and won South Africa&#...
... Full Biography
Link to Vikas Swarup's Website
Name Pronunciation
Vikas Swarup: Suwa-roop
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