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Published Jul 2014
448 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
In life you never get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.
A business empire worth ten billion dollars. This is the tantalizing offer made by Vinay Mohan Acharya, one of India's richest men, to Sapna Sinha, a simple salesgirl in an electronics store in downtown Delhi. She can be the next CEO of his incredibly huge and profitable company. There is only one catch - she needs to pass seven tests from the "textbook of life."
Thus begins the most challenging journey Sapna has ever undertaken, one that will take her from her swanky showroom to the heat and dust of India's backstreets and villages. Along the way she encounters a host of memorable personalities, from a vain Bollywood superstar to a kleptomaniac Gandhian. But are the seven tests real or is Acharya playing a game driven by a perverse fantasy?
Vikas Swarup, acclaimed author of Slumdog Millionaire and Six Suspects, has written a compelling, suspenseful tale about the lure of money and the power of dreams. The Accidental Apprentice is international crime fiction at its most entertaining.
"Slumdog Millionaire author Swarup is a skilled storyteller who doesn't hesitate to take on some of the most troublesome issues of his native land - corruption, caste, color, tradition - as he also captures and celebrates its sights and sounds in this fast-moving mystery." - Booklist
"A thought-provoking dissection of a modern India." - Kirkus
"Swarup's voice has a magical quality - an essential kindness, a likeability... Like the Bollywood dance at the end of Slumdog Millionaire, it is oddly uplifting and joyful." - The Sunday Times (UK)
"Gets off to an exciting start and ends with a spectacular twist." - Mail on Sunday (UK)
"Swarup's prose is crisp... A thrilling chase." - The Times (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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