What a book it is truly one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
Now I have to find the time to start from The First Book in The Series to The Fourth one.

A Rising Man

A Necessary Evil

Smoke & Ashes

Death In The East.

Really Looking forward to reading these very soon. ( )

Bummer. I really enjoyed the first two; third one, not so much. Fourth one I bailed on, but decided to give Sam and Suren another chance.

Mukherjee has a fascinating setting (Raj-era India), imbued with rich, difficult history and atmosphere; two smart, brave, appealing characters (even as Sam starts to wear a bit thin, Suren is coming into his own); and plenty of opportunities for unique conflicts. And in this one, we get alternating chapters narrated by Suren himself (for the first time) and Sam. But it is turned into an action thriller with endless chases, disguises, bombs, beatings, false arrests, leaping across rooftops, sinister bad guys, and a hefty dose of do-we-trust-the-guy-in-the-military-intelligence-unit? And, of course, an unattainable and beautiful woman of the wrong faith plus the relentlessly wealthy, connected, beautiful (duh) and utterly annoying Miss Grant. The thing is: how interesting can a pages-long chase scene be when you *know* the main characters will not die (even when the author keeps *telling* you over and over that "If I don't get there in time, I'm facing the hangman's noose!")?

UGH. Two stars because if you like action thrillers, you might like this. Not my cup of tea. I'm done. ( )

I love this series, but #5 isn't my favourite. There were alternating sections from the perspectives of Sam and Suren, which had strikingly similar voices - they are both prone to impulsive action and each has a dry sense of humour. On the plus side, I enjoyed Sam and Suren continually being bailed out by Miss Grant and her Parsee friend, and some of Suren's improvising as he tried to escape being re-arrested was exciting. On the other hand, the plot was a lot of rather tiresome (and violent) squabbling, and I didn't like the ending, which was attenuated and bitter. ( )

When a prominent Hindu cleric is found dead the prime suspect is Suren Banerjee. He claims to have been sent to the house by a senior officer, assaulted and then finding the man dead tried to cover it up. All of Bombay is aflame with religious riots. The prime suspect is a Muslim leader who has escaped to Calcutta so Sam and a fugitive Suren follow him, working undercover. The truth is far more complex and the colonial Raj rulers are not far from the centre.
I have read a couple of previous instalments in the series and found them more gripping than this. the premise is great, a secret plot to destabilise India along religious grounds and allow the Raj to cement themselves as the law but it never really seems to fly. ( )