Wednesday, January 16, 2008


A large book set in the Indian City of Mumbai(Bombay). A crime boss, a policeman, a procuress, a Bollywood superstar. Their lives are told in the smallest detail through 947 pages. This is an epic woven out of the pieces of daily life. The crime boss, Ganesh Gaitonde is the main character. The brutality of his rise and the nature of his business make for compulsive reading. A lowly police inspector, Sartaj Singh is the mobster's psychological companion through the story, a a bizarre death linking them. I can't call this book just a crime novel, more like a breath of life in all it's complexity and moral dilemma. In the end sacred Games does India justice. You might want to share it with a friend or your book group.

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