Burning Ghats (George Sansi Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading!!!
Review: I can just imagine Paul Mann as a boy camping out at night with a friend (possibly a young Steven King), huddled under a pup-tent with a flashlight, telling horror stories and giggling about "greasy, grimy, gopher guts." Though he's now traded in the flashlight for a searchlight trained on India's bewilderingly corrupt social and political machinery in his series of George Sansi novels, he still includes gopher-gut gore to make real some of the horrific abuses in India's systems. The Burning Ghats is the darkest of the three Sansi mystery novels. In this novel, however, even George Sansi himself is less than heroic as he investigates a toxic chemical spill which has killed over a thousand religious pilgrims cremating their loved ones on the banks of the Ganga. In previous novels Annie Ginnaro, Sansi's American girlfriend, keeps him human for the reader, or at least understandable and sympathetic to an American audience. But in Burning Ghats, Annie is not a player, hurt by Sansi's one-night betrayal with a former lover, the Environment minister, and distanced by his relocation. Even at the conclusion of the novel, Sansi is not the complete hero, as Mann uses a deus-ex-machina outside element to resolve some of the most burning issues. Without Annie or someone else with whom he can express a soft side, Sansi may be succumbing to some of the forces he is fighting. Perhaps this is a realistic response, but one hopes for more hope both for Sansi and for India in future Sansi novels

Rating:
Summary: Bad Research and a poor plot makes a bad novel
Review: I had the misfortune of reading this book and I can safely say that I will never touch another Paul Mann book again.

The book is very poorly researched; the author's knowledge of India seems to be limited to tourist visits and stereotypes (to which he is successfully adding). He does not know the the difference between male and female Indian names, gives Muslim names to Hindu characters, has absolutely no idea of the of the Indian Police or security setup and if you have to believe him you would expect Indians always speak in the present-continuous tense. The plot is rather thin(in fact there is no plot), and the reader has no idea of how the events unfolded. It is a rather juvenile attempt to show the contradictions of modern and traditional India, and only shows the author's poor understanding of both.

The scenes depicted are rather ludicrous, the characters half-formed, situations exgagerated, at times it is an attempt to pepertuate falsehood. Only a person who has no knowledge od India and prefers to believe in the hackneyed stereotypes would enjoy this book. I am really surprised that a publisher such as Random House agreed to publish this ignorant and shallow book, which really deserves zero stars.

Rating:
Summary: Bad research and stereotyping make a terrible novel
Review: I had the misfortune to read this book and I can safely say that I will never read another George Mann Book again. For a person who has written more than one book based in India, the author has very poor knowledge and obviously has done only peripheral research. He does not know the difference between a male and female Indian names, gives Hindu Characters Muslim names and has a rather condescending style. The book is full of stereotypes that any amatuer can pick up from reading the popular Western press, the scenes described are ludicrous and mostly insulting. Only ignorant westerners who have no idea of India can like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good concept, bad implementation
Review: It was the first Paul Mann I read and I don't think I'm going to read another. The concept is novel (no pun intended), but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. For one, the parallels to real life are so thinly disguised, one wonders if this should be called a novel at all. For another -- and this may seem minor to many -- the author doesn't even seem to know the difference between names and surnames, female and male names, Hindu and Muslim names. It can be really irritating for an Indian reader. Besides, there are plenty of loose ends -- how does Rafee manage to get his revenge anyway? While apparently focusing on the 'modern' India, Mann falls back on the stereotype popular in the west: the land of the Kama Sutra, of incredible poverty, of irredeemable corruption. On the other hand, the author's style is racy -- as long as you aren't asking too many questions. It's the perfect book to buy before a long railway journey -- and leave behind in the train.

Rating:
Summary: Good idea but bad execution
Review: Paul Mann has apparently found a niche writing mysteries set in India. Alas, the idea appears to be better than the books. The Burning Ghats opens with a lethal phosphorus spill that pours down a sacred river and kills hundreds of pilgrims. It's a striking image and one that leads the reader to expect a good mystery. Alas, this book is inconsistent and sometimes downright bad.

While Mann sometimes provides carefully woven descriptions of various Indian settings, this book often seems overwritten. One scene of a press conference is particularly tedious, with the crowd compared to waves and raindrops. Also, several characters appear midway and receive a lot of ink before disappearing from the pages well before the end of the book. One character in particular, an American businessman, seems only to exist so that a racy sexual encounter can be described. The Indian characters do not fair much better, with graft and deceit being common themes. Another character, the son of a ruthless tycoon, is said to be follower of a radical cleric; yet nothing more is ever mentioned of his extreme religious views. Instead, he winds up being one of the only generous characters in the novel.

So is the real India a land of excess, corruption, and misery? As a westerner, I can't say with certainty, but I believe India is not so simple. I think mystery fans can do a lot better than this book. It is hard to recommend it, although I have read worse.

Rating:
Summary: The Burning Ghats
Review: This is the third of Paul Mann's George Sansi Mysteries. As a frequent visitor to India, I find these books about the underside of modern Indian society absolutely fascinating. Mann leads the reader into the crevices of Indian life whether the drug scene, Bollywood, or in this one the corporate world and reveals aspects of the culture from the noble to the sinful. Characters from central to tertiary are finely wrought and memorable. I would recommend that the books be read in the sequence of their publication since the main characters grow and deepen in a very satisfying way that adds considerably to the stories being told. I recommend all three books without reservation (Ganja Coast and Season of the Monsoon). For me they are everything a mystery, police procedural, and adventure should be!