Original language:
English Translated from: English
Authors: Swarup, Vikas
Translated by: Rosenaitė, Ina
ISBN: 978-9986-39-875-2
Published in: Vilnius
Published on: 2016
Publisher: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla
The author, Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup is best known for his famous book and its screening, which in 2009 won seven Oscars. However, after that followed the second book, which is just as attention worthy as the first one, the detective ,,Six Suspects“.
This book tells a story about the murder case of Vicky Rai and a search of a killer. Vicky Rai is the son of a corrupt politician, who seven years ago killed a waitress named Ruby Gill, but was recently acquitted. Ironically Vicky Rai got shot during his acquittal party. Arun Advani, a famous Indian journalist who is determined to cover the case. Six guns as well as six suspects were found at the location, where the party was hosted and they became the main characters of the story. Among them are: Mohan Kumar, a corrupted bureaucrat, who claims to have become the monk Mahatma Gandi; Larry Page, an American tourist, who came to India to find his true love; Eketi, a man, who came to India from an island of Andaman to find a holy rock, which was stolen from his tribe, famous Bollywood actress Shabnam Saxena, average guy with a funny name Mobilephone Muna, who suddenly got rich and Jagannath Rai, Vicky‘s father, an Indian politician, who is ready to do anything for his career. The author talks about these characters‘ lives and tells the motives of each bringing a gun that evening.
The author has brought up important questions through this detective: what can make a person commit a crime against a life; why after the death some people still remain more important than others and is it possible for everyone to achieve justice in such a socially divided country as India? The author is looking deep into a persons feelings and emotions by answering these questions. Thus, Vikas Swarup while telling the stories and crime motives of the main characters from their perspective shows their sensitive sides and gives us an opportunity to understand their actions better. Furthermore, the author in this story shows such acute Indian problems as: poverty, unfair treatment of people from lower castes, coercion, corruption, racism and many others.
Hence, this book shows the lives of various Indian people, reveals, that even the legal system is favorable to the people of higher castes. Also, it tells us about the emotional world of a person, who is ready to commit a murder. I would recommend ‘‘Six suspects“ to everyone, who wants to better understand Indian culture and social world and also read a great detective with an unexpected ending.