6 lives - 6 different stories in different genres. Spanning across political crime, blackmails, mental illness, slum life, endangering tribes, foreigners.

Each story is interesting and by the end of the book, I felt more curious to know what is going to happen to these people rather than getting the excitement to know who is the killer.! As said, if we treat it as crime thriller, you MAY be disappointed. But, if you can just enjoy reading some good stories, you will like the characters. And will appreciate the effort author has put to build each character with so much detailing.

Half way through reading this book I realised that, in my sixty years on earth, I have never read a book by an Indian author. This is weird because I have had a life-long fascination with India. That being said, I felt a bit rudderless. I did not have a point of reference for what I found strange about the book. The plot meandered and there were too many characters at times. I sometimes felt lost and overwhelmed by what was going on. But, I think if I found myself in India, I would feel lost and overwhelmed and that there was too much going on and too many people. The characters in the book were, some more than others, caricatures. I had a hard time deciding if that was satire, or meant seriously, or some kind of weird over-the-top Bollywood extravaganza. Many of the characters were a bit flat and I found it hard to care about them - but again, in a land of a billion people, you can't care much for everyone. So then, what a coincidence, that in a land of a billion people, the six suspects' stories all come together in a tangled web.

Spoiler

Munna just happens to meet and fall in love with Vicky's sister. Munna's sister just happens to meet and fall in love with Eketi. The money that Munna finds just happens to go through the hands of I have lost count of how many characters, etc etc etc And then in the end it all gets wrapped up, nice and tidy, in a parcel (and then another parcel, and then another parcel)

That's what I mean about the point of reference. When Jane Eyre is half dead of starvation and just happens to almost die on a random isolated doorstep in the middle of nowhere, and then later it transpires that those folks are actually her long lost cousins that she didn't even know existed, we kind of think, 'Oh yes, typical of Victorian literature'. I am going to make a point of reading something by a different Indian author to see..... Despite that, I gave this a 4 star rating - It was fun.

The book provided an interesting view of life in India through the eyes of six different characters. The mystery itself was not as intriguing as the characters in this book.

2,5/5

a fast paced thriller. Murder by gunshot of a rich, influential, rotten-to-the-core son of a political tycoon at his own lavish party in a remote farm house celebrating his eviction from a nasty case of killing a young bartender lady; six suspects who are caught at the scene with guns in their hands, so many motives, so many twists and turns - this book kept me engaged. All the characters were quirky and funny, especially the politician in whom Gandhiji's soul entered from time to time. I laughed a lot. All the real incidents and scandals of modern India were copied from the pages of newspapers with only names changed, nevertheless I enjoyed reading those. There were wicked politicians, multiple scams, drunken rampages killing pedestrians, money changing hands, females being extorted into the trade; you name it, the book had it. The end was a bit disappointing though

Spoiler

in that it doesn't reveal who has done the deed. It keeps us guessing.

Read from March to April 2012, I HAVE REVIEWED THIS ONE TWICE!
Just adding the duplicate review here, to compare and contrast just for larks, at my leisure

Liked this book. Was fast paced, thrilling, and lots of current Indian scandals were thrown in with the names changed. An arrogant, murderer who has escaped scot free due to his father's (home minister of India) influence is shot dead at his own party. The police quickly cordons off the area and find six people carrying guns (invited as well as gatecrashers). We are treated to their life stories, slowly unfolding and meshing together. It was funny in places, I liked all the characters (even the bad ones), but the beginning was not that good and the ending spoilt it all. If ending was as good as the middle pages, I would definitely have given this book 4 stars. On the whole, recommendable to all Indian mystery buffs, though India is not shown in a positive way here.

This is a superb mystery novel set in the underworld of Bombay. Despite the length, I read it in a sitting, given up sustenance and sleep to get to the end. Well-written, thoughtfully crafted, and thoroughly detailed.

A light, zippy and quirky read. An incredible plot and absurd characters give it an almost 'masala' movie feel.

I love large sweeping books with multiple characters that come together. But it has to be done just so. Six Suspects had the potential for that but was more rambling and confusing than it ought to have been. Some of the characters are cartoons as well. Especially the American (who learns quickly but somehow is so dumb he can't figure out very basic stuff most American children would know). I don't require that characters all be realistic, but I don't want to constantly be rolling my eyes either. All in all, it's a decent read but could have used a stronger editor.