Escaped

Who can you trust when no one is who they seem?

Aided by his wife Ria and friend Dev, Partho’s long overdue vacation on the US east coast is finally on. But mysteries have a way of tracking him down, especially the sinister ones.

It started out as a cheerful family outing to a Spanish restaurant on Thanksgiving Eve. Somewhere in between the entrée and the dessert, it has turned into a calamity, embroiling them in a sinister plot involving an escaped convict, assassinations, and corporate greed and malfeasance.

When Partho’s expedition becomes unwittingly entangled with the target everyone is looking for—an escaped death-row inmate—he has no other choice but to tackle it head-on. Will their vacation turn deadly before they can solve the case?

"Enjoyable mystery story:

Anyone who’s ever had a holiday gone wrong will love this story. And anyone who loves a well-written, tight mystery will also love this story. On vacation to the U.S., Partho, his wife, and friend Dev are on a tour when they stop for a bite to eat and a gang of gun toting criminals enter. When threats fly the action begins. And continues on through to the end. Adding richness to the storyline are the characters: from another culture, Partho’s the inventor is a loner, his wife Ria more outgoing, and Dev is irresponsible. The story is told from Dev’s POV. He’s Ria’s brother and a friend of Partho’s from before he married her. You get a sense of their relationship from the very start in that he describes Partho as not enthusiastic about traveling to the U.S. east coast and then makes the case for the divergent personalities describing how they’ve been friends since high school, where Partho’s was a loner and bullied, he, Dev his only friend. The scene descriptions are well described down to the dampness of the day or the wobbling of a plane. I’m equally interested in who the mystery turns out as I am getting to know the characters. I enjoyed the read.

Fast-paced, great plot:

This novel appears to be the second book in a series featuring the P.I. character of Partho. It can be read as a standalone as I was under no handicap not having read the first in series.

It’s a rocking read, fast-paced, great plot with some interesting twists and turns and a huge surprise at the end.

The characters are fascinating, particularly the main characters of Partho, his old friend now brother-in law Dev, and Partho’s wife Ria. The other characters in the book aren’t far behind either, both ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies.’ Before I turn away from characters, I must give a special mention to the rhyming twins who were passengers on the bus tour of the north-eastern states of the US. They were hilarious with their united chimes in rhyme as a comment on the current predicament: an unusual writing device bit it worked.

The plot centres on Partho, his wife, and Dev as Partho and this family group arrive in the US from India, partly so Partho can attend a conference (he is a gifted inventor and scientist), and partly for a holiday. On an outing for a restaurant meal, they become embroiled in a sinister plot involving an escaped convict, assassinations, corporate greed and wrongdoings. The plot is topical touching on contaminated drinking water supplies and fracking.

Partho is recruited by a local cop to help investigate. What follows is a bus ride from Pittsburgh, to Ney York City, Niagara, Boston and back to Pennsylvania. During the trip, suspects and clues are revealed like peeling an orange – slowly but surely until the reader gets to the ‘juice.’ It’s all reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express – substitute bus for train.

The book is written from Dev’s point of view. That made me think of a comparison with Sherlock Holmes books in that Partho is Doyle’s Sherlock and Dev is Watson – trying hard but bumbling along as the loyal sidekick.

The other thing I loved about the writing style was the short, punchy sentences. Inevitably the style had me thinking of the best pulp fiction such as John M Cain and Charles Bukowski.

A fantastic read from a new author to me. I shall certainly be reading more of Partho – a 21st century Sherlock with all kinds of amazing gadgets."