Indian author collaborates with American thriller writer

Indian author Ashwin Sanghi has collaborated with American thriller writer James Patterson for the "Private" series, and together the two have unravelled Mumbai's dark underbelly, Bollywood glitz and empowered business class.

"Private India" (Random House) is the eighth installment of Patterson's "Private" series that is about a global detective agency called in to solve criminal cases that baffle the police. The fictional head of this agency is Jack Morgan, and he along with his team hunt down criminals in different parts of the world.

"James provided a guideline, as well as an existing set of international characters that need to be woven into the story. Using his guideline, I developed the plot outline," Sanghi told IANS in an email interview.

"We discussed the outline in detail and froze it after amendments. I then proceeded to write the first draft while James wrote the final draft. All of this happened with periodic interactions over email," said the Mumbai-based author.

Not revealing much about the plot, Sanghi hinted the story is set in Mumbai and attempts to convey the full impact of maximum city through Bollywood, the mafia, godmen, politicians and business tycoons.

Sanghi promises the twists and turns and gripping suspense will keep readers on their toes. "One fine example of this," he said, "are some chapters that are merely a paragraph long."

"Simple rules that make a good thriller are: amplify character traits, eliminate fluff, build twists and suspense and never compromise with pace," he said.

"There are some chapters in this book that are just about a paragraph long. I hope that this book will encourage writers of tightly plotted mysteries and thrillers to take the plunge," he added.

The book will release July 21.