Kill A Stranger by Simon Kernic

‘To save a life….could you take another?’ This is the intriguing premise of Kill A Stranger by Simon Kernick. Matt comes home to find his pregnant fiancée missing and a corpse occupying their bed. In order to save the woman he loves and their unborn child he must first dispose of the dead woman, then find and murder a nominated person. After a jaw-dropping opening sequence the plot advances at breakneck speed. Most of the short chapters are narrated in first person by one of the protagonists, but a few are the observations of a police officer who is trying to figure out which of several characters, if any, are telling the truth.

Kernick’s prose style is simple and unpretentious. Events and locations are presented factually, with description kept to a bare minimum. Some of the characters occasionally reflect on their own actions, but only in order to insert chunks of back story that drive the plot onwards. There is little attempt to create atmosphere or build up tension, except by means of the cliff-hangers that conclude each chapter. Every word in this book contributes to a gradually increasing fund of information about the relationships between Matt and Kate and the shady characters involved in the kidnapping.

I found Kernick’s story-telling technique extremely effective. The first few chapters are very dramatic and fast-moving. I wanted to carry on reading to find out whether anyone was going to come out of this complex and bloody situation with their innocence intact. There are enough twists, turns and thrills in the narrative to satisfy the most demanding reader.

Speaking personally, I found the conclusion far-fetched, but that’s only my opinion. Fans of fast-paced thrillers with inventive and twisty plots fuelled by adrenaline will find plenty to enjoy in Kill A Stranger by Simon Kernick.

Jaipur Journals by Namita Gokhale

‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,’ says Anirban M, a successful author of graphic novels, while he is selecting brilliantly coloured saris for himself and a friend to wear. The friend neither agrees nor disagrees with this statement. She simply replies, ‘Too much information,’ and allows the rest of Anirban’s lecture to go over her head. I suggest this is the best way to read Jaipur Journals. Luxuriate in the vivid colours, the exotic locations and the entertaining personalities. As for the history and philosophy, you can just go with the flow.

Although the novel starts from the point of view of a schoolgirl who is at the beginning of her writing career, and returns to her towards the end, the central character is Rudrani Rana, an unpublished writer in her seventies. With its emphasis on memories, encounters with long-lost lovers and the lasting influence of family, Jaipur Journals will probably be most appreciated by the middle-aged and elderly. However, Namita Gokhale’s writing is full of dry wit, and the book contains enough literary gossip, scandal and opportunistic crime to keep all her readers amused.

‘Told from multiple perspectives, from the authors enjoying moments of adulation after years of creative isolation, to the star-struck public mingling with their cultural icons, to those in-between, who are both author and fan, these diverse stories of lost love and regret, self-doubt, and new beginnings come together in a narrative that is as varied as India itself. From a septuagenarian who has completed her semi-biographical novel but does not want to part with it, to an author who receives a threat in the form of a poison pen letter; from a historian who reunites with a past lover, to a burglar who is passionate about poetry; from a young woman who has no idea what this world has in store for her, to an American woman looking for the India of her hippie youth, this metafictional, wryly funny novel is an ode to literature.’

Now that I have read Jaipur Journals, going to the Jaipur Literary Festival is on my personal wish list. Namita Gokhale, who is an excellent and highly successful Indian writer and publisher, is the Festival’s co-founder and director, so she must know the scene there inside out. I expect the Indian literary scene is in a frenzy, while regular attendees of the Festival try to figure out who was the inspiration for each character. I hope Rudrani Rana, who in my opinion came across as rather spiteful, is purely imaginary.