Private India: City on Fire

By: James Patterson, Ashwin Sanghi

Narrated by: Amerjit Deu, Raj Ghatak

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Jack Morgan opens the Mumbai branch of Private, the world's most elite detective agency, he hands the reins to top agent Santosh Wagh. Now, in this teeming metropolis of over 13 million people where the guilty have everywhere to hide, Santosh goes on the hunt for one elusive killer. A killer who is targeting seemingly unconnected women and placing strange objects at their death scenes in a series of chilling rituals.

As the Private team races to find a link that will lead them to the next victim, an unseen menace threatens to destroy the agency from within - and plunge the city into chaos. With countless lives hanging in the balance, Santosh must confront the demons of his past… before Private India meets an explosive end.

©2014 James Patterson, Ashwin Sanghi (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Horrible!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No one. Loved previous "Private" audiobooks, but this one was impossible too follow and understand the narration.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Amerjit Deu and Raj Ghatak ?

Someone without such a heavy Indian accent. Impossible to understand.

Any additional comments?

Please re-release with a different narrator. I should have belived the reviews I read before buying. It really is as bad as was stated by others.

too hard to follow

What would have made Private India: City on Fire better?

Not sure

What was most disappointing about James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi ’s story?

I'm not really sure i liked the accent of the reader. But I loved the accent in the Australian story! I also found the characters names too hard to follow. And there were too many different stories leading up to the finish, it was very confusing at times

How could the performance have been better?

Maybe more readers to differentiate the characters?? And Jack having a slight Indian accent was weird.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

not sure

Any additional comments?

I almost stopped listening to the book and return it but I kept thinking that it would get better and it didn't. I love all the Private Books but just not this one!! Sorry

Terrible narration makes for tedious listening

What disappointed you about Private India: City on Fire?

The narration was horrible. Jack Morgan sounded like an Indian attempting to speak with a Texas accent. Very annoying.

What could James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Picked a better narrator. And I could have done with a little less frequent descriptions of squalid locations.

Would you be willing to try another one of Amerjit Deu and Raj Ghatak ’s performances?

Absolutely not.

Entertaining & No Problems With the Accents

Where does Private India: City on Fire rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

While not the best of the PRIVATE series, it certainly isn't the worst either. I found no problems with the Narrators - yeah, they have Indian accents but the book is Private - INDIA. I expect Indian accents. I expect Aussie accents in Private, Down Under too.

Have you listened to any of Amerjit Deu and Raj Ghatak ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. This is actually the first time I've run into them. I thought they did a fair job although, it would've been far better if there had been a male & a female voice - not a man pretending to be female, badly. I had no problem with the accents themselves but often had problems distinguishing between characters. There was not enough difference between characters & the Narrators' voices & accents were too much alike.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. This book is not as good as some of the others in the series. Maybe it's the Author. There's a lot of ugly detail in this book that seems to be there simply to fill the space. Ashwin Sanghi is just not as good an author as Maxine Paetro.

Any additional comments?

I read a lot of the reviews about this book & really hesitated to buy it because of all the negativity about the Narrators. I bought it in the end because I didn't think any book with James Patterson's name on it could be that bad. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had few problems with the narration & the accents were perfectly reasonable.

NARRATION EPIC FAIL!!!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better narrator, so hard to follow the story! Im only on chapter 4 and I wish I knew what had happened so far. I keep hoping it's going to click.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something from the Wizard series

How could the performance have been better?

BETTER NARRATOR HANDS DOWN!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not sure yet, only on chapter 4...doing my best to finish

Narration makes this book difficult to follow

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narration is surprisingly poor on this book. It is quite monotone, and does not vary from one character to another. The narration seems to go from word to word, making it very hard to follow. I have replayed some sections multiple times just to figure out what was doing on.

Would you be willing to try another one of Amerjit Deu and Raj Ghatak ’s performances?

No

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator. The Indian accent is like fingernails on a chalkboard--very annoying and unnecessary.

How could the performance have been better?

Another narrator.

Accent made story harder to follow

The story was decent, but not great. The narrator's accent added realism to the story but distracted from being able to enjoy the story because I was concentrating on understanding the narrator.

Worst Patterson I have listened to.

What would have made Private India: City on Fire better?

The narrator was very hard to understand. I quit listening to the book before
it was finished.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The new Lindsay Boxer Patterson number 14.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Very much so.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No.

Any additional comments?

No worth the time put into listening!

Not a recommending this book

The worst Private book of the series. The F(word) was used 1 too many times - that it was used period. If you like having every little thing described in detail, you'll like this book. I felt like I was reading an elementary book.