I really wanted to like Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. It has a ton of elements that I like. Here’s a plot summary.
Jai is 9 years old and is obsessed with police dramas. When he finds out that a boy in his slum is missing, he and two other friends decide to set up an investigation. Soon other children go missing, including his sister. Will this trio catch the culprit?
Djinn Patrol starts off in a light way. It’s funny, there’s social commentary such as the inhabitants of the slum they live, the people selling goods in the marketplace, the gossiping, the fake soothsayer, the school Jai goes to and the hierarchy of bullies and there’s the mystery.
Then after a 100 pages or so it gets dark and a more sinister side of India is revealed, which is still a problem today – in fact in the afterward, the author said in order to research this topic she had to move abroad. Probably you can guess what I’m referring to but I would rather keep it a secret as the reveal did raise my eyebrows a bit.
So yes, the mystery is a macguffin and I liked that. Djinn patrol is quite a serious book and a political one in the process.
Yet I did not like the writing style – I found it too jagged and stilted at times and I could not really connect with the characters – I found them to be cartoon cutouts.
All I can say is that I am going through a bit of a slump so hopefully, I’ll return to this and my view will change. At this point in time I am disappointed by Djinn Patrol …
Like this? Try this : Indra Sinha – Animal’s People
The Bobsphere 