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Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

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Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

Written by: Deepa Anappara
Narrated by: Indira Verma, Himesh Patel, Antonio Aakeel, Deepa Anappara
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About this listen

 Discover the “extraordinary” (The Washington Post) debut novel that “announces the arrival of a literary supernova” (The New York Times Book Review),“a drama of childhood that is as wild as it is intimate” (Chigozie Obioma).

WINNER OF THE EDGAR® AWARD • ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, The Guardian, Library Journal

In a sprawling Indian city, a boy ventures into its most dangerous corners to find his missing classmate. . . .

Through market lanes crammed with too many people, dogs, and rickshaws, past stalls that smell of cardamom and sizzling oil, below a smoggy sky that doesn’t let through a single blade of sunlight, and all the way at the end of the Purple metro line lies a jumble of tin-roofed homes where nine-year-old Jai lives with his family. From his doorway, he can spot the glittering lights of the city’s fancy high-rises, and though his mother works as a maid in one, to him they seem a thousand miles away. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line plunges readers deep into this neighborhood to trace the unfolding of a tragedy through the eyes of a child as he has his first perilous collisions with an unjust and complicated wider world.

Jai drools outside sweet shops, watches too many reality police shows, and considers himself to be smarter than his friends Pari (though she gets the best grades) and Faiz (though Faiz has an actual job). When a classmate goes missing, Jai decides to use the crime-solving skills he has picked up from TV to find him. He asks Pari and Faiz to be his assistants, and together they draw up lists of people to interview and places to visit.

But what begins as a game turns sinister as other children start disappearing from their neighborhood. Jai, Pari, and Faiz have to confront terrified parents, an indifferent police force, and rumors of soul-snatching djinns. As the disappearances edge ever closer to home, the lives of Jai and his friends will never be the same again.

Drawing on real incidents and a spate of disappearances in metropolitan India, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is extraordinarily moving, flawlessly imagined, and a triumph of suspense. It captures the fierce warmth, resilience, and bravery that can emerge in times of trouble and carries the reader headlong into a community that, once encountered, is impossible to forget. Amateur Sleuth Coming of Age Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literary Fiction Mystery Urban
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I'm only a couple of chapters down, and I really really like the story so far - and that's about the only thing that is keeping me going in spite of the very jarring accent laced narration.

I don't want to be disrespectful in my review, so I want to clarify right off the bat that it's not really the narrator's fault. I think the responsibility of production/accurate casting lies with Audible (or whoever produced this), & if they are going to cast a non-native speaker for a story that contains native styling, then they are doing the listeners, the writer, and themselves a disservice.

Listening to this was like finding pebbles in your biryani. It was very jarring to hear an "attempted" Indian accent, with Jai pronounced as "Jaaiee", Basti as "bass-tea", Bhoot bazaar as "boot bazarre" and so on... You wouldn't cast someone with an Indian accent to read the part written for an American/British character, so what gives!?!?

Beautiful Story Marred by Jarring Narration

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this book is so well written.. read it because you will never forget this story.. Never

no words

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Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara easily becomes one of my favourite books I've read this year so far. Another one to the list of 'my favourites that turned out to be written by a Journalist as well'

🌷 the story is set in a slum area in Delhi (reminded me a bit of 'slumdog millionaire')
🌷 have a young (child) protagonist (its NOT a middle grade book) dealing with mature topics in his own ways, like a child would– which makes it a brilliant read
🌷 a coming of age story with the focus on psychological and moral growth (there is a word for it, Bildungsroman)
🌷 subtle underlying messages about the Indian society and people in general crafted beautifully in the narrative
🌷 loved the story building and enjoyed it overall

4.5/ 5 ⭐️

The writing

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