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Necropolis
a creature of the night and a political player, a well-dressed clubber and a lover of poetry. Hushed voices say she may be hundreds of years old, almost as old as her Delhi, the city of tombs, at once majestic and in disarray.Razia is muse and antagonist to DCP Sajan Dayal, whose centuries-old roots lie in bureaucratic service. Assisting Dayal are Kapoor, a legend in the Delhi Police, and an idealistic young cop named Smita Dhingra, who - unlike Kapoor - is from the elite Indian Police Service. As the novel progresses, the officers' pursuit of a serial collector of fingers quickly spirals into encounters with would-be vampires and werewolves, rampant sexual violence, the political pressures that attend every aspect of life in a capital city - and, at every turn, Razia.A first novel of unusual beauty, Necropolis weaves poetry, brothels, ministers and migrants into a heady, twisted and darkly entertaining tale, peeling back the layers from a city that is simultaneously in thrall to its past, hostage to its present and bitterly divided as to its future.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2014
2 people are currently reading
326 people want to read
About the author
Avtar Singh
151 books23 followersAvtar Singh is the author of The Beauty of These Present Things. He has worked as a magazine editor in Mumbai and Delhi. He lives in Delhi with his wife, son, and singing dog. Necropolis is his latest novel.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 11, 2016
Ok, so don't let the middle of the road stars fool you -- this is an excellently well written book. It's an astonishing portrait of Delhi and of a very specific time. It's also a compelling, noir-ish mystery with intertwining, episodic vignettes of violence and political manipulation.
Because it is all of those things, it is not really to my taste -- I found the drifting, nonlinear storytelling to be intriguing, but not satisfying.
Because it is all of those things, it is not really to my taste -- I found the drifting, nonlinear storytelling to be intriguing, but not satisfying.
June 22, 2016
Necropolis is a beautifully composed novel that highlights Delhi's unique culture where tradition wages a subtle war against modern values. On superficial examination, the novel is composed of the cases assigned to detective Sajan Dayal and his team. These cases differ from the standard police procedural in that the struggle for power between the old guard (the traditionalists) and the young who wish to be recognized lie at the heart. Sajan's investigations are as much part of the power play as the crimes themselves. But there is more, an underlying theme of a potentially paranormal nature, where tradition is personified in vampire form, unrelenting and eternal. Singh's Delhi is beautiful and terrible at once. Poverty and wealth reside side by side and the desire to advance one's station at all costs is omnipresent. The reader is at once above it all and powerlessly immersed in the stories.
Whether I liked the novel is a difficult question to answer. Necropolis is beautiful, a fever dream that gives a unique perspective to life in modern Delhi and the challenges faced, particularly by women and the young. Reading it profoundly affected me and made me question ideas and realize how little I know about Indian culture. Necropolis is not a novel you "like". It is however a unique work of art that deserves acclaim.
5/5
I received a copy of Necropolis from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
--Crittermom
Whether I liked the novel is a difficult question to answer. Necropolis is beautiful, a fever dream that gives a unique perspective to life in modern Delhi and the challenges faced, particularly by women and the young. Reading it profoundly affected me and made me question ideas and realize how little I know about Indian culture. Necropolis is not a novel you "like". It is however a unique work of art that deserves acclaim.
5/5
I received a copy of Necropolis from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
--Crittermom
July 10, 2016
This book was a Goodreads giveaway. I finished it, but found it to be a difficult read. It was interesting but difficult to follow. I had to back up a couple of times because I lost track of the storyline.
July 5, 2023
I refuse to believe the author wrote this without a thesaurus by his side. Purple to the extreme.
October 17, 2023
कुछ अलग (अजीब?) सी पुस्तक है।
मालूम होता है कि लेखक इस पुस्तक के माध्यम से बहुत कुछ कहना चाहते थे, दिखाना चाहते थे दिल्ली के बारे में पर ....
एक पुलिस अफ़सर जो पार्ट टाइम इतिहासकार और पुरातत्वविद् भी हैं, दिल्ली में हो रहे आपराधिक मामलों को सुलझा रहे हैं। कुछ अपराध ऐसे हैं जो दिल्ली मात्र में ही हो सकते हैं। अपराध कैसे सुलझाया या पूरी तरह सुलझा भी पाये या नहीं ये लेखक ने कई बार स्पष्ट नहीं किया है। वैसे ये पुस्तक अपराध और अपराधियों के बारे में है भी नहीं। शायद पिशाचिनी रूपी दिल्ली और उसके अतीत स्वरूपों के बारे में, या उसके बाशिंदो और उसके खंडहरों के बारे में है, पक्का कह नहीं सकता।
और हाँ एक शब्दकोश धोरे रख के पढ़ना पड़ा था इसे।
मालूम होता है कि लेखक इस पुस्तक के माध्यम से बहुत कुछ कहना चाहते थे, दिखाना चाहते थे दिल्ली के बारे में पर ....
एक पुलिस अफ़सर जो पार्ट टाइम इतिहासकार और पुरातत्वविद् भी हैं, दिल्ली में हो रहे आपराधिक मामलों को सुलझा रहे हैं। कुछ अपराध ऐसे हैं जो दिल्ली मात्र में ही हो सकते हैं। अपराध कैसे सुलझाया या पूरी तरह सुलझा भी पाये या नहीं ये लेखक ने कई बार स्पष्ट नहीं किया है। वैसे ये पुस्तक अपराध और अपराधियों के बारे में है भी नहीं। शायद पिशाचिनी रूपी दिल्ली और उसके अतीत स्वरूपों के बारे में, या उसके बाशिंदो और उसके खंडहरों के बारे में है, पक्का कह नहीं सकता।
और हाँ एक शब्दकोश धोरे रख के पढ़ना पड़ा था इसे।
December 1, 2021
Police story with vampires and lycans brewing war in New Delhi, it started good but there's a part where a trigger warning should have been mentioned like in the preface or even in here in Goodreads I guess I was caught off guard, it was poetically told between these trio in the police force solving cases but revolving with a crime of someone taking a finger from its victim other than that I can't recalled anything else.
August 23, 2019
amazing stunner of a way of seeing & expressing a city!! Almost Urbanist, with sociologist, historian & architecture added!! How else does one use lines like " Delhi s own hard on" for Qutab Minar!!-) & the metaphor of Razia is an inspired explanation of the city that never dies!!
Loved the book Mr. Avtar Singh!
Loved the book Mr. Avtar Singh!
January 28, 2020
This is a police story with a lot of difference - if you enjoy reading literary fiction with a certain amount of mystery element, then this book is for you; else, skip!
October 10, 2016
Necropolis by Avtar Singh
I received a FREE copy of this book in exchange for an HONEST review. I don’t inflate ratings…I just rate them how I personally liked/disliked them - aka – my opinion...which means you might feel differently. Check out my other ratings and see if your “tastes” match mine.
For some reason it always seems that MOST books people receive as free review copies get excellent reviews…even if they aren’t so excellent. I’m not sure if this is because people feel they “owe” something for the free book or what. That's not me...
Anyways:
This novel is an easy read. This is not a complement unless you just want something to read to pass the time on the plane/train and then toss it in the trash not really caring if you every finish it. It is a very liner story with no surprises, no twists and no REAL crime solving/detective work involved.
I’ll try not to give away too much and ruin the very thin/weak story line. Basically there is a deputy commissioner of police, his assistant and another “up and coming police officer” who run around (and get made fools of a lot) trying to solve a few crimes in a corrupt political environment (this novel is set in India but this type of story could take place in any number of countries around the world). It was almost like watching the news about a few mildly interesting crimes that eventually got solved but the author decided to throw in some sex and vampires (ooohhhh) in hopes of spicing up a dull piece of fiction.
The criminals were basically handed to the deputy commissioner by one main character and many minor ones. He kept getting messages similar to this: “Oh my nephew knows who did this”…or “If you would have asked sooner, I would have told you who the criminal was. Come to my house tonight and I will give him to you…”
I am fairly certain that the author modeled the main character around what he himself would like to be and was trying to live vicariously through him…always praising the main character for his “cool under fire”, the way all the women wanted him, etc, etc. It was like listening to someone brag about themselves only all of it was lies.
I felt like I was reading a cheap imitation of a James Church “Inspector O” novel (set in North Korea) except unlike Church’s main character (Inspector O), Singh’s main character (can’t even recall his name at this point) was thin and shallow.
Overall – 2 STARS.
I received a FREE copy of this book in exchange for an HONEST review. I don’t inflate ratings…I just rate them how I personally liked/disliked them - aka – my opinion...which means you might feel differently. Check out my other ratings and see if your “tastes” match mine.
For some reason it always seems that MOST books people receive as free review copies get excellent reviews…even if they aren’t so excellent. I’m not sure if this is because people feel they “owe” something for the free book or what. That's not me...
Anyways:
This novel is an easy read. This is not a complement unless you just want something to read to pass the time on the plane/train and then toss it in the trash not really caring if you every finish it. It is a very liner story with no surprises, no twists and no REAL crime solving/detective work involved.
I’ll try not to give away too much and ruin the very thin/weak story line. Basically there is a deputy commissioner of police, his assistant and another “up and coming police officer” who run around (and get made fools of a lot) trying to solve a few crimes in a corrupt political environment (this novel is set in India but this type of story could take place in any number of countries around the world). It was almost like watching the news about a few mildly interesting crimes that eventually got solved but the author decided to throw in some sex and vampires (ooohhhh) in hopes of spicing up a dull piece of fiction.
The criminals were basically handed to the deputy commissioner by one main character and many minor ones. He kept getting messages similar to this: “Oh my nephew knows who did this”…or “If you would have asked sooner, I would have told you who the criminal was. Come to my house tonight and I will give him to you…”
I am fairly certain that the author modeled the main character around what he himself would like to be and was trying to live vicariously through him…always praising the main character for his “cool under fire”, the way all the women wanted him, etc, etc. It was like listening to someone brag about themselves only all of it was lies.
I felt like I was reading a cheap imitation of a James Church “Inspector O” novel (set in North Korea) except unlike Church’s main character (Inspector O), Singh’s main character (can’t even recall his name at this point) was thin and shallow.
Overall – 2 STARS.
January 10, 2017
In general, I enjoy crime stories from other countries because the good ones often contains a good social history beneath the genre trappings. This New Delhi-set book certainly seeks to do this, but neither aspect was successful enough to hold my sustained interest. It's built around a series of crimes over the course of a year or so: a gang of nine-fingered men running amok in the city, the murder of an African drug dealer and his girlfriend, the kidnapping of a child from an elite daycare. The three main characters are a contrasting trio perfectly in keeping with the genre: Deputy Commissioner Dayal is the witty, urbane, sharp-minded leader of the crack police investigative team, with his grizzled veteran head-cracker Kapoor at his side to do the dirty work (or call upon his vast network of "cousins" to do so), and fresh-faced, tech-savvy female copy Smita.
As a crime procedural, it doesn't really work that well because while the heroes do some work, they're also handed a lot of leads and tips, often via the fourth main character -- a beautiful woman named Razia, who may or may not be a centuries-old vampire. It's through this character that the theme of the city's layers of history are introduced and returned to over and over. It's in that context that the modern elite of India are high relief as money and power-hungry materialists with no souls who live side by side with, but walled off from, the poor and desperate.
All in all, the book just didn't work for me -- it was all to easy to put down for weeks at a time. At the same time, I can see how it might resonate very strongly with someone who lives in, or has visited New Delhi. It's been about twenty years since I read it, but I would imagine this would be a good book to read in conjunction with William Darlwrmple's nonfiction book City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi.
As a crime procedural, it doesn't really work that well because while the heroes do some work, they're also handed a lot of leads and tips, often via the fourth main character -- a beautiful woman named Razia, who may or may not be a centuries-old vampire. It's through this character that the theme of the city's layers of history are introduced and returned to over and over. It's in that context that the modern elite of India are high relief as money and power-hungry materialists with no souls who live side by side with, but walled off from, the poor and desperate.
All in all, the book just didn't work for me -- it was all to easy to put down for weeks at a time. At the same time, I can see how it might resonate very strongly with someone who lives in, or has visited New Delhi. It's been about twenty years since I read it, but I would imagine this would be a good book to read in conjunction with William Darlwrmple's nonfiction book City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi.
May 19, 2015
An interesting read, fast paced and crime fiction of a very different kind. The protagonist, DCP Dayal, is soulful, handsome and quotes Ghalib. He loves Delhi for what it used to be, and to some extent, for what it has become. Investigating this series of crimes with Dayal, is his team that includes Kapoor, a loyal and experienced cop and Smita, a fresh-faced, tech-savvy cyber crime officer. There are two stories here, one that is supernatural and agitated and the other that is very real, earthly and practical. The two stories need and compliment each other making this novel entertaining.
For the mysterious Razia: she is the city; she has answers to all the questions, from the Angulimaal of Delhi to vampires and werewolves and every other question that haunts Dayal. She doesn't remain center stage though, which is satisfying.
Necropolis has its moments, some very gripping passages that tell the tale of the city, it's face changing with the seasons -- enhances the reading experience. But what gets irritating is the writing style. The language is heavy, as it also said in a review "a thesaurus spilled on the pages". This reduced my pace as I felt detached from the world that the story had created around me, thus ruining the aforementioned reading experience and made the novel a tedious read towards the end.
For the mysterious Razia: she is the city; she has answers to all the questions, from the Angulimaal of Delhi to vampires and werewolves and every other question that haunts Dayal. She doesn't remain center stage though, which is satisfying.
Necropolis has its moments, some very gripping passages that tell the tale of the city, it's face changing with the seasons -- enhances the reading experience. But what gets irritating is the writing style. The language is heavy, as it also said in a review "a thesaurus spilled on the pages". This reduced my pace as I felt detached from the world that the story had created around me, thus ruining the aforementioned reading experience and made the novel a tedious read towards the end.
December 18, 2016
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
A "crime noir" novel with elements of magical realism, the protagonist is a police officer who may or may not be in love with a woman who may or may not be immortal.
This is definitely not my "usual" style of fiction, but it was a very nice change of pace. It doesn't wrap up nicely or neatly but it didn't make me angry with the ending.
Recommended for: mystery and noir fans, adventurous readers. A couple of very racy and explicit sex scenes, each brief but quite to the point as it were.
A "crime noir" novel with elements of magical realism, the protagonist is a police officer who may or may not be in love with a woman who may or may not be immortal.
This is definitely not my "usual" style of fiction, but it was a very nice change of pace. It doesn't wrap up nicely or neatly but it didn't make me angry with the ending.
Recommended for: mystery and noir fans, adventurous readers. A couple of very racy and explicit sex scenes, each brief but quite to the point as it were.
March 9, 2022
I enjoyed this very much. The crime story is not deep or is there much mystery, but the depth of listening to an India that only Indian nationals know was fascinating. Also, having a narrator that pronounces all the names, locations and objects the proper way was incredible. I will be looking for more books by this author and hope to see more New Delhi crime novels.
July 6, 2016
Strange, mysterious cop book set in Delhi--I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved it!
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July 13, 2018Mystery set in India. Took a little to follow, but Culture clash is minimal. Really liked the characters. Not phony but real. Would enjoy reading more books starring these characters.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews