Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook9 hours
A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta
Written by Paul Theroux
Narrated by Neil Shah
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
When Jerry Delfont, a travel writer with writer's block, receives a letter from an American philanthropist, Mrs Merrill Unger, with news of a scandal involving an Indian friend of her son's, he is sufficiently intrigued to pursue the story. Jerry is swiftly captivated by the beautiful, mysterious Mrs Unger, but the circumstances surrounding the scandal cause him to doubt the exact nature of her philanthropy.
Unavailable
Author
Paul Theroux
PAUL THEROUX is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include The Bad Angel Brothers, The Lower River, Jungle Lovers, and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.
More audiobooks from Paul Theroux
Burma Sahib: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Dead Hand
Related audiobooks
Deep South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barbary Shore: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Elephanta Suite Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hotel Honolulu Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Figures in a Landscape Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder in Mount Holly Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sunrise with Seamonsters, Part One: Essays & Pieces Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lower River Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great R Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother Land Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Distant Episode Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSunrise with Seamonsters, Part Two Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Plain of Snakes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Other Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLet It Come Down: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Train to Zona Verde: My Ultimate African Safari Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mosquito Coast Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Old Patagonian Express Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Banville Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spider's House: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUp Above the World: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bishop's Bedroom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Delicate Prey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout Stopping Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mosquito Coast: Apple TV+ Exclusive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Travels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBalthazar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under The Wave At Waimea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Deer Park: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Historical Fiction For You
The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Clan of the Cave Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All Quiet on the Western Front Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Neon Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5News of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Weyward: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Apothecary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alice Network: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Yellow Wife: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Voyager: Part 1 and 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Lost Names Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Dead Hand
Rating: 3.0069445527777776 out of 5 stars
3/5
72 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This dead hand was ham-fisted: a slow-moving, lethargic, repetitious mystery with no sympathetic characters (apart from the Indian chambermaids) and a denouement which felt like a deus ex machina. Ughhhhh.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed the setting and descriptions of Calcutta; I liked the mystery within the story; I did not enjoy the painful paragraphs dealing with the protagonist's feelings, reactions, and longings for Mrs. Unger. I found it very repetitious and felt it would have made a great suspenseful mystery if Mr. Theroux had developed that theme more and spent less time describing the writer's almost "adolescent" obsession with the saintly philanthropist. Hard to believe all that. I felt other characters could have been developed more fully to add to the plot and I kept reading because I wanted it to meet my expectations. It did not.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Had a real problem with the main female character and the hero's infatuation. Just didn't ring true.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Known for his travel essays, Paul releases a novel that takes us to the hidden areas of Calcutta not commonly visited by tourists. A travel writer with writer's block, receives a letter that intrigues him. He decides to visit the author of the letter and in doing so, he is unwittingly drawn into a mysterious woman's web of tantric massages, the slums of Calcutta, orphaned children, rescued children, temple sacrifices, oh and a dead body wrapped in a carpet that appeared one evening in an Indian boy's hotel room.Who's the dead boy? Why was he sought out to help? Who really is this mysterious rich woman who seems to do so much for the poor children in India? What really lies behind the iron gates of her mansion? What is her son hiding?Theroux has a wonderful way of describing places and scenes that is so evocative you feel as if you're there. You feel the heat, the dust and you smell the poverty, the fear and the ecstasy. And just when you're sitting comfortably in the story, he injects a prickling down the back of your neck. Nothing is as they appear, but what are the risks of delving into the mystery to find the truth?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book is not up to the standard of Theroux's best fiction. It's as if Theroux said to himself: murder mysteries look easy to write - I think I will try one. In any event the words "dead hand" in the title refer both to the protagonist - a travel writer suffering writer's block - and a clue to a murder. Although the book does not succeed as great fiction, it does succeed in being wonderfully evocative of India. Think of it as fictional travel writing - Theroux's true metier. In this way, the book reminds me of Cuba And The Night by Pico Iyer. This is a like work of failed fiction by a great travel writer, which book nevertheless beautifully captures a sense of place. For a chuckle, Theroux also works his real persona in as a travel writer.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5"A Dead Hand" is a murder mystery. Jerry Dalfont, a travel writer with writer's block, a "dead hand," is in Calcutta at loose ends since he cannot write. He is summoned by Mrs. Unger, an rich American philanthropist, to solve the mystery of the body of a small boy discovered in the hotel room of one of her employees.As he works on the mystery Unger works on him. She takes him under wing and teaches him all about Trantric massages and reveals her Hindu side. In the meantime Dalfont works with the local police and pokes around a little on his own.An interesting part of the book is when Dalfont meets the famous travel writer, Paul Theroux, in Calcutta. Theroux is not too complimentary of himself in the encounter. I had never read a writer writing himself in the story before.The book was ok but I definitely didn't love it. It needed a little less Tantric sex and lot more story and character development. The book telegraphs the end pretty far out. I rate this 1.5 stars out of 4. I love Theroux's non-fiction but I've never quite got into his fiction.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5He writes well, but overall this is not my kind of story. More sex than I like, a mystery I never got all that involved in. I would not recommend it as a way to learn more about India.On the other hand, assorted paragraphs about the writer's life, travel writing, writer's block, and a visit between the narrator and Paul Theroux were very interesting.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A good read. The story had me intrigued and I finished reading it in two sittings as I wanted to know if my suspicion would be confirmed.