THE STRANGLER VINE ( Blake and Avery #1)
M.J. Carter
G.P. Putnam's Sons
March 2015
The Strangler Vine opens in 1837 Calcutta. William Avery is a junior officer in the Army of the British East India Company. The youngest son of an impoverished squire, he had few prospects in England and got along badly with his father. A voracious reader, he had read the works of Xavier Mountstuart as a boy and through those writings, became infatuated with the romantic idea of India. Calcutta however, has been a great disappointment: Avery hates the filth and heat, is not encouraged to get to know the natives or culture and sees that his prospects are still limited in the Army. As a result, he drinks, gambles and carouses too much. He has made a single good friend, Frank Macpherson, an upright young officer who tries to keep Avery on the straight and narrow. Avery has been commissioned to deliver a message to Jeremiah Blake, a civilian with connections to the Company. Their first meeting is hardly propitious. Blake is rude, unkempt, uncouth and has obviously "gone native". Avery is even less pleased when he is ordered to accompany Blake on a mission. His literary idol, Xavier Mountstuart is missing in "thugee" territory and the two are to find him. His commander makes it clear that a successful mission will make his career. The flip side, of course, is that failure will ruin it. Avery and Blake, along with their dignified Mohammedan servant, Mir Aziz set off on the mission uneasily. Mir Aziz is kind and helpful, but Blake makes it plain that he thinks Avery less than useless. Blake may be rude and uncouth, but he is also multilingual and can navigate India like no other Westerner. Avery and Blake's mission is both more and less than foreseen by either. Nothing is quite what it seems. The two face hardship and danger together, forming a bond of friendship and respect.
The Strangler Vine is a gripping story of conspiracy and deceit. It fairly drips with the beauty, glory and contradictions of India in the early Victorian Era. In the past few years, I have read several books that at least touched on the British Colonial Era in India. While the British doubtless did some good there, especially in the early years, corruption soon took over to the detriment of the Indian people. The British East India Company, a quasi-governmental entity is emblematic of that corruption and cynicism. I find it very hard to understand the idea of what was essentially a trading company having it's own Army. A fascinating part of the story concerns the "thugees". Did that culture of thieves and stranglers devoted to the worship of the Goddess Kali even exist or was it a piece of convenient fiction to justify the actions of the Company?
I highly recommend The Strangler Vine. It is a meticulously researched piece of historical fiction and a rip-roaring adventure wrapped up in an irresistible read. The first few chapters move somewhat slowly and I didn't much like Avery at the beginning. After the journey begins, however, it moves along at a remarkable pace. Avery still has a lot to learn but improves as the story progresses. After all, he has no frame of reference for the snakepit he finds himself in. I am looking forward to the next Blake and Avery, The Infidel Stain, which will be published at the end of March 2016.
RATING- 5 Stars
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