The Caretaker

by: A.X. Ahmad
published by:  Minotaur Books
publish date:  May 21, 2013

Back in India, Ranjit Singh commanded an elite army squad. But that was years ago, before his Army career ended in dishonor, shattering his reputation. Driven from his homeland, he is now a caretaker on the exclusive resort island of Martha’s Vineyard, looking after the vacation homes of the rich and powerful. 

Ranjit becomes the caretaker of a house owned by a powerful US Senator.  When Ranjit's apartment has a leak in a furnace, he moves his family into the Senator's unoccupied beach house.  One night some professionals break in and Ranjit's military training takes over.  He gets his family off Martha's Vineyard and back to the mainland, but they all become embroiled in a much bigger conspiracy involving the Senator and an antique doll.

This book was one that had a lot of really good points.  I really enjoyed the Martha's Vineyard location.  That part of the story was very well written.  I also liked the parts of the story about India and Ranjit's military history there.  However, about two-thirds of the way through I kinda lost interest in the story as a whole.

So I guess for a debut novel it wasn't too bad.  It might not have been an out of the park home run, but maybe like a good solid double.