Statutory Warning ‘Read at your own risk’
My first ever ‘official’ book review……
Also, reading Ravi Subramanian for the first time ever, yeah shoot me.
I, unfortunately, call a spade exactly that. I hate nick names!
I hate books over 250 pages, there I said it!!!!
If you are humming Gangster’s paradise, you really need to focus….
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| Shot by Yours Truly… |
Synopsis
A CIA agent somewhere in Angola shuttles between a dangerous arms deal and blood diamonds, albeit not for the first time. Closer home in Kerala, a solitary, elderly man takes on the government on the supposed nuclear plant to be commissioned, unaware of the consequences. While at The Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) in Mumbai, games are played, tables are turned, new leaders emerge and quantity is the new quality. Someone rightly said, happy balance sheets don’t ask any questions, until death comes knocking for some answers. However, unearthing secrets can prove to be fatal, especially when reputation and regulations are at stake. Will GB2 survive this catastrophe and rise like the Phoenix? Or does it succumb to its injuries and die an immature death? Also parallel lines never meet, so are these stories connected after all? Is the Bankster a person, a plot or a code name? For that you will need to read the book!
The Good, Bad & Ugly
Ravi Subramanian is a good story teller. His grip on his domain is clearly visible and he breezes through the book taking the reader along with him. The easy going narrative keeps the story at a steady pace. Loved that about the book where a chapter did not stretch from now to kingdom come. Yes, there are times when you really want to be in Mumbai but are taken to Kerala or elsewhere. Bottom-line, he does manage to push you just a wee bit off your seat in anticipation of ‘what next?’ The interaction between the employees of GB2 brings to the fore the dynamics of the corporate culture today. Each character is well etched and you may even manage to catch a fleeting glimpse of yourself in it. You know there are a series of killings involved. You know it is about to happen and yet you wonder how? And more importantly who, even though you pretty much can put a finger on the culprit, not.
On the flip side, at times, he dropped the pace with such a loud thud, that it took all the courage not to skip the page. But then again even Jeffery Archer could not stop me from turning away from mundane information, so I guess will leave it at that. A few instances, the spoon feeding towards conclusion could have been avoided. The shooting crew, the photo stream, the Vienna room pipes, the free Wi-fi, though all integral to the plot could have been sharper. Didn’t really fancy the banter between Karan and Kavya, something was missing. None the less, these minor glitches don’t steal the thunder of the book.
Things that stay back
- A simple incident of the trustworthy customer makes you wonder if your bank has been honest with you.
- What happened in Iraq? This still haunts me!
- Harshita’s sms to Raymond on the Best RM award
- Pop goes the button, sad but true
- Media is the new ‘judge’ in town
- Credit Cards need additional security measures
- There’s a CCD in Vienna
- Technology is way cooler than you think
Annotations
The following should read as
Page 075 : Anand’s chest swelled a few inches with pride……
Page 221 : Were you able to get the details of all………….
Page 289 : We will have to bring in the cops tomorrow…..
Page 350 : 6.47 Pm day before yesterday …….considering the death occurred on 31st
January early morning and the meeting was on 1st Feb. The call ideally would
have been on 30thevening.
Verdict
Having had a fleeting association with both the diamond industry and banking, I could co- relate so much with the story line. I read the book of 358 pages in less than 12 hours. If you have read my statutory warning, this should tell you volumes about how much I enjoyed it. The Bankster is clearly one of the good books I’ve read from an Indian author in recent times. Nothing quite prepares you for the climax, though that is how the author intended it, but of course. I won’t be surprised if this gets into a bound script sometime soon. It has all the potential to be a racy potboiler. But then who do you think would suit the role of the protagonist? Pick your copy before you answer that one. Looks these days are known to shape shift.
Ti
tle: The Bankster
Author: Ravi Subramanian
Publisher: Rupa Publications
ISBN: 978-81-291-2048-9
Pages: 358
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Reviewed for: BlogAdda
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
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