God is a Gamer - Review

AUTHOR: Ravi Subramanian
FIRST PUBLISHED: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-143-42139-9
GENRE: Bitcoin Thriller

EXCERPT: (Credits: Goodreads)

What happens when you cross gamer, banker, politician and terrorist with virtual money? 

Aditya runs a gaming company that is struggling to break even. A banker slips off a

highrise building, plunging to her death. The finance minister has made some promises

that he is finding hard to keep. The LTTE has unleashed terror in America that sends

the FBI on a wild goose chase, bringing them to Mumbai.

Enter Varun, parttime drug dealer and fulltime genius. He turns around the gaming

company before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, the investigators plunge headlong into

the shady world of bitcoins and the Dark Net, websites that only exist for illegal

transactions—drugs, sex and money.

God is a Gamer is a world where money means nothing, martyrs are villains, predators are prey, assassination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems. 

REVIEW:

So I've been on a reading spree or rather I still am, three novels at once and this I had to complete within a week's time. I was worried even before the book arrived from Blogadda "Will I or Won't I be able to finish it?" was the question of the hour. But Alas! here I am a week later penning down this review.

The tagline of the book goes as, "Is Revenge a Crime?" and a heavy bet is placed on money. Join the two together and the instant reaction is god please let it not be another mundane money laundering fiction. Good thing is it's not. It is surprisingly refreshing with a mix of corporate conversations with a blend of complicated liaisons, multinational banks, the US Senator and Indian politicians and the crux of it all - Bitcoins in other words Virtual Money. You're in for a ride, a total roller coaster.

As like all other books of the author, this one too follows the parallel plotline. Each chapter is different and you're like what's the connection? why the sudden jump? But then suddenly when you don't even expect they unite. The best part being despite having multiple characters like a thriller usually does, it is not at all confusing. No ambiguity towards the character development nor termination.

The emotions run heavy in this one, the family bonds both loose and tightly bound are explored. At least I was questioning myself how much do things change when one comes to power, be it some change in how we see our loved ones or how the world sees us. Does being a powerful person in a top notch organization or the government really gives you freedom to do anything or it curbs it as your every move is scrutinized in the eyes of opposition and the media.  

Unlike many thrillers that are poorly researched or a complete new set of fiction set up is created, God is a Gamer is wholly researched right from WikiLinks to Satoshi Nakamoto the said founder of bitcoins. 

There are names like DDOS attack, phishing scams, firewalls, malware attacks and so on. I literally remembered my third year project on Intrusion Detection Systems and Honeypots. And I wondered, somethings that are mentioned are usually not taken lightly especially if the organization is big, there is a whole IT department dedicated to it. So, was is it a loophole or done on purpose for the story to shape up the way it did, is still a question mark to me.

So the end? Well read it to find out what happens with all the picturesque build up in the most fascinating way. No spoilers here, no way. I loved the book, makes me want to recommend it to everyone who loves reading. (Okay I did recommend it to a lady in the train yesterday, and she said she'll surely check it out.)

RATING: 8/10

PRICE: Rs. 299

BINDING: Paperback

PAGES: 310

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

The Bankster -Review

This review was originally written on my first and only blog "Clandestine Rendezvous" as a part of the BlogAdda book review program. But due to some personal reasons I have shut down the blog. Hence, this review has been taken down from there and put up here.

AUTHOR: Ravi Subramanian
FIRST PUBLISHED:  2012

ISBN:  978-81-291-2048-9

GENRE:  Fiction, Financial Crime

EXCERPT: 

Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threatens to destroy the reputation that Greater Boston Global Bank has built over the years. Who is behind these killings, and what is their motive? Is the banker at GB2 fast turning into a bankster?Or was he always one?

REVIEW:

This is the very first time I'm reading the author and I agree with The Wall Street Journal that rightly calls him the John Grisham of Banking. Winner of the Golden Quill’s Readers Awards he’s none other than Ravi Subramanian and he is back with another crime thriller.

The backdrop is again a banking environment for which the author is famous for, but what sets this novel apart is the concept of two parallel series going along with the main plot. The prelude begins in Angola where a secret CIA agent Joseph Braganza plans to exchange military weapons for uncut blood diamonds. Following this the plot suddenly changes and you land in an entirely different setting. Devikulam, Kerala where an old man fights for justice with his wife and son; with an added twist of a nuclear attack some years later that is somehow all interlinked.

The story sets in almost more than a decade later in the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) opening with Vikram Bhal the flamboyant and shrewd Head of Retail Banking GB2 and Tanuja, the Head HR in a conversation. As the story progresses you realize Vikram is not only cunning but also dual and manipulative in every sense and Tanuja isn’t far behind. The plot focuses on the Bandra branch of the bank where everything is not as it seems and no one can trust another; double crosses, deceit and looks rule. Apart from the little issues and corruption life at the bank is pretty normal until accidents and suicides of employees start happening all of a sudden. What seem as regular deaths all happening at once due to some personal reason or external affairs are coined as murders by an ex-employee. Karan Punjabi a financial editor at the Times of India and an ex-employee of the GB2 firmly believes there is a much greater mystery behind the sudden deaths of the employees. Also they all are linked to Bandra branch one way of the other and thus starts the journey of unraveling the mystery with the help of the CEO.

The plot keeps on shifting to Devikulam, Kerala where the old man fights the government to be transparent about the nuclear power plant project in the vicinity and back to GB2 Mumbai. At times it gets difficult to relate where all this is heading. Personally, I had to leaf backward through pages to read about a certain character again. At that point, there is loss of focus and one keeps on thinking how all of this is interconnected, as there are no interconnections but the story just moves along in a parallel fashion.

The good thing is that at the end all the queries, the parallel story backdrop all is answered and there is no loose string which one can question. Another strong point of the novel is the writer’s ability to maintain the mystery till the very end. The climax keeps you on your toes and you yourself get involved.

For people who love corporate thrillers and even for those like me who have recently started liking thriller, this is a must read. The Bankster is not only well researched and presented but also incorporates the conventional corporate lifestyle.

I enjoyed reading it and I hope you too will love it. The 358 pages don’t look much once you begin reading; at least I read the book in one go.

Happy Reading Folks !

RATING:  8.7/10
PRICE:  Rs.250
BINDING:  Paperback
PAGES: 358

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!