In yet another of the banking series, Ravi Subramanian comes up with a thriller that spans continents, governments and different companies.
The book starts with various seemingly disconnected events
that happen in the same timeframe. These incidents include the assassination of
a high ranking government official in the US, a Nigerian Phishing scam in the
Indian branch of the New York international bank and a chance meeting of two
acquaintances in a drug exchange in Goa, and an ATM heist. These incidents are
preceded by a major development in the world of banks and the payment industry
and the rise of the controversial virtual currency or the world of bitcoins.
The story continues with its crisp page-turning pace with
the introduction of several characters at various points in the book. Starting with
the US official who was murdered, his wife Nikki and daughter Gloria, Ashok,
the owner of India’s largest BPO and gaming site, an Indian American who was the
chief operator of the ATM heist, Ashok’s long lost son Varun who returns to
turnaround his dad’s fortunes in the gaming industry, Malvika, the CEO of New
York International Bank and her daughter Tanya, and some recurring characters
from his previous book ‘If God was a Banker’ – Swami, a banker with the New
York International Bank , and erstwhile banker Sundeep who is now Ashok’s right
hand man.
What I liked about
the book:
I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of the bitcoins and how
they are woven into the storyline. At the end, even if all does not make sense,
the means to get the bitcoins certainly does. Ravi Subramanian true to his
financial industry background has done some justice to this emerging world of
bitcoins.
I found some of the final revelations on the mastermind
behind it all and the motive a bit far-fetched. It was only at the end in which
the by-line which accompanies the name of the book ‘Is revenge a crime’ angle
is disclosed. Although I enjoyed most of the book, the end seemed to be just
not right and just strange!
What I didn’t like
about the book:
Well, I have mixed feelings regarding the size of the
chapters and the number of characters introduced. The story flits from one
context to another a little too fast and it becomes hard to keep track at times
of the number of characters that continually get introduced. However, if you do manage to remember who’s
who, the end might just make some sense to you. What I also didn’t like was the
unnecessary incorporation of steamy scenes which this author could have really
done without. His books are really not from the genre where the author needs to
titillate.
Verdict
To sum up, the story is well built, the bitcoin concept is brilliant. However even so, although all the ends are tied up, I was left with
a sense of too many things being too far-fetched or unnecessary. I wouldn’t say
this is Ravi Subramanian’s best book yet. However, I would still recommend this
as a one time, one shot, entertaining read. All in all, I would give a rating
of 3 out of 5 for the book.
Thanks Blogadda for the autographed copy of the book!
