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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Book Review -- 'The Bankster' By Ravi Subramanian


Synopsis:

Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threaten to destroy the reputation that the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) has built over the years. Who is behind these killings, and what is their motive? When Karan Panjabi, press reporter and ex-banker, digs deeper, he realizes that he has stumbled upon a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications a secret that could not only destroy the bank but also cast a shadow on the entire nation. With only thirty-six hours at his disposal, he must fight the clock and trust no one if he is to stay alive and uncover the truth.

About Author:

Mr. Ravi Subramanian- an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, has spent two decades working his way up the ladder of power in the amazingly exciting and adrenaline-pumping world of global banks in India. It is but natural that his stories are set against the backdrop of the financial services industry. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Dharini and daughter Anusha. In 2008, he won the Golden Quill Readers Choice award for his debut novel, If God was a Banker.

Review:

This is my first Ravi Subramanian novel and i'm impressed.Being a banker himself the story revolves around the banking sector and the style with which things are explained are quite easy for a layman to grasp without any of the core banking jargons used.

The style of writing is also like the new genre of writers who target majority audience wanting to read some thing in simple language.The author has used some Hindi words in the novel which if we take the Indian audience into account is fine but when it comes to a global perspective, it's a sure turn off.The book presents to the readers the story of a financial crime consisting of a massive fraud and money laundering in the banking sector and successive killings to hide it.

Now coming to the story,well it has 3 parallel stories going on which are latter linked together in a decent manner. Being a financial crime story, it mostly revolves a around a bank, about the way it operates, and a series of killings of people related with the bank which gives it a mystery angle.Another part of the story gives  a picture of arms deals happening in another part of the world.And third one is about a protest lead by a man in south india who had lost his son in the Chernobyl disaster Trikakulam Nuclear Power Project.The mystery about whole thing begins to unfold when a reporter becomes suspicious about the happenings in the bank.He digs deeper into the killings and being an ex banker with bank helps him link all the killings which finally draws a line linking all the 3 stories together spinning an intricate web of deceit, lies and treachery.

The brief review about the novel at the cover was enough to get me started with this novel and as i expected the read was worth it and not at all disappointing.The author succeeds in creating the mystery element by making the reader believe that Vikram is the main cuplrit, but then all of a sudden the story undergoes a major change and things get cleared out.
So in my opinion 'The Bankster' is a must read for its element of suspense and mystery.For the time being I'm looking forward to laying my hands on his other novels.
Got this book from BlogAdda as a part of The Book review Program.

Ratings:***/5

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