The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian!!!

            It often happens that you hear an author's name continuously by the bunch of good readers but still you never get a chance to pick up their book and read. Same happened with me in the case of Ravi Subramanian. I have heard his name a lot but never got a chance to read his book because none of my friends are into reading habit. And even if they are, they are either interested in foreign authors or Indian chick lit. No one reads such intellectual and interesting books. :-) Finally, I got my hand on The Bankster- latest release of 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. Recently, I missed an event in Mumbai- The Economist Awards where the author won the Popular Choice Award for his book- The Incredible Banker. Awesome CV! :-) 

            The synopsis of the book- THE BANKSTER says: 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.

             Ravi Subramanian does not need any review, that is what I personally feel. When an author starts writing into a genre which never got the amount of respect before, but got once he landed with his masterpieces, he should be kept in a different category to which no one can criticize. :-) But as the universal law says, positive and negative are in equal amount, one has to place their views on God too. :-) The language that the author has used in the book is very easy to understand. Though the initial pages has some vocabulary for which I had to run to dictionary but after few pages, the language is kept simple until the end. Though, authors get descriptive at times, boring sometimes and stretches the story, I loved some sequences for which I'll always remember this book for. Reading the author for the first time, I now know the mistake I have committed for not reading his previous successful works. 

             When the word "thriller" is used, it itself says that all the interesting matters are left for the last pages and you are made to get confused and irritated for rest of the pages. :-) The same follows here. Though the initial chapters of the book generates interest but it dies once all the murders that are plotted in the story are done. After that, the book gets too boring for a long time until the character of Karan enters to investigate and unfold the whole thing within few hours. The humour quotient is too less but everything that is attached to Zinaida made me laugh. You know I'm naughty. :-) Initially when Vikram fools Nikhil and Divya with the flat is another amazing part. Haha. Zinaida's entrance in the book is the most crazy thing. The first scene after the murder when Karan tells about the possibility of the incident being a murder and not suicide amazed me. Some portions where intellectualism is used to solve the case made me know why the writer is so renowned. 

             The biggest problem with the book is too many characters and not even one being described so that it can remain with you after the book ends. The climax is not as hardcore as you expect it to be. It's as if a fresher is been made to sit in the placement cell and recruiters are taking him on with confusing questions. The 50-60 pages in the middle of the book were too boring to handle. Too many sequences going on simultaneously is very interesting to read but I wanted all of them to be connected as if a screenplay of the movie is being written. But still, I want to compliment author for it. It's not easy to signify so many parallel sub-plots in a plot that needs such sub-plots to add special effects. In the end, I would like to say that Ravi Subramanian deserves all the fame that he has. I would rate this book 3.5/5. 

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 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU