Book Review: The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

Title: The Bankster
Author: Ravi Subramaniam
Publisher: Rupa Publication
Price: Rs 250
Pages:364
ISBN:8129120488
Genre:Thriller/ suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Review copy from bloggadda.com


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Summary
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.

Review
The dedication page of the book says "To all the banksters out there, playing a game with customer's trust"  ,I knew  there would something unique about the book and I was on a power packed thriller right from the beginning..The novel begins in Angola in the diamond mine alluring people into the trap of big money in less time swirling around but then suddenly the novel comes down to Kerala with an alleged reports of Ivory smuggling, then swiftly turns to Mumbai in a Bank office of GB2 with Vikram a ruthless, manipulative corporate slave who wants to be ahead of the crowd by taking any path, with no sense of honesty and integrity...Then there are murders in a row which is taken up by Karan Punjabi, an investigative reporter from Times of India he happens to be an ex-bank employee , but he soon realizes that the murders hold a key to deeper secrets interwoven across the globe with power packed mafia working under cover involving the big names in the world...

Subramaniam has played with a very unusual plot and he is quiet comfortable with it (with his banking background)..He has played well in creating a thrilling plot with suspense plus subplots running parallel  that holds key to the larger picture...While there are ruthless character like Vikram there are characters like Krishna Menon and Jayachandran who are down to earth  fighting for larger good...Subramaniam has created realtime characters like Zinaida, Tanuja, Indrani who give the story a touch of reality with various shades of human life...Though Vikram's entry solving the mystery in about 48 hrs was a bit too much for me, yet his sense and sensibility with a way of dealing things appealed to me...

The book swiftly transported across  the globe starting from Angola moving on to Kerala then to Mumbai  and places like middle east, US, Austria, Germany like a jet setter swishing away...Subramaniam has kept the subject upto date dealing with Nuclear power station and its effect on people, though not digging things in detail...My only let off was that the characters lacked depth, there were too many of them throughout that Subramaniam couldn't do much to develop and highlight them...

Through the novel Subramaniam has explored the darker side of the corporate banks, their working style that questions about the work ethics and principles..I haven't read Subramaniam's earlier work, and this one was a very refreshing read for me..Everyday Hinglish spread throughout the book was amusing at places...Interesting storyline with a good suspense,thriller makes it for a wonderful read...Read it for the feel of an Indian suspense thriller...

Book 27 for SAC

 

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