Is Revenge the Best Solution? - Review of God is A Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

God is A Gamer -  Ravi Subramanian 
Publishers - Penguin Books India                              
Genre - Contemporary - Thriller
Paperbook - 210  Pages
Price: Rs 299

Available at Leading Indian Stores and Amazon 



Blurb

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

 Ravi Subramanian is considered the Indian John Grisham of financial/banking thrillers and there is no question about his insider knowledge of the banking system and the industry at large.

In fact, I bought one of his bestsellers "Bankrupt" for my dad (a banker himself). Unfortunately, he fell sick and never got a chance to read it. It stills lies on my book shelf, unread. Given my audit and finance background and my interest in technology, it's only natural I grabbed at the chance to review his latest thriller offering. 

Review -

The book didn't disappoint when it came to the goings-on in the banking sector - the card processing and scamming aspect of the business, to be specific. The addition of the bitcoin trail was a welcome move. 

The book starts off with a worried head honcho (or should that be two worried head honchos) of one of the biggest card payment processing companyies in the world - MasterCard (no prizes for guessing right) planning a meeting with his business rival. Senator Gillan Tan, who has the President's ears, steps in and diffuses the sizeable threat to profitability of the comapnies but traps the two men in a reciprocrity bond. We are given a glimpse, not only into the discreet lobbying in Washington, but also a peek into the Senator's daily routine. As you wonder where this is headed, trouble erupts, rather explodes, claiming th elives of Senator and his entourage. This is rapidly followed by an ATM heist in NewYork that have the bankers in a twist and pulls the FBI into action. The case picks up new scents including a bitcoin based dark web network, scams in multinational banks, hacking within/through gaming companies before dropping us into a world of deceit - a dark place where family members, colleagues and friends wear masks disguisng their true character and intentions.

The actions is spread over many locations and moves from the power corridors of Washington to the banking zones of Mumbai, the drug addled beaches of Goa, the Finance Ministry in Delhi; and to a lesser extent New York City, Stanford, and Ukraine. It reveals the banks' recurrent battle with phishing, sponsored heists, hacks, internal scams and ego-driven bickering within in the upper echelons of these financial giants.
Despite the brutal killing of a US Senator Tan, the murder of an Indian CEO of an MNC bank Malvika Sehgal, the hit-and-run death of her immediate but defiant subordinate Swamy, the story is essentially about greed, deceit, acts of betrayal and revenge.

When Aditya, ex-boss at NHIB - the MNC bank and now owner of two successful companies, welcomes estranged son, Varun back into his life, he never quite imagined the nature of events that followed. Neither did his ex-colleague and current CEO, Malavika forsee her downfall. 
Varun hits off with Malvika daughter Tanya while in Mumbai; their acquaintance established on a previous visit to Rio, Brazil. The lives of Malvika, Swamy, Mike, Josh, Nikki and the rest of the characters are inadvertently tied to each other through their actions.

But both Varun and Tanya have secrets hidden from each other and the rest of world, secrets that have deadly consequences for everyone involved. They have seperate agendas and yet share a strange link with Senator Tan.

The book is pacey enough and has a lot of short and single page chapters. The author has done his research when it comes to the banking and gaming scenarios. There are no black and white charcters here, except for Sundeep, as the rest are realistically presented in varying shades of grey. There is a bit of technical stuff that may distract a reader unfamiliar with either systems but is necessary enough for the plot.

Things that bugged me include: a step-motherly treatment to bitcoins, info dump on gaming, more of "tell versus show" style of writing, clipped dialogues, too many sub plots, and a blotchy, narrative ending. Not  a single character was worthy of readers empathy or cheering, except perhaps for Swamy and Aditya. Varun and Tanya's choices (revealed at the end) left me cold and with ambivalent feelings for both of them.

In short, it's a good one-time read and gets a 3 star rating from me. (Goodreads version - I like the book) Will I recommend it to others? - Only to friends who prefer Indian authors and family menbers in the banking sector.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book as part of the Book Reviews Program of blogadda.com.

The Dohmestics Book Trailer

Mohana Rajkumar is a prolific writer ( no exaggeration) based in Doha, Qatar. Her books, including the ones I've reviewed on this blog, usually focus on Arab and Asian characters within a Middle Eastern setting.

Her books give you more than a glimpse into the lives of the natives in oil-rich Qatar and South Asian diaspora  elsewhere. I am hoping this book is on similar lines but brings something extra to the table.

As part of her blog tour entourage, I offer this trailer of the recently released book -

The Dohmestics

The Dohmestics explores the ups and downs of six women thrown together by fate in the quintessential Middle Eastern compound; a neighborhood enclosed by a boundary wall with a security gate. Emma, Nouf, Rosa, and Maya are part of the sophomoric fish bowl no one can escape, where rumors can ruin marriages or jobs.

Available in paperback or eBook. at Amazon

A Multicultural Romance in the Making - A Review

Love Comes Later -  Mohanlakshmi Rajkumar
Publishers - Amazon
Genre - Contemporary - romance - realistic fiction - women's fiction
Novel - Ebook - 262  Pages
Price: Price $ 0.99

Available at Amazon Kindle Store

Blurb:

Hind is granted a temporary reprieve from her impending marriage to Abdulla, her cousin. Little does anyone suspect that the presence of Sangita, her Indian roommate, may shake a carefully constructed future. Torn between loyalties to Hind and a growing attraction to Abdulla, Sangita must choose between friendship and a burgeoning love. 

A modern quest for the right to pursue love and happiness, even when it comes in an unconventional package, LOVE COMES LATER explores similarities between the South Asian and Arab cultures while exposing how cultural expectations affect both men and women. Identities are tested and boundaries questioned against the shifting backdrops of Doha, Qatar and London, England.


A contemporary romance with elements of realistic fiction. The story has a strong Qatari flavour blended with South Asian and offers a tantalising view of student life in London as a bonus.
A refreshing tale of love and friendship that overcomes cultural, religious and racial barriers. It starts out in the plush interiors of an affluent family in oil money endowed Qatar, seeking the remarriage of a widowed, still grieving son Abdulla who wants anything but that. The culture is primarily seen from the eyes of Abdulla and Hind, and later on through Sangita - Hind's Indian American room-mate and friend. It's their reluctance to follow traditions, and Hind's impulsive demonstration of independence and adventure that sets off Abdulla's and Sangita's worlds into a collision course of first, tentative friendship and later on love.

The characters and the situations have been created skilfully and their interaction comes off as real as possible. The author has tried hard to give an accurate picture of Qatari life and attitudes, specially towards South Asians who form the blue collar workforce without sounding preachy or condescending.

Abdulla, a strong character, comes across as inflexible a couple of times but redeems himself as a modern, religious Muslim. I really enjoyed his opening up to the world around, specially to Sangita and his adopted sister Luluwa.
 Hind - a tad selfish and Sangita are well etched, and I found myself amused when the Indian girl who advises her friend to play safe goes on her own adventure, risking everything.
The secondary characters of Luluwa and Hind's sister Noor, often two extremes were ones I found interesting. While I loved Sangita's brother - idealistic but lovable character Ravi, it was Grandfather Jassim and Hind's father - uncle Saod who were a revelation in sharp contrast to the other elders in the family.

Now for the nit picking -
In my opinion, Abdulla and Sangita's romance did not have the time to develop enough for her to burn all the bridges...it kind of ends up as an arranged marriage. But, then, they didn't fall in love at first sight and the author, to my delight, refrained from gushing descriptions of the protagonists beauty. A plus.
The Indians in the book, Sangita's parents came close to being caricatures.

The timeline was a bit confusing in some places.  A couple of dialogues were responses to an original action or comment that had been edited out. A revision if possible would enhance the book.

All in all, it was a pleasurable read and one of few romances I have truly enjoyed reading lately.
The book is well written, flows smoothly and the use of Arabic words in the story and the end notes are a nice addition.

I recommend this book to romance lovers, to those who enjoy realistic fiction set in the Asian and Arab world with ethnic characters, to generally anyone looking for a good book to immerse in.

I give this a 4 rating for simply being a good old fashioned romance story and a multicultural book.

Personal Disclaimer: This book was received for the purpose of review, hence the post in entirety is my basic impression after reading the book. It is not based on intervention by the author, publishing house or the blog review forum.