The Bankster - Book Review

I am really grateful that I have opted for the book review program of Blogadda. It is giving me ample opportunity to read some exciting thrillers, which I would have missed otherwise. The latest of the lot is The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian.

Ravi Subramanian, who has two decades of work experience in financial services industry is well known for his “Financial crime thrillers” and already has three best sellers in If God was a Banker, Devil in PinStripes and Incredible Banker. Unfortunately I have not read any of his previous books and after reading his fourth one (courtesy Blogadda) I am itching to have those.

The central character of “The Bankster” is Karan Panjabi, a press reporter and an ex-banker, who single handedly solved and countered a global conspiracy to destroy the nation’s growth with some assistance from a young lady and few trusted colleagues.

The book actually has three plots running in parallel one in Angola, one in Kerala and one in Mumbai with the last being predominant. The Angola and Kerala parts have scratchy presence. All the stories are so different from each other that it is extremely difficult to predict any connection between them. But all the events will link up eventually and definitely stun you. The unpredictability factor is really awesome in this case. The story starts with a under covert CIA agent involved in some arms and blood diamond exchange dealings in Angola and then shifts to Kerala, where an honest 75 year old socialist is victimized. He was fighting against a nuclear power plant commissioned in a small town Devikullam, Kerala. But the plot thickened around Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) of Mumbai where series of mysterious murders of the key bank employees shocked everybody. The murders were made to like accidents or suicide. With no obvious motive behind the murders everyone was clueless. The yearlong reputation of the bank got shattered. Karan Panjabi and his friend only have 36 hours to find the truth and save the bank as well as the nation.

Though the solving of the problem of this magnitude by a reporter single handedly (with some assistance from his girl friend and few colleagues) that also within 36 hours is quite unnatural and hard to believe I must say I did not find any major flaws in the storyline. This book is a real masterpiece with 358 pages and 47 chapters and one of the best nail biting thrillers I ever read. At first it is difficult to relate the plots but with due course it will turn out to be a real head turner. The ease of writing and simple language is a bonus. The author knows how to keep the reader on his toes till the end and glued to the pages. “The Bankster” will definitely be a bestseller.

I congratulate the author and highly recommend this book especially to those who love crime thrillers.

Rating: 4/5

Paperback, 358 pages

Published October 19th 2012 by Rupa Publications

ISBN: 9788129120489

Edition language: English

Price: Rs 250/-

Genre: Fiction/ Thriller 

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!