Review: The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

I have always been more into non fiction..and there are very few fiction books I read or rather complete..if the first 40-50 pages hook me in, I finish it in 3-4 days and if not, I never return to it 😀

I have not read Ravi Subramanian’s previous books If God was a Banker, Devil in Pinstripes and The Incredible Banker..so I was not aware about this style of writing, etc but if he prefers to call himself the John Grishman of banking, he would be something obviously !

About the story: The uneasy calm in Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) is shattered when a series of murders rock the façade of the compliant and conforming bank that GB2 has built up over the years. Who is to blame? Who is driving these intriguing and bone chilling murders? What is the motive behind these gruesome killings? No one has a clue.

And when Karan Panjabi, a press reporter and an ex-banker digs deeper, he realizes that he has stumbled on a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications – a secret that could destroy not only the bank but cast a shadow on the entire nation. With only thirty-six hours at his disposal, he is running out of time and must trust no one if he wants to stay alive and uncover the truth.

In the racy build up to unraveling the mystery, stranger than fiction characters emerge, faith get shattered and ivory towers come crashing down. Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thought – till the day the truth within GB2 gets revealed. Is the banker at GB2 fast turning into a Bankster? Or was he always one?

Spinning an intricate web of lies, deceit and treachery, bestselling author Ravi Subramanian is back. A master storyteller of financial crime, this is his most chilling thriller yet.

The trailer..

The book is based in three parts of the world..Angola, Kerala and Mumbai..and there are three different stories going on together..which portray the politics at world level, country level i.e India and a corporate bank level i.e GB2..and finally how at the end all three start coming together as the story unfolds and the relation between them and the whole political plot behind it..

The story starts in Angola and swiftly shifting to Kerala giving us a glimpse of diamond racketeering. Then the focus shifts onto the Head Office of Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2). A number of deaths within a short span among the employee ranks of GB2 break the calm. The seemingly normal deaths – suicide and road accident – seems just that till one person, and ex-employee turned journalist, digs deep and comes up with a theory that makes these deaths look not so random or natural. On the other hand there’s a social activist who may have more to his character than what it seems.

The plot is a multi-faceted, complicated web that manages to entangle its readers completely. There are three parallel stories going on that keep you in the loop with the complete picture yet successfully blind you from the main culprit. You will keep guessing and trying to work your way through. The story ties in a variety of industries, objects, locations and people with scoop on the banking industry, blood diamonds, social activists and what not. From murder to politics to racketeering to money laundering, this novel has it all with a top up of some very interesting characters. On one hand we have spicy characters like the present employees of Greater Boston Global Bank – Vikram, Zinaida, Tanuja and Indrani. On the other hand we have colourful characters like social activist Krishna & my favourite character – Journalist Karan.

The story is pretty fast paced and at no point does it give a chance to put down the book. There’s a sense of originality and the writing style of the author is smooth and easy to accept. It is not overly flowery or too internationalized.

There are some grammatical and punctuation errors, like a comma not there when needed and present when not required. At some places the story is stretched unnecessarily like the part about Zinaida, and the end part where Karan detects, he repeats all his findings to each and every character that adds in. Also the Angola part and Kerala part is a little confusing and ambiguous at times.

Overall a very interesting and nice read..and now after reading this I am surely picking up Ravi Subramanian’s other books ! Well this was the one I did finish in 3-4 days 😀

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