Book review of 'The Bankster' by Ravi Subramanian

Thanks to BlogAdda.com I have been reading some very interesting books lately. One of that books is Ravi Subramanian’s ‘The Bankster’ which was proclaimed to be as good as a John Grisham thriller! I was a bit skeptical at the beginning but once I started reading it, I got totally engrossed into that book. Just reading the back cover made me feel very eager to finish the book in one sitting. Just have a look at it:

In Angola, a covert CIA agent Joseph Braganza is about to exchange weapons for blood diamonds..

In Kerala, an elderly man called Krishna Menon will do whatever it takes toÂ fulfillÂ a promise made to a dying son…

In Mumbai, an international bank GB2 is stunned by the mysterious deaths of its key employees..

With a premise like that which offers you three unrelated stories which could have some connection, you are bound to stop everything you are doing and just concentrate on finishing the book. That is just what I did. When I later looked at theÂ FacebookÂ page of the book, I was glad to find many images of the characters which gave me a feel of reading a graphic novel (though it isn’t one!). Let me give you a brief summary of the book so that you can ‘taste’ it before you buy it!

In Angola, CIA agent Joseph Braganza goes through war strife regions to meet with UNITA (Union for Total Independence of Angola) to exchange weapons for blood diamonds. There is a lot of tension on his trip while he reminisces how he was saved in the nick of time while his team was blown to smithereens in Iraq. Will he be successful in his mission or does he face any threats on the way? How did he get these weapons in the first place? What is he doing in this god forsaken place? If you want to find out more, you need to read the book!

In Kerala, Krishna Menon is against Trikakulam Indo-Russian Nuclear Project. The back story goes that his son who was a scientist in Japan died from nuclear blasts which happened due to earth quakes there. He had made a promise to his dying son that he would rally against nuclear projects. He gets his funds for this struggle from an NGO which a certain Mr.Jayakumar runs.

In Mumbai, three employees of Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) die in mysterious circumstances. Harshita Lele dies mysteriously while vacationing in Vienna, Raymond Saldanah of Compliance team seems to have taken his own life and one more employee dies on the Mumbai highway. These mysterious deaths rattle GB2 and its CEO Indrani who wants to get to the core of this problem!

Enter Karan Panjabi, ex-employee of GB2 who is a crime journalist now. Indrani gives him permission for just 36 hours to find out the real culprits. Karan unearths some really startling stuff about how many employees didn’t do the obligatory background checks when few accounts were opened. He also suspects the hand of the HR Tanuja.

How are Jayakumar, Tanuja & Joseph Braganza connected? How does Karan use technology like iCloud to find out some vital clues from Harshita’s iPad? Is Vikram Bahl, head of retail banking, involved? If yes, what is his motive?

All these questions and more will be answered in this thriller ‘The Bankster’. You will find the world of benaami accounts, money laundering and breaking customers’ trust in abundance here. I loved the simple writing style which was very descriptive and created a lot of suspense and excitement for me. My wife and me were practically competing with each other to see who finishes the book first while waiting for each other’s turns!