God is a Gamer - Review

Title : God is a Gamer
Author : Ravi Subramanian
Number of Pages : 310
Genre: Thriller
Publisher : Penguin Books India



God is a gamer is the first book by Ravi Subramanian which I read and I must say I am impressed. I don't read many books of this genre specially written by Indian authors but this one took me by surprise. Ravi truly felt like the John Grisham of banking. All in all the book is good and I wish Ravi comes up with many more interesting plots in future and entertains his readers. My detailed review is below.

Story line , characters and my Review:

The story starts with two big shots Vijay Banga, President of Mastercard International and Joseph Saunders, the CEO of Visa International discussing business and the amendments , profits and the losses, followed by the mysterious murder of Gillian Tan. Initially when the characters get introduced one by one it gets tough to connect the dots but slowly as the story gets unfolded one can put all the pieces together and solve the puzzle. The episodes happening in Newyork , Mumbai and Goa seem disconnected but by the end of it it everything makes sense. The element of surprise and the essence of suspense are intact in the story. The central plot of the story is based on author's creation of "Bit coins" which is the virtual currency and can revolutionize the world. Like pros and cons of every great invention, this has loop holes too and gives scope for illegal activities. The chance to hide one's identity is like a boon to the criminals and helps them to do money transactions using bitcoin wallets and private keys easily which other wise would be tough.

I am truly amazed by the author's imagination here. The technical jargon he used is not that tough as I am aware of banking and computing. It increased my knowledge and I learnt many new things. Kudos to the research he has done to pen down various aspects of the entire plot. He explored the gaming business, made us aware of the fact- how dangerous phishing can be, made us aware of many nuances of banking and much more. As the story picks pace two more murders happen and open the can of worms for Tanya who is the daughter of Malavika. The entire plot is about connecting the dots - Gillian Tan's murder , the murders in India, the illegal businesses handled by "Cotton Trail" so on so forth. The book definitely kept me glued. I rarely read this genre and the story for sure didn't disappoint me.

Characters and things I liked: I loved the character Aditya Rao the founder of eTIOS and Indispace (the gaming company). His passion , perseverance and his desire to stick to ethics is inspiring. I liked Varun's quick witted brain. I liked the way the author tried to strike the chords of almost all who use social media (Facebook) and who play games. Knowing how the gaming business works was the most interesting part to me. The various episodes which seem haphazard are seamlessly blended once the mystery gets resolved.The "Bitcoin" idea was fresh and innovative.  I loved the cover page with a Bit coin symbol and the silhouette of a man. It is stylish. The title is apt too.  The ending was a surprise which gets disclosed once Kabir Khan and Adrian Scott assemble every one to interrogate. It was not that easy to guess who the actual culprit was! Most of the characters portrayed felt realistic.

Few minuses : 

• There are few stories and episodes which definitely were needed but were not connected strongly to the actual plot and hence got compromised but I was willing to know more :) 
• Even if it kept me glued there was too much to take in and the pace of the book slowed down after completing almost half of it.
• Few dialogues and descriptions of few characters seemed repetitive.
• There are 2-3 words which were spelled wrong but you will observe them only if you have a keen eye to find mistakes :)

Other than these ultra minor glitches which can almost be ignored, I loved the book, the plot and the fresh feeling I got after reading few crap books penned down by any one and every one these days. My rating would be 3.5/ 5. If bollywood has guts the film makers should try making a movie of this book by executing it correctly. It would be wonderful to watch the movie adaption!  All the best to the author Ravi Subramanian. I will definitely try reading his other books starting with Bankster first as I already own it. Thank you Blogadda for sending a good book to review :) 

Icing on the cake is the author signed copy I own now !! Thank You :- )

:) :)

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