Finally I am done with Ravi Subramanian’s The Bankster. Its
been a while since I read a thriller and that was the main reason why I ordered
this book on Flipkart after reading the reviews. Now let me share my thoughts
(as I would like to call it rather than review) on the book.
The story as mentioned is a financial crime based thriller
that progresses through two main subplots – one through a series of events that
take place at Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) and the other one in Kerala
where protests are being carried out against the commissioning of a nuclear
plant.
Be it Krishna Menon, an elderly man with some clear intentions
fighting against the commissioning of a nuclear plant which may threaten the
life of thousands or Jayakumar who joins Krishna Menon on his mission or
Vikram, Head of Retail Banking at GB2 or Tanuja, HR at GB2, all the main
characters have been described clearly not leaving any clue about the suspense.
Most characters have a shade of grey leaving the reader suspecting them to be
antagonist. Only disappointment was the mentioning of Karan Panjabi as the
protagonist on the rear side of the book who actually appears in the story
almost halfway only. This left me waiting for his appearance all the way
killing the thrill a bit.
Starting at Angola, the story then shifts to GB2 in Mumbai and
then to Kerala. From then on, the story progresses with alternate chapters
which take place in Mumbai and Kerala. Being a suspense thriller, I think its
unfair to discuss the story in detail.
The story had n number of characters which I found difficult
to remember as I was not reading the book in a single stretch, reasons owing to
my profession. Not a single character appears for just the sake of it which
makes it a neat thriller. The story takes a big turn with the series of murders
of GB2 employees who came close of revealing a financial fraud which leads to
the introduction of the chief protagonist, Karan Panjabi, an ex GB2 employee
and how he solves the mystery in the next few days forms the rest of the story.
The author is successful in telling the story through the subplots
which are well connected without deviating much from the main storyline.
However, like most thrillers, most of the clues through which the mystery was
solved lacked solid backup. I felt it was left for Karan Panjabi to just check
it rather than discovering it. It was an easy task for him. All the clues and
evidences left in front of him, he had no serious role other than summing them
up and unravelling the mystery.
On the whole, The Bankster is a good thriller which was more
than what I expected when I bought this book. I would recommend this book to
anyone who likes to read books belonging the thriller genre. Looking forward to
othe books from Ravi Subramanian.
My rating – 3/5
