God is a Gamer - Book review

Genre: Thriller
Author: Ravi Subramanian

This is my first book by Ravi Subramanian. Having heard a lot of this author whose books have gained wide popularity as great thrillers, I was more than thrilled to get my own autographed copy of his book.
Though I must admit, when I saw the note

Dear Aishwarya,
Wish Best Wishes
- Ravi

I was left wondering why my boss(who is also Ravi incidentally) would send me a book, especially a thriller!
It took me a few seconds for the fact to sink in that it was actually the author himself. That was how much I expected an autographed book at my doorstep! :)

Now coming back to the book itself, the first few chapters looked promising, shaping a story that went on parallel lines.
While one chapter introduces a Senator in the US, the other jumps to a Banker in India.Then suddenly you are reading about some Nigerian riots in Goa.
The book has very short chapters and it keeps moving from one scene to next leaving the reader to catch up, if he / she wants to keep pace.The multiple story lines that do not seem to have any connection with each other, slowly starts fitting into the puzzle, once the concept of TOR and Bitcoins come into picture.
The author has done his research well, on the concept of Bitcoins, TOR, how gaming works and of course, the banking domain. As we are exposed to each of these, he tries his best to keep it simple, crisp and yet to the point. Though cramming so much information wherever possible, mostly explaining it through the characters' conversations itself, didn't make the characters sound convincing.

(Caution : Spoilers ahead)
In order to build the story quickly, the author has compromised the characters. It was little over the top when Aditya allows his long estranged son to lead a business empire when he hardly knew him for a couple of days.
The same was felt when Tanya and Varun hit it off -to the point of love, in just a couple of meetings. The whole characterization of Varun had been shady from the beginning, and when in the end the FBI pin it on Tanya, it has been very clearly assumed that the readers will not be attentive. because just a few chapters back, we were are made to understand that Varun places a device in Tanya's house without her knowledge.

It seemed like a grandiose plot, that just had to be put together in whichever way possible, but ultimately tripped on it's own feet, while sounding like those who desperately try to fling their newly acquired accents and slang at all meetings, only to lead to awkward pauses.

Rating : 2.5/5