Book Review : God is a Gamer.

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Ravi Subramanian's latest thriller "God is a Gamer " is the first bitcoin thriller ! Ravi Subramanian is a banker .He has authored many books in fiction ,namely Bankerupt,The Incredible Banker,If God was a Banker,etal All his books have been been loved by readers in India as also abroad ! He has also penned a non fiction book "I brought the Monk's Ferrari ". 

 The book "God is a Gamer " is published by Penguin.It has an impressive cover .The title is embossed  in Golden letters.There is a stamp of a Bitcoin, also in gold ! The cover shows the White House at a distance & a man in black from head to toe standing in front of the White House.It appears as if he wants to confront the political establishment represented by the White House.

 This is story which unfolds all over the world in many places.Gillian Tan ,a senator and a trusted friend of US President is ambushed in Washington D.C. Gillian Tan seems to have the best of everything .He had a loving family & ab great career.Or was it just a screen saver ? There is Aditya Rao & his son Varun who are upbeat about their gaming company in Mumbai.There is Sundeep as also Swami who look up to Aditya Rao as their guru.Malvika is Swami 's boss & the two of them cannot get along.Many banks in India have outsourced lot of work to Aditya's BPO company.And when the ATMs are raided across New York in one single day,all hell breaks loose.Swami resigns .Aditya & his BPO unit are the main suspects.Malvika jumps to her death ( out of frustration) or was she murdered ? Tanya, Malvika's daughter accuses the Indian finance minister of killing her mother.Kabir Khan of CBI,India ,Adrian Scott,Special Agent,Tony in US & a host of others are having a hard time cracking the ATM heist,the death of Gillian Tan & Malvika & the blowing up of many laptops.And to top it all ,Bitcoins are being exchanged all over the world to cover up illegal deals in drugs & other contraband.Who is the brain behind all this? Why was Gillian Tan killed ? Is the finance minister guilty ? Is Aditya Rao, the mastermind behind the ATM heist ? Or perhaps, Varun as he is tech savvy ? Or maybe, it is the father son duo, who are up to dirty tricks.

The novel narrates how the internet age has made cyber crime, a harsh reality in the internet age.And many times,it is nearly impossible to point out the perpetrator /s .This is because, any server anywhere in the world can be used to commit a crime somewhere else.And if bitcoins( an internet currency )  are used instead of real currency,the cyber crime becomes a double jeopardy.That is,it is doubly impossible to unearth anything.

 The book is spread over 310 pages & is divided into 99 chapters.The book begins with a Prologue.Many chapters are just one page long.This encourages readers to finish that page & move further & so on.The mystery starts building up from the first chapter itself.There is never a dull moment.There is lot of technical lingo that is used & yet, it never gets monotonous.There are many characters & the author has managed to give equal importance to one & all.The story ends in a spell binding climax & how !A truly worthwhile read !

Book review : The Krishna Key

The Krishna Key is a thriller  by Ashwin Sanghi who has authored the bestselling Rozabel Line as also the award winning Chanakya's chant.It is of 475 pages.It is by Westland books.It has many black & white illustrations in keeping with the character of the book.


The tale is about a boy, who is indoctrinated from his school age to believe, that he is the Kalki avatar & hence, must eliminate all who are up to mischief.This is done by a mother figure, who in turn has been manipulated by a don.It is also the story of five friends who are working on various quests in India.There are other characters like the lady Inspector Radhika -sniffer Singh , Priya who is the doctoral student of a Professor,Rathore,Radhika's assistant,Garg-Radhika's boss ,Sir Khan,etal.Basically ,it is the story of India from times immemorial ! Bodies start falling from the very start  & the tale has many surprises as also shocks  to keep one engrossed.

The author has done lots of painstaking research to come up with this tale, which combines geography,history,numerology,astrology,linguistics, genetics,nuclear science,etal.This book dwells on the mythical Saraswati river which once flowed in present day Rajasthan.It also connects the dots amongst the various Harappan civilization sites,the migration of Indians from there & how Indians have remained custodians of their culture & legacy.It spins an interesting view about how Shiv & Vish are one & the  same, apart from  a rearrangement of   letters.It makes one  wonder, if Kailash parbat is  man made or natural. It surprises, by informing that Indians knew many things about nuclear energy ,radiation & means to protect against radiation.In short,Vedas have much to reveal about what the West is discovering in science & technology today !

It dwells heavily on Krishna's account of the Mahabharata- in fact, this  runs simultaneously along with the thriller & makes the book all the more readable.The Dwarka ruins,the Somnath,temple  & its architecture & sculpture speak  volumes, if only we could stop & decipher.The past & present are  juxtaposed brilliantly to give us a mystery.The Mughals,the Rajputs,theYadavas, the Kshatriyas et al are all brought together to show how all are connected with each other & with India's ancient wisdom which was so rich ! It continues to guide us today.Ashwin Sanghi seems to be  been inspired by Dan Brown of The Da Vinci code fame in penning this novel.


The Sanskrit shlokas & the black & white illustrations are  added attractions of the book.They are a necessity & make the book worthwhile.


The story made me so proud of my cultural heritage as an Indian.At times,the facts get so overwhelming that one seems to be gasping for breath ! Were our forefathers so intelligent ? Then, why have we remained  so backward today ? We seem to be content,   living on our past glories.We must reclaim our glory seems to be the author's message for his readers.For, as he reminds  us ,more than once ," ....the philosopher is more important than the stone ."

There was a dearth of Indians writing thrillers .For this  reason also ,  I would recommend this book.

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