Take a photo of a barcode or cover
marigold_bookshelf 's review for:
Age of Vice
by Deepti Kapoor
Age of Vice, by Deepit Kapoor, was a thoroughly engrossing read, hard to put down from start to finish. Centered on mafia power struggles and corruption, and the vast abysm separating the rich and privileged from the poor, in contemporary India. Many have likened it to The dazzling plot and the spectacle reminded me of Chetan Bhagat novels (no surprise, then, that the TV rights have already been sold). Like Bhagat, Kapoor is a skillful story teller, but she digs deeper into the characters. My own point of reference for the themes of this novel remains Preti Taneja, whose “We That Are Young” is a brilliant portrayal of crime and corruption in modern India (based on King Lear!). Age of Vice is a more direct but gripping alternative.
The novel focusses on three main characters. There is Sunny, a superficial playboy in his early 20s, son of the powerful and ruthless criminal kingpin, Bunty Wadia. Bunty controls everything from liquor to property development. The Wadias are busy erecting expensive housing around Delhi, bulldozing slums and expropriating their occupants through illegal means. Ajay, an impressionable orphan, meets Sunny while working at a resort in the mountains and soon becomes his chauffer, butler and implacably effective bodyguard. Neda, the other main character, is an attractive journalist, investigating criminal activity relating to Bunty Wadia’s property developments. She seems to have a moral compass, but soon comes under Sunny’s spell. These three lives become inextricably linked and torn apart by the power struggles and ambition of the criminal clans and politics into which the Wadia family are bound.
The story runs seamlessly and page-turningly well for most of the book. It is a shame that in the final fifth it seems to get too clever for itself, following the late introduction of a new character who takes over the plot. As a result, the ending seemed an anticlimax and open-ended. I still enjoyed it, and wanted more. And perhaps that is the cause for the novel veering off the tracks: more is to come, since I understand it is the first of a trilogy.
The novel focusses on three main characters. There is Sunny, a superficial playboy in his early 20s, son of the powerful and ruthless criminal kingpin, Bunty Wadia. Bunty controls everything from liquor to property development. The Wadias are busy erecting expensive housing around Delhi, bulldozing slums and expropriating their occupants through illegal means. Ajay, an impressionable orphan, meets Sunny while working at a resort in the mountains and soon becomes his chauffer, butler and implacably effective bodyguard. Neda, the other main character, is an attractive journalist, investigating criminal activity relating to Bunty Wadia’s property developments. She seems to have a moral compass, but soon comes under Sunny’s spell. These three lives become inextricably linked and torn apart by the power struggles and ambition of the criminal clans and politics into which the Wadia family are bound.
The story runs seamlessly and page-turningly well for most of the book. It is a shame that in the final fifth it seems to get too clever for itself, following the late introduction of a new character who takes over the plot. As a result, the ending seemed an anticlimax and open-ended. I still enjoyed it, and wanted more. And perhaps that is the cause for the novel veering off the tracks: more is to come, since I understand it is the first of a trilogy.