BOOK TITLE: The
Winner’s Curse
ISBN: 9789382665243
AUTHOR: Dee
Walker
GENRE: Fiction/
Political Thriller
NUMBER OF PAGES: 288
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK:
I thank Nimi Vashi of Readers Cosmos for this review copy. Special thanks to the author for his autographed message.
SUMMARY:
A political thriller about national ID
numbers, power and greed.
Orphan Harsh makes it to the billionaire club with a burning vision, sheer intellect and the blessings of his political Godfather. The favours must now be paid back through a huge Guru Dakshina. To honour his Master’s wish, Harsh, with the help of his fellow IITians, sets out to create a never-seen-before governance technology around the national ID numbers, that will change the face of democratic India.
Orphan Harsh makes it to the billionaire club with a burning vision, sheer intellect and the blessings of his political Godfather. The favours must now be paid back through a huge Guru Dakshina. To honour his Master’s wish, Harsh, with the help of his fellow IITians, sets out to create a never-seen-before governance technology around the national ID numbers, that will change the face of democratic India.
Everything is at stake: money, reputations,
egos and morals. Even lives.
Will they succumb to insatiable greed
in the murky games of politics, backstabbing and subterfuge or will they be
redeemed by the ‘Ten Commandments’ that once forged their ideals at college?
If you thought that supreme technology and unalloyed power can bring lasting change or that e-governance and transparency can address the ills of our system, The Winner’s Curse will force you to think again. For what’s at stake is: YOU.
The Winner’s Curse: the turbulent voyage of talent and intellect in the morass of turpitude.
If you thought that supreme technology and unalloyed power can bring lasting change or that e-governance and transparency can address the ills of our system, The Winner’s Curse will force you to think again. For what’s at stake is: YOU.
The Winner’s Curse: the turbulent voyage of talent and intellect in the morass of turpitude.
REVIEW:
First
Impression: For a seasoned reader, I shamelessly admit that I still give
brownie points for a well designed cover and aptly worded book back blurb. In
this day and age, the packaging and the promotion need to be done meticulously and
eagerly – writing the book is half the battle, selling it is the other half. So
good covers and blurbs make people pick your book from the thousands of other
choices they have.
I usually give points in excess for an
aesthetically designed cover, the first impression. But the same generously
given points will be reassessed and changed based on the relevance of the cover
image to the content and the adherence of the plot to the summary. Thankfully,
The Winner’s Curse manages to keep each and every single one of its well
deserved marks for this.
Not to mention too much about the
plot, it includes everything that is given in the book blurb. And to manage all
that within 300 pages, while introducing Ten Commandments and too many
characters would have been a feat by itself. A political thriller should have
enough elements to keep up the pace and add the intrigue factor, while making
sure people relate to the characters.
The Winner’s Curse sounds like exactly
the title for a book where the lead character would pray a heavy price for
finally achieving what he had always wanted – victory. And yes, I am not going
to disappoint you by saying anything else. The book shows you what it means to
be cursed – that hopeless curse of having everything you ever believed, you
ever stood for being shattered right in front of your eyes. Harsh and the
Master – and their introduction scene, wow!
Well written, seamlessly executed
political thrillers are rare, agreed. But politics and a mild suggestion of
some undercover activities by seemingly genuine people would always elicit an
interest in the reader’s mind – mostly because the maximum they can do is read
about it, in newspapers, books, and TV news scrolls, without actually doing
anything. This book banks on that aspect and manages to deliver all those ‘Masala’
elements in healthy sized doses. Maybe that is one point in its favour when it
has to compete against many other books of its genre.
The book manages to hold interest
mainly due to its fast pace and a myriad of interesting characters that capture
each reader’s attention in their own way. But the same in depth
characterisation will be a bane and pace dampener for this book. No one likes
to remember too many characters and simultaneous plot lines and most often than
not, only seasoned readers can breeze through the book at a comfortable pace.
General readers would have to keep going back pages to regain their
equilibrium.
The plot is racy, the story is
different, though not unique, and the characters are developed well. Or rather,
developed in too much detail, thereby bringing the narrative to a snail’s pace
sometimes. It is actually best to leave certain aspects of a character to the
reader’s imagination! Mr Dee Walker please do take note. Though I enjoyed
reading this book very much, too much information dampens the pace.
SPECIAL MENTION:
The incredible amount of research that
has gone into the whole concept of ‘UID’ – and the excellent explanation as to
how this is a weapon that has the most power in the hands of the person who
wields it.
If you have so far been ignorant, you
would start looking at every single piece of data collection equipment (starting
from the phones to the automatic teller machines) in a new light hereafter. If
you are already paranoid, it will make you even more so.
*FLASH*
The process where they took not only
your finger prints but also your iris (eye) scan when they gave you that card.
*FLASH*
Remember the most personal details
about you stored in some impersonal computer somewhere. All everyone would need
is the QR code that comes in your card to know your house address and your bank
account details. It isn’t probable, but it is very much possible.
*FLASH*
Remember that time when you enjoyed
having all your accounts (both email and bank) in your single Smartphone –
everything synchronised seamlessly in third party apps. Imagine that falling
into someone else’s hands. Don’t blame Dee Walker if you start being paranoid
about linking your AADHAAR number to your LPG cylinder connections! (Local
reference understandable to Indians)
The Ten Commandments ring so true and
are apt for a peaceful life in modern days.
The characterisation detail, though
too high, will really help if the book gives way to some sequels or something
in similar lines.
THIS, I DEFINITELY NEED TO
MENTION:
Divvaakar, oh, my bad, Dee Walker has
managed to turn every famous person/ corporation/ event into a ‘pun’.
While you are reading the story, you
would be struck dumb by the ‘similarities’ of the book’s characters to real,
living people, though it might be entirely a coincidence (Disclaimer)
So the next time you see ‘Doodle’,
forget that it is, in fact, a very much recognised, registered trademark of a
famous company and instead substitute a few letters to shine ‘light in a new
angle’ upon what it actually refers to. I burst out laughing (inappropriately,
in a public transport, for that is when I was reading the first few pages of
the book!) at this reference.
‘Coolmail’ anyone? Antonyms, probably.
‘CoolSMS’ would have done the trick!
WHAT I LIKED:
The detailed research, the story
that does justice to its summary.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
Too many characters in short spans
of time mean the characters don’t leave lasting impressions. And the puns. It
would have been better to generalise than substitute each name with a easily
recognisable pun.
VERDICT:
If political intrigue and the
constant tug of war between good and evil is something you like reading about,
give this book a try.
RATING: 3.5/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
SV Divaakar has written this book
under the pseudonym Dee Walker.
EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Kindle,
Paperback.
PRICE: Rs.
132 for paperback
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