Book review-The Bestseller She Wrote

Book title: The Bestseller She Wrote

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Romance

No.of pages: 391

Price: Rs.295

Publisher: Westland

Book blurb
Paperback king Aditya Kapoor’s life is straight out of a modern man’s fantasy. His literary stardom is perfectly balanced by a loving wife and a spectacular career. With everything he touches turning to gold, Aditya is on a winning streak.
Shreya Kaushik is a student with a heart full of ambition. Young, beautiful and reckless, Shreya speaks her mind and obsessively chases after what she wants. And what she wants is to be a bestselling author.
What happens when their worlds collide? Is it possible to love two people at the same time? Can real ambition come in the way of blind passion? Can trust once broken, be regained?
Master storyteller Ravi Subramanian  delves into the glitzy world of bestsellers and uncovers a risky dalliance between a superstar novelist and his alluring protege.
The Bestseller She Wrote is a combustible cocktail of love, betrayal and redemption.

The review
I had heard so much about the author but never actually got myself to read any of his works. So when I was offered a chance at reviewing his work, I took it up instantaneously.
The beginning of the book was good and I felt it would be a nice, cozy read. As it went onto the cliched and predictable extramarital affair, the romance turned to erotica, which had me re-thinking if I had made a mistake of picking up the book in the first place. It was too much of a Mills & Boons sort of feeling.
But, yes there is a but to it…as soon as the book approached mid-way, the story took a turn and graduated to becoming a romantic thriller and that part I must say, I simply loved. The pace and thrill of second half does make up for the redundancy of many parts of the first, though I wish the first had been equally good.
The cover of the book is just perfect as it portrays a book superimposed over a man and a woman’s face. The story is centered around a man, a woman and a bestseller. The characters have been well formed and a lot of careful thinking has gone into sketching them. Every characters personifies something. Aditya personifies success and the associated vanity, Maya signifies sacrifice and devotion while Shreya personifies the ambitious youth of today who would go to any extreme to attain success.
The author has delved onto the corporate world as well the publishing one and beautifully so. He has used the knowledge of his profession and passion very aptly. I must say Ebola sounds a bit too exotic a disease to pick, but then any other would not have changed the story.
The climax of the story is another appreciable part. I could not guess the twist and that had me finish the book in one go.
Overall, it is a very interesting read if you can just get past the initial 100 pages.
I am glad I read it.

What I loved the most
The careful balancing act of depicting relationships, the corporate world and publishing industry has been successfully accomplished. The not-at-all-subtle references to the real world are amusing as well.

What felt not-so-good
The slow pace of the first half where the predictable extra-marital affair lends nothing worthwhile to the story except a few love-making scenes which are narrated in a bit too direct terms, taking the romance out of them.

The final verdict
It is ‘unputdownable’, if you cross the 100 page milestone. Read if the term ‘romantic intrigue’ intrigues you.

Rating
4/5

The author
Ravi Subramanian is known as the John Grisham of banking. Four of his seven bestselling titles have been award winners- If God Was A Banker, The Incredible Banker,The Bankster and Bankerupt. The Bestseller She Wrote is his maiden attempt at writing romantic intrigue.
He lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter.

Author’s note: I am reviewing â€˜The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!