Book Review: How Not To Make Money by Raj Kundra

Rajasthan Royals' co-owner and controversial British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra, who is also famed as the husband of the Bollywood personality Shilpa Shetty.  The author was heard being surrounded by the IPL 6 spot-fixing controversy has set up his literary debut with How Not To Make Money in 2013. Published in October 2013by Random House India, How Not To Make Money is a gripping thriller based on true events tracing the story of three childhood friends - Jai, Mike and Aziz. These three leading characters are three childhood friends who grew up in London together. The two of them, Jai and Mike are smugglers and the third, Aziz is a corporate lawyer, who attempts to help his friends and devise a foolproof scheme to get rich in the shortest possible time.

The book covers the story and scheme and has mentioned an undetectable, fool proof scam, for the boys to become rich. With the laid plans by the third leading character of the novel who is a lawyer, the boys had not counted on a few bumps along the way in the form of the intrepid fraud investigator who picks up on their trail, and Pam, the femme fatale whose sari blouses leave less to the imagination than bikinis, who has her eye set firmly on Jai. Knowing you have to risk it big to make it big, the boys put everything on the line in this high-speed thrill ride of a novel. But will they come out laughing or are they walking into a trap?

Kundra Stated about the book that it is based on his research on the Missing Trader Fraud that deprived governments in the UK and Europe of billions of euros in the early 2000s. The book also involves the main feature of taking advantage of the complex norms by which value-added tax (VAT) is levied and claimed by traders in European countries.

"How Not to Make Money will release only in India now, and Random House will see how it does before releasing it in other countries," said Kundra, who is being represented by New York and London-based literary agency Regal Literary.

My Take

Raj Kundra has done an impressive job with his literary debut. I wouldn’t say that the book is excellent or a trend-setter in Indian literature, but is undoubtedly strong enough for people to read it out and notice him as an author.  The genre – thriller chosen by him is lacking finesse, which need to be improved as to render it a fascinating end product and to quite an extent he has managed to do that. I did not like the usage of cuss words for I believe they are a huge turn off for a like me. The story is undoubtedly a page turner and edge of the seat thriller. The narration is too bumpy at few points, but it altogether makes it an enjoyable and funny read. Surely a one time read! Available at lelobooks, an online bookstore so just grab your book by purchasing online books and get your favorite books at your doorstep.