In The Name of God

By: Ravi Subramanian

Narrated by: Shahzad Bhiwandiwala

"What happens when you have to choose between faith and logic? Temples are places of worship, oceans of tranquillity, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threatens to destroy the carefully cultivated reputation of the royal family of Thiruvanathapuram. And when fingers point towards the opening of the hitherto sealed vaults at the Padmanabha Swamy Temple that is under the control of the royals, all hell breaks loose. Meanwhile, a heist at the Wafi Mall in Dubai leads investigators to uncover a massive racket in the smuggling of antiques from the ruins of temples in south India. Things only get murkier when multiple blasts in Mumbai shake the very foundations of the diamond trade in the country. Is there a connection between these incidents? Who is behind the murders? Follow Kabir Khan, Additional Director, CBI, as he breezes through a complex maze of fact and fiction, faith and deceit, religion and commerce to unravel the mystery and unmask the killers with only minutes left at his disposal. Slick, riveting and fast paced, In the Name of God is Ravi Subramanian's most gripping novel yet. "

This story lacks energy and direction

I have read some positive reviews on goodreads.com and decided to spend a credit on this book. It was a mistake. Some reviews there said that this book was a "page-turner", I felt it was the exact opposite. It drags on and on and on and on - without anything ever happening. I really think it is the complete lack of suspense that often made me rewind a few minutes as I lost attention and listened to this audiobook sort of as a background sound, like rain falling on a roof. The performance of the narrator doesn't help either, in fact it is abysmal. One gets the feeling that he is reading off the page like a pupil from a school book, without any modulation of the voice. Chapters are short and start/end at random sometimes at very curious places and the book's end is underwhelming to say the least.
I read "The Bankster" from the same author which was better but not great either. I guess that's the end for me here. Shame, as I love to read thrillers that take place in "exotic"/other parts of the world and there are not enough good ones of those around. For people with the same taste, I recommend "The Prisoner" by Omar Shahid Hamid, a gripping novel playing in Pakistan that is excellently narrated by Neil Shaw.