Review: The Anti-Social Network by Piyush Jha.

Book: The Anti-Social Network

Author: Piyush Jha

Pages: 200

How Long it Took Me To Read: 4 hours

Read On: Paperback

Plot Summary: When college students across Mumbai are murdered one after another in gruesome ways, inspector Virkar from the crime branch is called in. As Virkar investigates, he stumbles upon a ruthless gang of young, tech-savvy miscreants who use social networking sites and the Internet for blackmail and sextortion. But how are the two cases linked? And who is the mastermind behind these killings?

As the case grows murkier, the computer-challenged Virkar finds himself greatly out of his depth, chasing a killer who always seems to be one step ahead and a group that soon trains its sights on him. He must race against time to unmask the gang and to find the murderer before his reputation is ruined forever. Thick with suspense and layered with grit, anti-social network brings to you inspector Virkar's toughest case yet.

General Thoughts: This is the third story featuring Mumbai Police Officer Inspector Virkar. I have reviewed Mumbaistan HERE.  

I also read the second book Compassbox Killer and I enjoyed both these books. So when this third installment came out I was very curious to read Virkar's new adventure. I got this book in June but waited till this month to read it in my Indian Books in August, that way I'd have a mystery/thriller book to read this month. 

Things I Liked: 

1. The writing as always was decent. 

2. The pace was quick and this book on a whole was an easy and quick read. I read it in under 3 hours and that was with frequent breaks. 

3. Jha writes his characters very well, even characters that appear briefly are well-etched out and memorable.

4. The descriptions of Bombay was fantastic and it really gets Bombay's gullies and lanes down pat. The feel of this city, even it's under-belly are very well-done. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

Oh Man! This might be a long list. 

1. The actual crime bit was a meh. Not the execution, that was gory enough but the whole reason behind the crime was a bit disappointing. 

2. The whole reason behind the main perpetrator's actions was just so incredibly stupid. It just didn't make any sense why this person would be moved to carry out these crimes. 

3. If you've read the other two books the main reveal in this book will remind you of the last book's ending. I don't want to give spoilers but the main perpetrator won't be hard to guess. 

Rating: 2/5 

This was a disappointing read. The ending was a real let-down.