I couldn't get enough of this book! The pacing was excellent, the characters were compelling, and it felt so singular in the space. I love that authors like Srinath are getting the support of major publishers.

I thought I left my job reading books about economics… and yet here I find myself. I wouldn’t have thought I could enjoy a book that talked about money this much, and yet… this is a great story. I didn’t buy in (pun intended) at first, but as time progressed narratively - and pages progressed in the text - it just comes together.

The story unfolds through the lives of three men, each interacting with Afterlife Dollars (think: a retirement fund for your 6-ft-under retirement eternity) in very different situations. Raymond is a desperate man with an idea who owes money to the mob. Sanjit is a man suffering an unfair fate and a desperate hope. Theo is desperately trying to make things right.

There are some obvious heroes and villains amongst the pages, but there is so much more nuance here than that. The book examines what hate and fear and consumerism and capitalism lead us to - personally and societally. Despite the seeming insanity of buying into (sorry, just abusing the pun now, but it works!) the whole Afterlife dollars thing, it also rings truer than I would have liked. What is any currency or economy but a choice to adhere to exchange and valuation? What even is the stock market but people tossing money into the void and hoping it fells some extra?

I’m grateful the book ended with Theo, as he wasn’t exactly a lot of hope, but he was some and I needed it. This novel is philosophically dense while still being impressively page-turning in terms of pacing. I’m impressed, but I think I’d rather read Grapes of Wrath or Don Quixote again before again facing Dead Money… which sounds like a criticism, but I don’t mean it as such, it is just a serious book about the best and worst of humanity and the world we live in and that doesn’t make it easy to read in the midst of a pandemic and capital infiltrations and you know, life as we know it these days.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars-- DEAD MONEY by Srinath Adiga follows Raymond Li, a Hong Kong stock broker who lost his investors (a collection of underworld criminals) close to fifty-three million dollars. Desperate to reclaim the money before he loses his life, Raymond devises a scam-Afterlife Dollars-in which people ‘invest’ in the afterlife, ensuring they have money to spend in heaven or h*ll. Afterlife Dollars investments grow in popularity, the stock market gains are out of control, and one man in Amsterdam is convinced that the successful scam will send the financial markets into chaos. The fall-out of Afterlife Dollars’ meteoric rise sends the world into a downward spiral, a financial apocalypse, and the potential for war across the globe.


DEAD MONEY is based on the Chinese ritual of burning gifts and money as a transaction between the living and the dead. Banking on people’s belief and hope in an afterlife DEAD MONEY, beginning in 2002, is divided into three distinct but overlapping story lines revealing the desperation, manipulation, spirituality, and moral downfall of society through different cultures, countries, economic crisis and systems of belief. Almost dystopian in nature, DEAD MONEY is a slow build that makes you think about what if, why and how.



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Dead Money
Mysterious Book Report No. 436
by John Dwaine McKenna
What would you do, what could you possibly do . . . if you’d just lost 51 million dollars of someone else’s money by making bad investment decisions in the stock market? And if that cash belonged to a Hong Kong Triad kingpin with a history of killing debt welshers with a meat cleaver . . .
That’s the first half of the concept author Srinath Adiga opens with in his debut novel entitled: Dead Money, (Central Avenue, PB, $16.99, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-77168-216-9). It’s the second part of the plot however, that’s utter genius, attention-grabbing and irresistible. That’s because Raymond Li—the high-rolling con artist and protagonist at the heart of this satirical masterpiece of crime fiction—comes up with an ingenious plan to keep himself from being chopped into fish chum. After a chance meeting with a man burning fake money on behalf of his ancestors, and a subsequent library visit, where he researches Chinese mythology and superstitious beliefs, Raymond Li comes up with the idea of “Afterlife Dollars” . . . fictional currency that’s purchased for real money in the here and now . . . to ensure a prosperous and comfortable existence in the afterlife. He starts small, in a Hong Kong strip mall, where he gets a charter and calls it the Bank of Eternity. Then, by using an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign with the slogan “Life Insurance is NO Good to You When You’re Dead,” and guarantees that deposits are backed by the “Afterlife Central Bank” which is run by “entities in the afterlife.” And Raymond Li knows this, he says, because he had a near-death experience and met them. And, damned if he doesn’t get the idea to take off! Because people will believe anything.
It’s an out and out con job . . . but the Bank of Eternity works because humans everywhere are trained to believe in the afterlife. In fact, the idea works so well, that within a few years the Bank of Eternity is world-wide . . . and that’s where the law of unintended consequences rears up and changes everything . . . when the focus shifts to Mumbai, India and then Amsterdam, Holland in this thought-provoking and highly entertaining novel. It’s got an edginess on every page that you’ll remember long after you’ve finished reading the last word!

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This book is based on the concept of Afterlife dollars! A concept that allows people to buy their way into heaven. Yes, this seems like a bizarre scenario but Adiga makes it work. Ultimately, this cunning plan results in a global financial crisis!
This is essentially three different stories that are all connected through the foundations of the storyline. The storyline is very unique but plausible! I found it a bit slow to start but once I got the concept of the plot I did enjoy it. I thoroughly commend the authors portrayal of the different locations and countries presented in the story. His description of Hong Kong, Mumbai and Amsterdam was a welcoming vivid escape. I appreciated how the author integrated current global issues into the story too!
It’s astonishing that this is a debut novel and I definitely think this will be enjoyed by many readers!
Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for my advanced readers copy in return for my honest review.

Book review
Dead Money by Srinath Adiga
Rate 3⭐️⭐️⭐️ / B(75%)

This is the debut novel of author Srinath Adiga. Dead Money is divided into three books(three parts), and each part is a story from a different perspective in three different places, but with the same scheme Afterlife Dollars.

The book started very good and I was very into it, but the second and third book were not for me and my taste. It’s a very interesting story with a good plot, good idea and excellent manipulation with people that I think can happen today or may already be happening.
For anyone who loves political, religious and spiritual books then this is the right book for you.


Thanks to Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I suppose the basic plot arc is the interconnectedness and fragility of world economic systems, and how unintended consequences can turn a small ripple into a worldwide catastrophe. It's also a reminder that financial markets are driven by the interplay of fear and greed. But that sells it short: hung on that arc are issues of religion, politics, and human nature, along with a well-rounded cast and an engrossing story.

It's also very funny, although most of the humor is dark and even brutal, and some of the laughter is a little nervous when the satire gets close to current events.

The characters are very well-rendered, especially considering this a debut novel; none of the characters are wholly good or wholly evil (except for a few caricatures on the margins of the story), and their actions seem believably grounded in their circumstances. The story-line is exaggerated (I hope) - this is a satire - but not so far from possible as to be unthinkable.

I received this Advance Review Copy by Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley, Central Avenue Publishing for the opportunity!!

Review:

It took me a long time to get connected with the stories. Usually if things don't grab me at the beginning they tend to take me a LONG time to read and this was like that. I did enjoy the short stories and the releavenace to our world right now. I also liked the twisted humor that was in the books even though it was small and spread throughout.

This probably wasn't the right book for me but I know lots of people will enjoy it.

Hong Kong 2002: A stock market trader desperateto/pay off a gangster debt invents a scam: Afterlife Dollors. A product inspired by an ancient Chinese custom that allows people to buy their way into heaven. It's the beginning of a dizzying chain reaction that ripples in Mumbai, where one man does the unthinkable to secure his afterlife - while thousands of miles away in Amsterdam, another man races against time to stop an apocalypse.

This story is divided into three books. Each book has a different setting and characters. We get a good look into the beliefsin the spiritual world, religions and myths. It's a cleverly written, disturbing and funny debut novel. The three protagonists were believable. The story also gives us compassion and hope. I loved this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, # CentralAvenuePublishing and the author #SrinathAdiga for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to net galley for a copy in return for a review. I'm a little unsure about my rating for this book to be honest, and it's the ending which has made it a 3.5 for me.

This isn't what I expected, this is essentially 3 different stories but they are all linked by this idea of afterlife dollars. Now first off I want to say that the idea itself is really clever and if it hadn't have been in a story, quite plausible, though I suppose they based scientology on a sci fi series so anything can happen! But really the idea is a good idea and it is for me a unique idea. The first story was a bit slow at first but once the idea was established things came together. I had already predicted the irony of the end of that novella, but it was nice none the less. Novella 2 was my favourite of the three stories and I think this was a story which could have been developed. This story had a little more pace and again it had a uniqueness to it. It was also an interesting concept and raised some deeper issues. The final story started off strong, but I have to admit the end was not for me. For the other two stories there was a build up and then a somewhat flat but ironic and fitting end. With the third it was like it built up and then worked back down again; it wasn't in keeping with the other two.

As for the characters, they were good. I felt their stories seemed mostly believable and their emotional responses were believable even when they weren't so much. Yes they were characters with an agenda, that was obvious, but I wasn't too bothered by the authors presenting their message through the character. The settings were good. I liked how we glimpsed different cities and the worlds of these people although again, the last story didn't do this so well. The writing style was comfortable and mostly easy to read, where the pace dropped it felt a little bit if a slog.

Overall an interesting read. This book raises several important issues and challenges the reader. It was let down by the third story and at times the pace was too slow; too much focus on the people and their conversation than the action and moving the story forward. 3.5 stars for me.

It's hard to know what to make of this satire on money and gullibility. Raymond creates Afterlife dollars in 2002 after he loses a lot (a lot) of a Hong Kong gangster's money. It's a smart scam which plays on those who believe in, well, an afterlife, He's not a sympathetic character, Flash forward to 2011 and Mumbai, where Sanjit, who is thirty, is facing an ALS diagnosis and a desire to provide for his family. Then there's Theo, in Amsterdam, where things get really out of hand. There are multiple themes here, some of which resonate more than others. I found it a little distracting that Adiga chose to write this as something which has happened- not in future mode. The storytelling is good- it's an innovative plot. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

This seemed to be starting off so good! Dead Money was really a collection of three tales that all trace back to that opening. Basically, Raymond makes really bad decisions. At first they only hurt him. In desperation, to not be killed by a dangerous crime boss, he comes up with a ridiculous scheme to sell money for the afterlife. Yes, you give him money and he transfers it to the Afterlife Bank and you can pick it up there when you die. OK. And people buy it. This ridiculous scheme actually works way better than he would have thought it would. This causes a series of other issues for other characters and Raymond is responsible, really, for a global financial crisis.

I am conflicted about this book. In some ways the premise is brilliant. It really has the makings of a brilliant satire on our entire global financial system and what it is really based upon. A lot of people have made a lot of money selling things that were absolutely worthless or nonexistent and eventually that bubble has caused financial chaos. I get it. I found the characters and dialogue awkward and unbelievable at times. For me it didn't flow as well as I would like it. But, this is a ridiculous situation with ridiculous people, so maybe this is part of it. All in all, a good analogy of the folly that people will do for money.

A very philosophical tale, based around the monetisation of the afterlife with the creation of Afterlife Dollars - a means of assuring your safe passage into the afterlife, therefore putting a price on your life and what value you place upon yourself.

Starting in Hong Kong, and created as a means to avoid getting whacked by a mobster it takes on a life on its own and becomes a commodity that branches out around the world - taking on a mythical stance based upon each cultures own view on death and the hereafter.

The middle portion in India takes a dark turn with threats of terrorism and asks the question there about meeting your virgins in the afterlife in that instance.

Yet the final act in Amsterdam, helps kick the narrative up a notch with fine patter of dialogue handled well asking these open ended questions leaving the decision down to the challenged reader.

This book is comprised of three smaller, intertwined “books” that each tell the story of a different character. These stories will make you question everything you thought you knew... about politics, about morality, about humanity itself.

There is so much literary goodness to unpack in this phenomenal book, I don’t even know where to begin. Adiga crafts a story that blurs the line between good and evil with morally ambiguous characters. He highlights the idea that people believe what they want to believe and see what they want to see. It happened with global warming and it is happening with the
pandemic. Moreover, Adiga focuses a lot on the dangers of unfettered capitalism, “a system that’s neither just nor fair but promotes greed, exploitation, and mindless consumption”, and how it could ultimately destroy itself.

This story reminded me why I love reading. It reveals so much about human nature while also offering compassion and hope. It is dark. It is uncomfortable. It is one that I will think about for the rest of my life. This book is destined to be a classic.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book which will be published on 1/26.

What's the one thing they say you can't take with you if you die? Money.

What if you could?

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Bank of Eternity, I give you... Afterlife Dollars.

Spawned as an idea from a city trader, who was trying to get back the considerable amount of money that he had lost of a gangsters. Using Chinese fables and old stories of leaving money for the ferryman to take you to the other side.

Afterlife Dollars came into being. A load of unethical shit, and lie after lie a backstory evolved.

What was being sold? Nothing, a belief. Did it not matter? No. People thought they were investing in money that was going to be available to them when they died. They knew that they would not see anything till they were dead. The perfect fleece.

Then came Europe, a trader who had, had enough. Warnings made and ignored and a folio being built that would be more than profitable when the crash eventually came. With far right politics thrown in for good measure.

From something I thought that I wasn't going to enjoy to being engrossed within half an hour. Not my usual thing, but good just the same.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.4/5.0

This is much a story- driven story, which I admire. The author probably succeeds in his goal: making me squirm as I read on. Perhaps he should be in the industry of prophesying, because the whole thing is literally 2020 in a nutshell, minus the imaginary bank of course. If you like situational stories and the lack of likeable people. There is a suicidal theme in the book, I feel like I should warn you, and nothing in the book is healthy and happy. There is no happy ending in this book, which is not really a let down considering the whole thing is about laughing at the downward spiral the world is going to at the moment.
I recognize that the book is not perfect, but it is never meant to be. It has suicides, violence and all the evil things mankind inflict on each other. It is as if the author is writing about the realities of his life, omitting the hopes and dreams of people (he particularly squashes one in the end). So?
I hope by reading this, we can prove him wrong by doing the opposite.

Disclaimer: I received an e-proof of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I greatly enjoyed the originality of Dead Money, particularly because of how timely it feels with the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of consumerism. The book is made up of three stories. Book 1 focuses on Raymond, a stockbroker in Hong Kong trying to pay off his debt to a gang by selling afterlife money. Years later, Book 2 follows Sanjit, a man in Mumbai who’s just received a terminal diagnosis and is desperate to buy afterlife money. And Book 3 covers Theo, a man in Amsterdam who’s affected by Sanjit’s choices and is having an ethical dilemma about his company trading afterlife money, and follows the political and economic fallout of the world’s obsession with afterlife money.

This book made me laugh and feel uncomfortable with how close to home it felt to current events. I really enjoyed this quote: “Just like suicide bombers, consumers are being conditioned to believe that what really matters is the next life.”

so mans really caused a global economic catastrophe all because his impulsive ass needed to pay off debts. is this satire? or is this just real life? you know, if this book was published some time ago, maybe 10 or 20 years ago, it would be labeled as dystopian no question. the end of the capitalist world caused by the driving force of capitalism itself: money. reading this now, Christmas eve of 2020, it's just a story of our reality. it's hardly even satire anymore because it's just reality. the last page of this book? yeah that's just present day. the fact that it ends there is eerily terrifying and yet not surprising at all.

coming into this book, i thought that the three stories were actually separate stories, all a different satirical approach to exposing the invisible chains that hold us to the man-made concepts of capitalism and religion. but upon finding out that they were all connected stories about three different men in different stages of the downfall of the economy, i realized i was in for a treat because this is the perfect way to illustrate how capitalism as an economic system is doomed for failure in its nature, that its very structuring is what will topple itself over. economic crises don't just happen because one person made a mistake or even a group of people or a company. it's the gradual conditioning of the entire global population to value money over everything. it's governmental complicity in averting crises in order to keep their elected seats and not anger their under-the-table business partners. it's racist groups who sow hate to pass the blame of poor living conditions caused by capitalism to other people who can easily be labeled as 'different' and therefore 'dangerous', instead of accusing those who are perpetuating the system. adiga did a magnificent job exemplifying these concepts in the gradual way the crash came to be, all the little things that added and added to the inevitable outcome. the characters he created were also wonderfully written, giving each protagonist a well-developed backstory that humanized them even in their worst moments. we even feel sympathy for raymond, even as we gradually realize the absolute monster he had created. did he create the downfall? or did he simply speed it up? is he to blame for taking advantage of consumer vulnerabilities? or is the system that allowed him to do so to blame?

i found mara's character to be the most intriguing of them all. she starts as an impassioned activist for really whatever cause she can find, an exaggerated display of a, and i apologize for using this term, 'social justice warrior'. but as the weight and insurmountability of the crises take hold of the characters, she takes on a state of subdual, a passive indifference to a world that seems to take its course no matter what anyone can do. her change is an accurate and well-written portrayal of the average modern-day person, burdened by the influx of social media and the news and the impossibility to escape a feeling of responsibility for crises that are out of our control. how can we not be cynics when the last positive news was a war averted?

anyway, enough of my anti-capitalist rant. dead money is very well-written and does a superb job at depicting all the nuances in capitalist vs. anti-capitalist, religious vs. non-religious arguments because there are a lot of nuances. however, i found the ending a bit strange, cheesy but also didn't make sense? like what was the point he was trying to make? it seemed he posed a question but didn't provide an answer? or he did provide an answer but didn't develop it? the ending was a bit abrupt and frankly didn't fit with the rest of the novel, and is the only reason i am not giving this 5 stars.

Srinath Adiga's debut novel, Dead Money, kicks off in February 2002 with what amounts to a captivating novella. Raymond Li, a Hong Kong stockbroker, has been making money for gangsters by investing it judiciously. When he loses millions of dollars for his key client, Mr Wu, he knows his life is worth nothing if Wu finds out - but how can he make so much money so quickly with no ready capital? Raymond thinks of a crazy idea: Afterlife Dollars, inspired by the Chinese tradition of burning paper money and objects for use by the dead. If he can persuade people that he can exchange money for Afterlife Dollars with the Afterlife Bank, he can essentially make something for nothing, while selling the idea of an affluent afterlife where you will have everything you want because you had the forethought to prepare in advance. This section of Dead Money reads like a speculative thriller, and is totally gripping as Raymond sets his scam in motion but is always looking over his shoulder to see if either his gangster clients, or the police, will catch up with him. Adiga's writing is, to be honest, a bit clunky and schlocky, but this doesn't matter so much at the start because his ideas are so interesting.

Unfortunately, while the rest of the novel isn't a complete write-off, it certainly steers off the rails with an unnecessarily sensationalist and stereotypical second section about Muslim suicide bombers, before getting back on track for a while in 2011 with its third narrator, Theo, a Dutch investment banker who is being forced to recommend Afterlife Dollars as investment stock to his clients despite the fact that he thinks they're immoral. Adiga pulls off some clever twists here as he explores the ways that the mythology of Afterlife Dollars has been developed in different cultural contexts, and thinks about how this new currency might impact the global economy. However, the novel slides to an uneven halt as it moves more towards dystopian fiction than satirical thriller, a genre switch that immediately exposes the limitations of Adiga's writing. I loved the sporadic originality and intelligence of Dead Money, but writing- and character-wise, it's a bit of a mess.

Afterlife Dollars are the modern day equivalent of the philosophical argument of Pascal's Wager, except rather than gambling on whether god exists or not, it's betting on whether a capitalist afterlife exists or not. The way that herd mentality operates to convince people to make an investment in the dubious scheme because everyone else did was so realistic it was scary!

I was stunned to discover that this intricately-plotted, intense and thoroughly plausible book is the author's first published work. It was excellently written, with each of the three parts being set variously in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Amsterdam, all of which were evocatively realised. The three protagonists were flawed but believable.

Recommended for those who enjoy a thrilling read, set in a not-very-alternate universe.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.