3.75
I finished this big guy on the weekend. Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor is an epic, story within stories, sweeping drama of one of India’s richest sons, Sunny, and his rise and many falls. In the modern India, money and power are king, but they certainly can’t buy happiness or contentment. I thought this was a strong debut and worth the read. It got a little long at the end and wasn’t as captivating as the first 2/3 of the book for me. It’s rough, brutal and dark and Kapoor knows how to tell a captivating story.

I was very disappointed by this novel. I really wanted to like it, but there really wasn't much good I can say about it. I was drawn in by the two main characters, Sunny and Ajay, but I feel their storylines weren't really developed. The story is told from multiple points of view, and a large part of the novel felt like I was reading the same story again with a few extra details. It was a VERY unnecessarily long novel, with an ending that I really didn't like.
I am someone who has to finish something I start, otherwise this would have been a novel I would not have finished. I wish I had been able to stop when I first thought about it, as it would have saved me a lot of time.
I would not recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley, I read 20% of this novel and I could not finish it. Unfortunately, it did not keep me interested and I do not want to pick it up again after I put it down,
Thank you for the opportunity

A compelling, unputdownable crime thriller and family saga set in India. Told primarily from the perspectives of three characters, this novel tells the story of complex familial relationships, friendships, forbidden love, and corruption. I loved that the three main characters, Ajay, Sunny, and Neda, and found their characters to be fully developed in the 500-page novel. Their stories were well interwoven and explained throughout. Loved the setting, the timeperiods, and the various Indian cultural aspects woven in this novel. Looking forward to reading more by Deepti Kapoor!

I read Age Of Vice early and was under the impression it was a page turning thriller. Instead it was more of a slow paced drama with some dramatic scenes. I wish I was ready for that and maybe went in when I had a better mindset for a longer read like that. I did really enjoy the setting and the storyline, but I also found some of the points of view repetitive and made the book feel much longer than necessary for me.

My 2023 reading list started off with a bang! it has been years since I read such an epic, heartbreaking saga. This is being touted as a thriller but it has so much more; the focuses on family drama, history and culture clashes draw you in and keep you hooked. My thanks to Harper Collins and Killer Crime Club for the advanced reading copy. This set the bar for the rest of the year!

I had a few stop and starts with this book but I am very happy that I pushed through. This was a thicc one at over 500 pages and not my typical genre- part crime thriller and part family saga. It's very reminiscent of The Godfather and Slumdog Millionaire. I think it could have been shorter and at times I got a little lost but overall I found the story very interesting and can see why it would appeal to a large audience. I have heard it got picked up for adaptation to a tv series and think it will do very well in this format.

“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.”

This one has been all over Bookstagram and I could not wait to jump into it!

The opening line is so strong: “𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘩𝘪’𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘦.” Right away I felt like I was being sucked into this epic story of a crime family; I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep all the character straight however there are really three main ones: mobster boss son Sunny Wadia, his right-hand man Jay and his ex-girlfriend Nada. The other characters have distinct voices and characteristics, and Deepti Kapoor develops them all well. The narrative ebbs and flows through different periods of time, but is also really easy to read. Ajay is my favourite character - you get so much of his back story and feel so much despair as his life takes different dark turns. The opulence in Wadia family and the people that surround them is extravagant and absorbed me into this world. Since this is the beginning of a trilogy, there is a lot to set-up; sometimes I loved how much detail we got and other times I felt like it dragged on a bit. That is actually my biggest complaint of this book: its length. It is epic in feel and in ways it goes by very quickly. However at times, the writing does feel choppy and I felt that it could’ve been trimmed, especially knowing there is more story to come.

Age of Vice is a story of obedience, loyalty, corruption, power, and ultimately survival. Kapoor has created a world where greed and lust take centre stage with much to sacrifice. The last 50 pages have me intrigued to see where this story goes next. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and NetGalley for the ARC!

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor is already being considered a modern day classic. A story described as The Godfather meets The Great Gatsby set in New Delhi, it is a “book of the month” pick and Good Morning America bookclub pick too.

As an early reader of the book, I think I just read my favourite book of 2023. High praise for an absolutely immersive & epic experience created by Kapoor in this 500+ page book. While I savoured this book over many days (due to time/life), the pages flew by.

Age of Vice follows 3 main characters, Ajay, Sunny and Neda whose lives are intertwined, each the product of their vices, led to their sometimes wicked behaviour by the people around them. The book aims to answer what makes a person act the way they do, what molds them into who they are. Ajay is the servant, the help, he’s on Sunny’s team. Sunny is the enigmatic son of a rich & influential father. Neda is an impulsive journalist, she’s undecided on a lot of things. Age of Vice is a wild ride, it’s gritty & a sharp depiction of contemporary India. As readers we travel across India, we see the corrupt systems, we see the violence, the horror, we root for everyone & no one. We have biases and they are challenged every step of the way. Perhaps the most poignant part of this story is the dichotomy of the uber rich living lavish on the broken backs of the unbearably poor. A fact that is synonymous with India.

I loved this book for the sheer high-octane entertainment. A must read for 2023. Recommended for fans of crime dramas, thrillers, social commentary & intense entertainment. Thanks Deepti Kapoor, NetGalley & Harper Collins for the ARC!

Epic and dramatic, Age of Vice is filled with money, drugs and politics, set in Delhi. Ajay's story draws you and you really root for him, then you meet Sunny and Neda. Neda seems lost in her life, falls in love with Sunny and then it is all ripped away from her. Sunny is has drug, alcohol and daddy issues that he needs to get a hold of before he can accomplish anything. Their lives are intertwined with each others and with their vices...

Age of Vice, Deepti Kapour
Out now!!

This book has me perplexed.
And that was unexpected but very much welcome!

Some have said this harkens notes from The Godfather but with a cultural spin. Mafia themed reduction is but one element but there is so much more nuanced within the covers. A deeply entrenched crime underbelly that infiltrates all systems. A family saga. Government, institutional and systemic corruption that sustains and furthers abject poverty. And the social and cultural expectations, caste systems and class disparities that nourish it all via lateral violence, marginalization, and internalized oppression.

At just shy of 550 pages there were times where I was ALL IN. But there are other sections that felt - 🤷🏼‍♀️ But I’ve been thinking on it - even had dreams about it. And here’s where I have landed: the sticky parts were about the abrupt juxtaposition of salacious violence and corruption next to the realness of life. How it goes on despite injustice and hardship. It’s surreal and confounding that the two exist in parallel and in fact - because of the other.

The more I think about Age of Vice and Kapour’s voice the more I appreciate it.
It’s a slow steep.
I love when a book challenges and hurts my brain and heart. Leaving it messy - well that’s life and I appreciate the realness and the author’s restraint to tidy it up for us.

A compelling novel that deals with poverty and wealth, forbidden love and self hatred, survival and corruption and the ruthless men who rule that world. The characters are well written and some very likeable.
Ajay was my favourite character in the story and the reason you continue to read all 500 plus pages. Although the length is daunting it’s necessary to establish the character’s backgrounds and personalities. The ending will leave you searching back in the book for an explanation. Thank you to NetGalley and Deepti Kapoor for the opportunity to read this novel. I can’t wait for more from this author!

4.5 stars. This book. This book was AH-MAZING. One of the best books I’ve read in months. At over 500 pages, this one held my interest from the first page through the last. It marries a crime drama with family saga and it did so perfectly. I was sad to turn the last page, because my time with the Wadia’s was over.

Family saga with lots of drama. Set in India and follows the son of a crime lord and a son who was sold into a life of servitude.

It is a great read with shifting points of view. Also this book is part of a series so readers will need to wait to read book 2. Not knowing where the story will go, left me a bit frustrated at the end. Looking forward to reading the second in the series.

Delighted to include this title in the January edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction, for the Books section of Zoomer magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Age of Vice is a complex crime drama of lives entangled in money, power, corruption and its greedy consequences. Set among the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, contrasting the lives of the ultra-wealthy and the poor farmers and makeshift settlements in the way of their plans for expansion, the book first sets the scene with a gruesome, deadly car crash before it catapults the reader into Ajay's story. Sold into work as a child and forced to fend for himself, Ajay crosses paths with Sunny Wadia, son of a powerful business mogul with cash to throw away. Ajay serves Sunny and the Wadia empire, witness to a life of crime, drugs, and shady dealings that forecast its downfall.

The story is beautifully, charmingly written - glitzy and glamorous with a knife-sharp edge. It is told from multiple perspectives, split across decades as each character's layered story unfolds and curls into the next. While these switches in POV and jumps in time offer a quick break to surface for air before plunging back into the dark depths, the sprawling length of the novel made it difficult to keep track of events and timelines - however, I do consistently read 200-300-page books, and devoured this book in time to finish it before the new year, so my working memory of the book may not be as sharp as someone used to longer novels!

By the nature of this book, I recommend looking into its trigger warnings which include murder, death, drug and alcohol abuse, rape, and other violence.

This book is selected as Indigo's January Staff Pick of the Month and I am happy to vouch for it for anyone interested in a ruthless crime thriller filled with death, debauchery and scheming. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Hawkins is a successful American author of "The Wife Upstairs" and of many YA novels including the Hex Hall and Rebel Belle series. This new release is another suspense thriller. Emily is going through a divorce and trying to write her tenth cozy mystery in a series that has proven moderately popular. When her childhood friend and now a successful self-help author, Chess, invites her to spend the summer with her at a villa in Italy for some bonding and to finish their latest books, she jumps at the chance. Emily soon realizes that the villa was the location of the murder of a famous rock star in 1974. She quickly gets distracted from her cozy mystery and starts to write a book about the murder. Told in two timelines the story jumps back and forth from 1974 to the present, each time revealing more secrets about the lives of the characters. The story has suspense, friendship, romance with a small dose of "sex, drugs and rock & roll' and is a great recommendation for customers looking for a fun read, with some flawed characters.

Last read for 2022 and what a good one to end with ! This was a powerful story yet sad and very well written. It is set in India and is centred around drugs, greed and so much more within a family. The author does a great job of weaving the characters into the storylines and carrying them through to the end. Even though the book is a long one I found myself fully engrossed in the family and how each member allowed power to run their lives or destroy them. I give this book a solid 4.5 stars and encourage others to read it.

I would share this book with family, friends and my book clubs

I voluntarily received a free copy from NetGalley and Book Whisperer. All opinions are my own

Age of Vice, set in India, is a compelling crime thriller mixed with a family saga.

It begins with the police finding a young man named Ajay inebriated in a flashy Mercedes surrounded by a group of dead bodies. The police suspect he just rammed through the crowd sleeping on the pavement. At first glance, the police see Ajay as a man vested in wealth, but upon closer inspection, they realize he is a servant. When the police ask him what happened to cause him to crash his employer’s car, he remains silent.

The story unfolds from here, starting with Ajay’s impoverished youth to how he eventually came to work for one of India’s most wealthy and powerful families; and how he wound up in that vehicle. It is a story of violence, crime, and extravagance juxtaposed with extreme poverty.

It has three main POVs and a few extra thrown in for good measure.

It is an epic book, clocking in at over 500 pages, but it did not feel excessively long. Sometimes there would be pages of dialogue, but then it would be followed by a single paragraph taking up the whole page, so it felt balanced.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ajay’s sections. I would have been happy reading a whole book from just his pov.

I’m not super into reading about bad people doing bad things, aka crime novels, but Neda and Ajay were enough to keep my interest going. Although, the other characters brought more clarity into what was going on in this climate.

I believe Age of Vice is the first book in a trilogy, so the cliffhanger ending makes a lot more sense. My one qualm would be that there was loads of build up, but towards the end, it felt slightly rushed and chaotic. However, it did have a cinematic feel to it. Hopefully, the next book will clear everything up.

I highly recommend trying this if you enjoy thrillers and crime novels.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

Very enjoyable read. I love a well done BIG book and this did not disappoint. I read the other reviews and a number of readers DNF - I think they would have been rewarded if they had stayed the course. The multiple character story lines converge and wrap up well. I do agree that Ajay was the most sympathetic of the characters but the development of Sunny and Neda was so well written that I enjoyed their stories as well.