In the last year, I’ve made it a point staying on top of the hot book du jour that caught my fancy. Most of the time, the hype is so suffocating, I have to put it down and come back to it. There’s nothing wrong with the book, but after hearing for months about how life altering it is, the expectations become impossible to reach. I usually come back to those books and wind up enjoying them independent of noise. I’m also trying hard not to keep falling into this trap.
Age of Vice is not such a book. It met the hype and in some ways succeeded it. It will most certainly go down as one of the best things I read in 2023.
An incredible, sprawling yet digestible epic that made me care about the characters and invest in the location. Unquestionably a Godfather-meets-Slumdog Millionaire tale, it’s a great crime story that doubles as a layered look at India’s caste system and the perpetual desire to reform what is permanently broken. Seeing the three main characters struggle against the world, even those with the power to do things, left me frustrated and heartbroken but also moved to the very last page, with its propulsive endings.
As much as a crime fiction fan as I am, I don’t think you need to be to enjoy this. If you just want a well-written story to sink your teeth into that keeps momentum from start to finish, you should check this out.