Review: Bottle of Lies : Ranbaxy and the Dark Side of Indian Pharma

Bottle of Lies : Ranbaxy and the Dark Side of Indian Pharma by Katherine Eban
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After a long time I read a book that was captivating and enthralling right till the end. Katherine Eban has done full justice to her years of painstaking research on the pharma industry. This book has brought to light the various malpractices the pharma industry indulges in to pass the muster in FDA books and the key to US markets. The book highlights the lax drug controls in developing countries like India and China to manufacture generic versions of branded expensive drugs. It has detailed how Ranbaxy flouted good manufacturing practices and permeated a system of corruption and record manipulation in their company. It took a whistleblower like Dinesh Thakur to bring out the malpractices to the attention of FDA. To compound his problems, including living in constant fear for his family, the FDA also took its own time (around eight years) to finally take action against Ranbaxy. This was only because of a few officials' dogged persistence to pursue justice. The FDA is also not spared with questionable practices, high pressure lobbying by the US govt in cahoots with the drug industry and corrupt officials walking its corridors.

This book brings out the fact that poor, inferior quality drugs are pushed to African, Eastern European and South American countries where the drug controls are lax and corruption is more widespread. Kudos to the author, this book definitely is an eye-opener and a mindblowing read.

View all my reviews

Review: Timeline

Timeline by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is about time travel. Crichton is one of my favourite writers as he researches the subject of his work thoroughly before writing it. Here this is just pure fiction about time travel undertaken by a group of historians contracted by a greedy and rich entrepreneur to bring back a professor stuck up in the 1300s medieval France and England. The first 200 pages was slow and boring and I almost gave it up. Then the action started once they travelled back in time to the 1300s and it became a page turner.

I would rate this as 3 star due to the slow start and a flimsy plot although the action is macabre and thrilling.

View all my reviews

Review: Liar's Poker

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the author's narrative of his experience working at Salomon Brothers, at one time the biggest investment bank on Wall Street and probably the world. The book is a sarcastic look into the world of high finance with wit and humor laced in the narrative. Investment banks are generally known as the hotbed of high net worth employees who sell products (equities, debt, bonds and mortgages here) to gullible, often clueless, investors at huge profits to satisfy their ever-increasing appetite for humongous profits. Corporate greed is the underlying message of the book and the cast of characters are the unscrupulous traders dotting the landscape.

The author is actually an art history student who somehow stumbles onto to the investment banking job, mainly just because every smart ivy League graduate seemed to be joining one. Somewhere down the years he is somewhat disillusioned by the profession and quits. The book is definitely insightful and educative. Some terms like CMOs, junk bonds etc are so lucidly explained that even a layman will be able to understand. Reading this book 30 years after it was first published. So many changes have taken place and so many firms have ceased to exist since. The book is funny at places but monotony of the narrative gets to you after a point of time.

View all my reviews

Review: Shout at the Devil

Shout at the Devil by Wilbur Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very good book about a story set in the first world war between the Germans and the Englishmen. Wilbur Smith has forayed into an adventure by an Irish bandit, Flynn Patrick O'Flynn helped by his daughter Rosa and son-in-law and aide Sebastian Oldsmith in the jungles, rivers and the African coast. Surprisingly he has stayed away from his familiar poaching territory in the jungles of Africa with little or no mention about the teeming wildlife. This is a refreshing take about how the bandit and his family helped by local natives overcome a German plot to destroy the English navy in pursuit of selfish gains.

The book also has its elements of humour and a wonderful cast of characters, especially Flynn who is characterised as a lovable and cunning yet a doting father and a loyal friend. Totally entertaining and extremely fast faced. Loved the action-at-sea moments and the scheming ways of Flynn to loot the Germans. A fabulous work by Wilbur Smith.

View all my reviews

Review: Certain Prey

Certain Prey by John Sandford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is my first Sandford and it was pretty much just about ok. I was expecting a lot more given the fantastic average rating of above 4. The plot starts off with the murder of Barbara Allen, wife of a property dealer Hale Allen. The killer is a professional hit-woman Clara Rinker hired by a hot-shot criminal lawyer Carmel Loan. The plot gets murky with more mindless killings. The protagonist is a cop Lucas Davenport who is assigned the job of solving the crime. In fact, this is not a whodunnit but howdunnit as the cop tries to piece together evidence to tie in the suspects to the crime, often by means bordering on illegal.

Purely for the fact that the book is about how the cop crosses the line for trapping the suspects put me off. Moreover, I felt that too many coincidences, like finding the slug in the suspect's room, spoilt the joy of reading a thriller.




View all my reviews

Review: Mr. Mercedes

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An excellent crime-thriller, Stephen King charts into new territory and shines. An unlikely trio of a detective, a teenager and a mentally unstable woman cracks the case of a psychotic serial killer out on a rampage killing innocent youngsters at job fairs and music concerts.

Initially the first 100 pages starts off at a slow pace and gradually builds builds the tension in the plot. The last 100 pages were a nerve-wracking and nail-biting page turner. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Have great expectations from the next two in the series. The only reason it cost a star in this review was that the story was so straightforward, without too many twists and turns, which is my type of a crime-thriller..

View all my reviews

Review: Eagle in the Sky

Eagle in the Sky by Wilbur Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is an emotional and heartbreaking roller coaster ride. It is a story of love, friendship and trust between three characters, David, Joe and Debra. David, a rich multimillionaire Jew, falls in love with Debra, daughter of an Israeli brigadier in the Israeli air force. His love for flying takes him to Israel where he joins the air force, joins the war against its enemies. As tragedy unfolds, both David and Debra are caught in a life fraught with danger. The author then takes us to Africa in the wild bushes where the story progresses and ends with a tragic climax.

The only drawback is the story becomes predictable and too mushy for my liking. This would be apt for romance fanatics who wouldn't mind shedding a tear or two.

View all my reviews