Based in Delhi, India, a story of the disparity between the lives of those from a privileged background and the majority surviving in poverty. Numerous characters and a lengthy book involving every facet of human nature in their drive for survival. Commencing with a tragic car crash that results in the blame placed on an innocent servant. Events and individuals actions and motivations form a complex trajectory moving towards unseen consequences for everyone involved. The worst excesses of a society operated by corruption and violence is exposed in thrilling and dangerous detail. A high octane ending produces a worthy conclusion to an epic novel. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor is the story of a powerful Indian dynasty deep rooted in corruption.
It’s a riveting, brutal journey into the high stakes world of corruption and inherited wealth set in modern India and the mind blowing exploitation of the poor. Good in depth storytelling with many big characters throughout the book, however, it’s Ajay’s character which is the stand out character and the one which totally captivated me, so I was rather disappointed with the ending as having had such an impact in the story he sort of faded at the end…I’m assuming/ hoping there’s a sequel!
Big thanks to Deepti Kapoor, the publishers and NetGalley for the eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

This was a very long book I was invested in the characters but did find them frustrating at times. Very glad o finished it though

Deepti Kapoor is an author that i have been meaning to read ever since i saw the blurb for "a bad character". sadly i found age of vice gratuitous in its obvious attempts to repulse and impress its readers. i was also reminded of white tiger so didn't find myself particularly gripped by the storyline.

My mistake, I should know by now to avoid books that have the term 'high octane' in the blurb... DNF'd after 200 pages.

Despite a lot of action I got really bored quite quickly. I had the feeling only one in ten sentences was relevant, the rest more sensationalism. I found the writing is really unremarkable, but that's ok: it is written for the plot.

Obviously there is a big market for this type of book, it is very well marketed and I could consider watching the TV-adaption that will doubtlessly follow. But I have limited reading time and want to use it for more thought-provoking books.

Many thanks for the ARC, much appreciated!

A gripping novel, expertly crafted. Set in India, from the mountains to the city and from the slums to the uber-wealthy. A long book, more gripping in the first half... then it meanders a while, and comes back again at the end. Until the END. It just STOPPED.

I think I was speechless at the abrupt non-ending. So obviously for a sequel... so unfulfilling after reading for so long.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Age of Vice is a novel that touches on so many different topics, from family responsibility and gang violence to the modernisation of India and the destructive properties of capitalism. But above all, it's a riveting narrative. The time jumps and character shifts help to move the plot along while filling in gaps, and even though the characters are all to some extent unlikeable (apart from perhaps Ajay) you feel their anguish and their decisions are wholly realistic. It could perhaps have done with being a little shorter, but was nevertheless a good read.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

I'm very sorry but I had to put it down because this gritty, violent and dark. i usually don't read the synopsis that close but I really should have done it here. Of what I read the writing was good and it seems like a great novel but I can't stomach it.

This was a compelling read from the get go, with well fleshed out characters. It had dark themes but curiosity got the better of me and I stuck with it throughout, happily!

This is an absolutely brilliant book. It is full of action, drama, crime and mystery it is also a story of three main characters who are working their way through life. While it is full of action it is also one of those quiet thrillers. It is hard to explain what I mean by this, the thrills and action are non-stop but it is the focus on each individual that drew me into the story. It is very much a character-led book and one that I adored so much.

The story of Ajay as a young boy being sent away to work is a hard one, he finds life is easier if he is subservient and is therefore eager to please. How on earth then does he end up in prison with a reputation for working for the infamous Wadia family? A family who are notorious for getting what they want by fair means or foul.

Sunny Wadia, is a rich playboy-style person. All the cars, ladies on his arms, luxury apartments and lavish lifestyles are worlds away from what Ajay has ever imagined let alone known. He is the son of Bunty and Bunty is feared.

Neda is a journalist who gets caught up in the world of Sunny, she doesn't expect anything to come from her first interview with Sunny but along with Ajay, she also gets swept up into the world of corruption, friendship, allies, enemies and so much more.

The story begins with an accident, a dramatic start and it then backtracks to the beginning of each of the main three characters' stories. The contrasts between their lifestyles are startling and it shows India in different comparisons. From the slums to the 5-star penthouse hotels and apartments, to the exclusive clubs and the not-so-much. The author encompasses it all.

The author focuses his attention on the characters so well, it makes for very addictive reading and one that I had me constantly thinking about what on earth would come next. I did read this deliberately slower than I usually 2would, it was a story I wanted to savour rather than rush through.

While it is all about gangsters and the lifestyles that are associated with them, it is also about something much deeper. It is about respect, family, friendship, trust, loyalty and the future. It is a mesmerising novel and one that caught me completely unaware of how much of an impact it would make on me. Yes, a slower thriller but my goodness what a brilliant story, It is one I would absolutely recommend.

I read this in the last days of December 2022, and what a note to end a year on! I love a book about a horrible glittering rich tragic world, and this was just so good, amazingly specific in its Delhi setting and characters and universal in its depiction of power as a sort of collective network of enacted stupidity. For fans of Succession, Edith Wharton, or Trust by Hernan Diaz—I quite literally could not put this down and cannot wait to discuss it with friends!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

“This is Kali Yuga, the losing age, the age of vice. The people on the road will remain dead. ….The wheel will keep turning toward the dissolution that will swallow us all.”

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group Fleet for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Age of Vice’ by Deepti Kapoor. I complemented my reading with its unabridged audiobook edition.

Wow! No wonder there has been so much prepublication buzz about this novel. From its opening I was captivated by this compelling combination of a gritty literary crime drama and epic family saga.

Given its length and complexity it is difficult to say much about the plot, so just a brief overview.

New Delhi, 2004. In the early hours of a February morning a speeding Mercedes jumps the curb and plows into a group of sleeping pavement dwellers. Soon after the police arrest Ajay, its drunk driver. When it is discovered that he is a servant and not the owner of the vehicle, Ajay is thrown into a brutal, overcrowded prison. Yet are things what they seem?

The narrative then goes back in time to chronicle the life of Ajay, who was born into poverty. Following a family tragedy he is forced into servitude. He becomes a diligent servant, eventually coming into the employ of Sunny, the playboy heir to Bunty Wadia, a powerful crime boss.

Sunny’s life of privilege and excess forms a second narrative. The third narrative focuses on Neda, a young journalist, who comes into Sunny’s orbit while covertly investigating his family’s business dealings.

Deepti Kapoor cleverly dovetails these narratives so that we experience key events from various points of view, increasing our awareness of the threads that bind its protagonists together.

There is undoubtedly a high level of violence within the pages of ‘Age of Vice’. It addresses serious social issues throughout and unflinchingly examines themes of political corruption and organised crime. I was reminded of my first experience of reading ‘The Godfather’ in the early 1970s. Strong stuff.

It proved impossible to put down and as I reached its final pages it was clear that there was more to come. I was pleased to discover that this is the first in a trilogy and I will be looking forward to the publication of the second and third volumes in due course.

Overall, I felt that ‘Age of Vice’ was a triumph of a novel, likely to be quickly heralded as a modern classic. I am also expecting to see it featured in nominations for 2023 literary awards.

Even though it is only the first few days of the new year, ‘Age of Vice’ is undoubtedly going to be one of my top reads of 2023.

Very highly recommended.

“Nothing will change. This is Kali Yuga, the losing age, the age of vice.”

Deepti Kapoor's epic razor sharp blend of crime, intrigue and family saga captures the rotten, ruthless, criminally corrupt contemporary dark soul of India, with its thin veneer of modernism and democracy, aiming to disguise the vast, eye watering levels of inequalities between the few at the top, kleptocrats, including powerful and ruthless gangster bosses, protected by the establishment, and the precarious lives of the impoverished majority, death a constant in their lives and finding themselves publicly denigrated. It all begins with a fatal car crash, killing 5, including a pregnant woman, by an apparently drunk driver of a Mercedes, when the smoke settles, Ajay, a servant, will be arrested, imprisoned and a target in prison. This pivotal event changes lives and is the centre of complex intrigues revolving around crime, corruption, family dynamics, betrayal, love and loss as the narrative moves back and forth in time and between extreme ends of wealth and the social class system.

We are immersed in the lives and interactions of 3 individuals, the loyal, eager to please Ajay who has managed to rise from the harrowing death of his father as a young child, extreme impoverishment in eastern Utter Pradish and serving a family in the mountains after being sold. Ajay manages to survive harsh circumstances, he meets Sunny Wadia, who gives him his card and offers him the opportunity to work for him in Delhi. Discreet, hardworking, utterly loyal and not a drinker, Ajay impresses as he rises through the ranks to become Sunny's bodyguard, doing whatever Sunny wants him to do, he would not dream of saying no to anything asked of him. Neda is a privileged young naive Delhi journalist, with little commitment to her profession, wanting to be perceived as cool, she is drawn into the glamorous, artistic, never ending hedonistic parties of drink and drugs, packed with celebrities, run by the philanthropic, patron of the arts, Sunny. How much does she really see Sunny and far will she go for him?

Sunny is the son of feared gangster, Bunty, with a vicious uncle Vicky, he appears to have little in common with his brutally violent and cruel family. Kapoor explores the complicated character of Sunny, his needy and disturbing relationship with his father, deep down is he his father's son? Ajay and Neda place their trust in him, will they live to regret it? This is a scintillating and gripping literary crime drama located right in the nerve centre of modern India's economic, social and political miracle, set in the nation's contested political urban and rural environments, tightly plotted, and with characters that portray the central issues and national tensions plaguing India, the complicity, the lack of ethics and morality, the personal and the political. I am certain this engaging and captivating novel will ensnare the interests of a wide variety of readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

“Age of Vice” is an epic tale that is difficult to pin onto one genre. It starts off with a crime in 2004 in New Delhi where a speeding car hits a number of street sleepers, killing several of them including a pregnant woman. Over the course of the next chapters in the book, we find out more about the characters who are involved in the crash in one way or another: Sunny Wadia, son of a criminal but highly influential father; Neda Kapur, a journalist who is unsatisfied with her life and feels drawn to the enigmatic Sunny; Ajay who has a hugely difficult childhood and ends up being involved with Sunny and the Wadia’s; and other very relevant characters too. While we discover more about the crime, we also get drip fed the family history of the Wadia’s and those around them. What makes this quite a unique book is that it doesn’t end with finding out who committed the crime, but we then see the consequences of everyone’s actions. So it slowly turns from crime thriller to crime family saga but also covers politics in India and the huge differences between the richer and poorer members of society.

If I say much more, I’ll give away too many spoilers. But what I can say is that the author weaves together so many different stories, almost entirely with ease. I would say that I did get a bit confused towards the end remembering who was on whose side (it is a long book after all!) but I did really enjoy it and found the majority of the book to be really gripping.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Age of Vice is a big book and I hung on every word. This is a prime example of how crime and literary fiction merge together to create a huge story of political and social significance. Seen through the eyes of 3 people, it is told from the perspectives of Ajay, Sunny and Neda. A vast, sweeping narrative of politics, corruption and the power of gangsterism in India, it is uncompromising. Ajay is the character who provides the central core of this novel and the story begins with him as he emerges from a fatal car crash and is taken to prison.

Born into poverty in Uttar Pradesh, Ajay and his family are conned out of what little they have until his mother has no choice but to sell Ajay to child traffickers in order to have enough to feed the rest of her family. Sonny keeps his head down and works hard, making himself indispensable until he finally attracts the attention of playboy Sunny Wadia.

Sunny loves to party and as the son of Bunty Wadia, a corrupt and venal politician whose tentacles spread throughout Delhi and further afield, he is never short of drugs, money and alcohol. Ajay becomes his servant, rolling his joints, procuring his drugs, cleaning up after his legendary parties, even taking care of the women Sunny so carelessly discards.

It’s a hedonistic lifestyle and Sunny is caught between wanting to please his father and yet realising that he needs to be his own man with a way to realise his own dreams and aspirations even though they do not accord with his father’s wishes.

Neda is a journalist. She comes into Sunny’s life and sees him for what he is. Yet she is also deeply attracted to him, perhaps because of his flaws as much as anything. She can see that he battles silently with his need to be his own man, though his father exerts an iron grip on Sunny, determined to mould him into his successor.

But Bunty Wadia is not the only villain of this piece. Vicky Wadia, his brother, has none of the social veneer that Bunty uses to present as a businessman in New Delhi. Vicky is an out and out gangster, operating in the shadows, ruling through violence and fear, clearing the way for the Wadia family to run every aspect of legal and illegal commerce throughout the region.

Age of Vice is a story of extremes; extreme poverty and child trafficking; extreme wealth and venality; corruption and terrible violence. It is the story of how power corrupts and offers evidence of how absolute power corrupts absolutely but political power is where the money is to be made. The capitalist dream lives large in India and however shallow and meaningless it often is for those who ‘succeed’.

Age of Vice depicts so clearly the consequences of what Sunny has to do to help his father gain and retain power, and how that impacts him and on those closest to him. It’s a heart-breaking, brutal story of epic proportions, told with a literary flair and a really searing philosophical undercurrent that exemplifies what really matters. It is also a story of friendship, loyalty and love and how easy it is to lose your way when all around you are lying not just to you, but to themselves.

Verdict: I adored this story. Deepti Kappor is a visual storyteller and her characters spring to life on the page. It is a story of how easy it is to be sucked into the middle of a vortex and how impossible it is to get free of the maelstrom. There’s something about this first car crash that symbolises everything that is to follow. Sunny’s life is a car crash just as India’s political and economic system is an accident waiting to happen. Age of Vice is a brilliant *must read* start to the New Year.

Set mainly in Delhi this novel is a rollercoaster of a ride. A family saga/thriller we are introduced to the Wadia family and in particular the son Sunny and glimpse the widespread corruption and violence within his world. The story is told from the perspective of the three main characters. Sunny -son of a wealthy corrupt criminal family, AJay - the servant trying to improve his life and Neda - a journalist who wants to expose the corruption but who gets drawn into the web of the Wadia family. This novel is not for the faint hearted but I couldn’t put this book down and I’m looking forward to the next book as I believe that this is the start of a trilogy. An excellent book on which to end 2022.

Many thanks to NetGalley And the publisher for the advanced digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

A powerfully written story about modern day India. The chief protaganists are Sunny Wadia, son of a vicious man who has built up his 'empire' and allowed his son to waste his life in drugs and drink, partying all the time; Ajay who is a very poor man, sold by his mother at a young age and endlessly exploited, and a journalist Neda, who hasn't found her place in the world just yet. The book begins with a Mercedes ploughing into the crowd, killing innocent bystanders, and the blame falling squarely on the shoulders of Ajay. But there is much more to this 'accident' than first appears, and the story is told in a clever and winding way, drawing the reader in.

The picture of modern Delhi is not at all attractive - pathetic little men who think having money and power gives them the right to trample on others, abusing and discarding them, buying their way out of trouble instead of learning to take responsibility for their actions. The poor people reinforce this idea, idealising and following the rich bullies, wanting not to overthrow their tyranny but to become like them themselves.

A rich tale, told well. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What a great book! The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people! Recommend

I hate saying anything bad but this was just a relentless list of corruption and decadence. There was no real plot just an endless list of horrible incidents that were linked in some way. I'm guessing the author hasn't worked for the Indian Tourist board because she portrays the country in an awful way. It may be an honest observation, but it's certainly unflinching and I would say not for the faint hearted.

An action-packed sharp thriller that takes you breathlessly through many stories. It's fast-paced and fascinating, and gives an intriguing view of modern India, its appeal, its vices and its beauty. Sunny, Neva and Ajay are the three points of a triangle that gets partly filled in, but leaves enough loose ends to leave you wanting to know more.