Scammed by Anonymous

When i picked up this book, i read
the brief synopsis and wondered what it would be about. But i must tell
you, the author had me in for a surprise, as there was quite a bit of
twist and turn within the 1st few pages. 

 

The protagonist of Scammed is Hitesh
Shah, who is an accountant and quite vexed with his current job. Like
every other hard working person, he waits patiently for that glorious
moment, when his boss, also a friend Sahil will call him into his office
for the appraisal and offer him a promotion. Alas, it is not to be so.
he discovers the promotion has gone to another woman in the office, who
is much less deserving. Unable to take a decision, and yielding into his
boss’s offer that 6 months down the road Hitesh will be promoted, he
goes on with his day, being miserable. Working on the accounts of a
client, he discovers there is quite a bit of muck and underhand jobs
going on, added to the fact that the partner assigned for the project
Sandra is most of the time missing. 

 

Through the client, he discovers
Sandra has been having illicit affairs under the pretense of being ill.
Fed up with people around him, Hitesh decides to complete the assignment
for Supreme Motors and look for something better. He goes home to a
mother who is worried about him and always trying to hook him up with
some girl or the other, and a father who is never happy and always
looking for a quarrel, disagreement. 

 

Hitesh approaches the client,
Venugopal Reddy with the findings of the audit and also with a proposal.
Venugopal is quite a sleazy businessman who also has quite a bit of
Political connections. This is also when Hitesh reconnects with his
School sweetheart Sushma, they go around, go out, he buys her fancy
things, and even asks her to marry him. Around this time, Venugopal
fires and takes into action all those who had been cheating him, and
ropes in Hitesh to launch the Rental car company, which comes as a much
deserved break for Hitesh, who goes on to quit his job at Smith &
Donald.

Supreme Motors does well, infact the
company grows beyond dreams, giving Hitesh a new lease on life.
However, like a stack of playing cards, things start falling apart.
Complaints pour in from Franchisees, people are talking about abusive
drivers, franchisees approved without Hitesh’s go ahead and just about
everything else one can dream of. Amidst all this, Sushma breaks up with
him saying she has a flourishing career ahead of her. 

One morning, Hitesh is woken up and
told that one of the members of Supreme Motors Mohan Babu has committed a
murder and things are going from bad to worse for the company. Like
many Bollywood movies, people run, some disappear, and others are blamed
for no fault of theirs. If you have seen/read Pelican Brief, you will
know what am talking about. With the help of Payal and another employee,
Hitesh goes into hiding, just till things settle down. Angry and upset,
he tries to figure out a way to solve the mess that has unfolded.
Sushma and Sandra file case on Hitesh saying he abused and sexually
harassed them.

With no other option, Hitesh runs
from town to town with no one but Payal by his side. He gradually falls
in love with her, realises how valuable she has been and goes on to
marry her! With the help of the Chief Minister, he clears his name, and
brings out all the trash to open, killing the chance that all the crooks
had of instigating him and getting away scott free.

The book was quite engaging, i read
it in one go and quite enjoyed the pace!! Yes, it did feel filmy, but i
must give it to the author for maintaining pace, and keeping it real!!