Book: The Heist Artist

Author: Vish Dhamija

Publisher: Harper Black

Pages: 262

Format: Paperback

Blurb

Vagh Pratap Singh aka the Captain is a conman extraordinaire. From transporting illegal merchandise and stealing cars to breaking safes, he’s done it all. But now, in his fortieth year, he’s ready to retire. So when Udham Kumar, a crooked politician from Uttar Pradesh, commissions the Captain to track down and steal Poppy Flowers, a Vincent van Gogh’s painting that has been smuggled into India after it went missing in a museum in Egypt in 2010, the Captain knows that he’s found his last, and biggest case. But the painting is now in possession of a dangerous gangster, and the Captain is being followed by Udham Kumar’s ruthless associates, greedy for both money and power. As the odds against him begin to stack up, the Captain realizes that his last heist might not be as easy as he’d imagined.

Review

This book is so good, that I hope that the next time a Bollywood director thinks of a book adaptation, he/she chooses this book. I am sure, if deftly made, the film can be a hit.

Though I’d prefer changing a few things. Like the ending. With the story build-up so nail-bitingly amazing, the ending fell flat. It started off interesting, progression was nice and jittery, then the chaos started which was still fine, but the end was not so impressive, it got mellowed down to being confusing about what just happened.

Long story short, the book is recommended but could have been better. Expected a lot.

My Rating: 4/5

P.S. Thank you Writersmelon and Harper Collins for the review copy in exchange of an honest review.