In the middle of the night in New Delhi, an expensive Mercedes jumps the curb and kills five people. When the dust settles, only a stunned servant is left to explain what happened. An Indian version of The Godfather, Age of Vice tells the interconnecting crime thriller and epic family drama of Sonny Wadia, the playboy heir of a mobster; Neda, his journalist girlfriend; and Ajay, his loyal servant.

Age of Vice starts out with a bang, gripping you from the start with the tale of Ajay, an Indian boy born in poverty, then sold into slavery, who eventually becomes the personal manservant of the son of a mob boss. At this point, I was completely feeling all the five-star reviews.

Once the narrative shifts away from Ajay, the story stumbles. Kapoor recycles the narrative, this time showcasing Neda's backstory, which is less interesting but still manageable. Then, the plot shifts again, into the train wreck that is Sunny's current life plus random backstories of other characters that dragged on and completely lost me. The fast-paced ending was hard to follow and left you without a resolution for any of the characters. Which is how I found out it's the first book in a planned trilogy; a trilogy I have no intention of finishing.