A book that is about some ancient mystery that is unravelling on the Internet? Something that is connected to various happenings in different cities across the world? Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? I am talking about Exit Point by Anil Goel. I was so engrossed in that book, I so wanted to know what happens next, that I started reading the book in the afternoon and stayed up till 3am to finish it! Read on to know more about this book…..
Synopsis of Exit Point by Anil Goel
With such an interesting synopsis, is it any wonder that I just couldn’t put the book down? It starts off with some weird thing happening off the shore of Australia that leads to the death of a young boy and to sharks having burn marks. Fast forward to 2015/16 where the main social networking site, x-net, creates something that lets you share the last moments of your life with someone in the virtual world, via a program called death switch. Seeing the technological advancements in today’s world, reading about such “suicide pacts” was very disturbing for me.
A young girl, Megan, is found dead under very mysterious circumstances. Since she was a social recluse in the real world but very active on x-net, the officer investigating the case seeks out the help of Alok, a 25 year old whiz kid from India. As they try to unravel the mystery of her death they find themselves flying around the world to seek answers. Rather than answers, I felt it raised more questions:
* How does a 13 year old manage to get a prototype of the lastest mobile phone even before it has launched in the market?
* In the case of Ishshah, if the person who had created the fake account hadn’t spread those harsh rumours about her, then who had?
* Why was the founder of X-net living as a beggar?
I could go on but then I don’t want to reveal the story to you. What I did like were the conversations between He and She. Very well written.
While the plot initially seemed very promising, there are times when it tends to drag. There are lots of unnecessary details and subplots that the book could have done without. The entire section based in Mumbai could have been edited to be a bit tighter. Somewhere, you get the feeling of the original plot getting lost; you get the feeling that you’re reading pages after pages but aren’t really getting anywhere.
The climax was the most disappointing part of the book and leaves you feeling confused. This was where more details and explainations were needed but the author chose to be quite abrupt here. Nobody’s actions are explained, why does Alok do what he does, how does it help them save “humankind”, how does that baby have dazzling green eyes? Too many unanswered questions. An anti-climatic climax is what I would call it.
Overall, the author Anil Goel has written a really good story which somehow gets a bit lost in the meandering sub-plots and unsatisfactory ending. If your are a social media maven or a technology freak or simply like reading futuristic sci-fi, then borrow the book from the library and read it.