Age of Vice — A Long-winded Story of Nothing
By Sofia Trevino
Between the option to ever read “Age of Vice” or watch a snail creep across the room, pick the snail. At least there’d be someone to root for.
At 548 pages, Deepti Kapoor’s second novel does not justify its length and an edited-down version would allow for fewer opportunities to zone out. What starts off as an interesting crime thriller slowly unravels into unnecessary point-of-view switches and flashbacks that lose the plot in itself.
The novel opens up in New Delhi with five dead bodies as a result of an apparent drunk-driving incident. Except the driver doesn’t own the Mercedes and can’t explain what’s happened. Through three major characters — Ajay, a servant for the corrupt Wadia family; Sunny, a socialite son of the same family; and Neda, a journalist — Kapoor weaves together a story of corruption and social class in India leading up to and following the crime, one Ajay has taken the blame for.
Though the synopsis and opening scenes promise a high action-packed thriller and mystery, the story falls through, ending up incredibly boring. Throughout the novel, there’s the feeling that the story is yet to start. After the car crash scene, “Age of Vice” feels purely like exposition, and it’s difficult to tell what the story is or why readers should care.
Kapoor’s downfall here is her writing style. The clipped, staccato sentences and long sections of dialogue with barely any descriptions make it feel like you’re skimming across words without them sinking in. While introducing Ajay after the crime, the descriptions are bland: “Out into the courtyard, break time. Hundreds of inmates piling out of their cells to congregate. Men size him up. He’s something of a celebrity. They’ve all heard about the Mercedes Killer.”
There are also too many scene breaks on every page when the same scene is still being told, so it makes no sense as to why there are jumps. Pages are literally half empty as characters converse back and forth, so it reads more like a screenplay than a book: “‘Bullshit. You don’t need oxygen masks.’ ‘It was probably nitrous oxide!’ ‘You know he was brought up in Dubai.’ ‘He was not.’ ‘His mother’s a famous actress.’ ‘Ha-ha.’ ‘Guess which one?’ ‘Your mom.’” The unceasing dialogue comes across so surface level, that Kapoor doesn’t delve into her characters’ minds to reveal enough of their feelings and personalities.
With the dull writing, dialogue and unneeded length, this first novel in a planned trilogy makes it unlikely I’d pick up the following installations. Unless slow, lackluster characters and plot lines that lead to nowhere seem entertaining, pick the option to do literally anything else other than read this book — even if it is watching a snail crawl.
⭑.5 out of 5
“Age of Vice” by Deepti Kapoor, 548 p., Riverhead Books, $20 on Amazon
