‘The Hundred Million Bet’ is a fast-paced explosive financial thriller

Team L&M

For lovers of James Hudson, Stephen Frey and our very own Ravi Subramanian, Srishti Publishers has come up with a new book, The Hundred Million Bet, touted as the hottest financial thriller of 2023. The book is written by Atul Koul Randev.

A fast-paced explosive thriller about money laundering, mafia and crime The Hundred Million Bet is all about going against all odds and putting everything on the line to win, or lose it all.

Following is an excerpt (Page 16-18 ) from the book

4 Caesar

Zurich August, 2015

A note had been left behind at the dresser in my hotel room  in Zurich with the address. I pulled out a small bottle of whisky from the mini bar and drank straight from it. What choices did I have?

I could lose the money and hope that they let Octavia and me walk away. But could I trust them to let her out? Did I really care? Should you feel inclined to question the basis of my dilemma, let me point out that a hundred million euros was a substantial amount of money. In addition, if you’ll forgive my callousness for a moment, Octavia had, to the best of my estimates, lived a fairly ordinary life so far. A life that was unlikely to take even a modestly remarkable turn in the foreseeable future. In an exceedingly boring life that could at best be described as transient, this was probably the one life- altering event she had experienced. Would it be fair for me to deprive her of this turmoil?

She was trapped in a room. How different was it from her day-to-day existence? She couldn’t move around in freedom, but trading it for the knowledge that the events that remained were both remarkable and finite seemed to be a fair trade to me. Not to mention the fact that it also meant that I might be able to keep my money.

Which brought me to my second alternative – run. The Don was unlikely to give up the chase for his money easily,

but then again, the world was a big place, and that money could buy me a fair amount of space to lose myself in. How long would it take before they caught up with me? Five years? One? It was highly unlikely that I would go on to live long anyway, considering my current debauched lifestyle.

I arrived at the location of the game a few minutes before eight p.m. “Welcome Mr Caesar, it is a pleasure to receive a player of your stature at our modest establishment.” An oily man welcomed me at the door. He led me into a room with large floor to ceiling windows that gazed outwards on a large body of water. A table was set up in the centre of the room for the game.

“It’s my utmost pleasure to provide you with this privilege, my dear sir.”

The man’s fake smile widened even further. “Would you like something to drink before we start?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” A placard with my name on it sat in front of the chair. An envelope rested next to it.

Inside the envelope was a picture of Octavia holding up the day’s newspaper. It was pretty old school, as far as intimidation tactics went.

“What do you seek today, Mr Caesar?” The   Don’s voice rang out from behind. “You must excuse me for inconveniencing you for my indulgence.”

They sought reactions that I was unwilling to give. ‘Do not weep. Do not wax indignant. Understand’, said Spinoza. Right now, that is what I’m seeking, Don Camorra. This is what I’ve been seeking for a few decades, so not much has changed. Just the perspective has shifted, now that another person has been brought into it.”

The Don followed my gaze to the envelope with Octavia’s picture in it, “What are you trying to understand?”

“Relationships today, and their value in my life.” The Don smiled, “May I offer my two pence?”

I nodded and he continued, “I won’t take credit for these words, much of it has been said by my old brothers, but it takes many stepping stones to get from a place to a place that is worth being at. No one does it unaided, and what gets you there is also what matters when nothing else does – family,” he paused, “this life of ours, this is a wonderful life. But it’s most unpredictable. There are so many ways that it can take a turn for the worse, and when that happens, what you need is for your blood to stand firm beside you.”

“Fine words, but clarification then, those stepping-stones that you mentioned, are those people? What sacrifices must we make for blood and does distance and time turn blood to water?”

The Mafioso smiled. “No sacrifice made is too big. The bonds of blood run deep and far, and time is immaterial.”

“Is a sacrifice for life bigger than a sacrifice for money?

Who can measure it and how?”

A thoughtful expression appeared on the Don’s face. He nodded at the dealer who stepped forward, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we digress here a bit. Are we ready to play?”

The Don nodded.

“No,” I said, and walked out of the casino.