Scammed: Confessions of a Confused Accountant

by Anonymous

Genres: Fiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Saravanan Cholarajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting book.. Its all about a person who is in an dicey situation always. A person who have goods ideas and vision but lacks in decision making. I love to read the novels with corporate flavor and this has all the ingredients to have nice taste

[Pretty Little Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

SCAMMED is a book, that is set in the corporate world and that really attracted me to it in the first place. That, and the fact that it dealt with a naive character - Hitesh Patel, who works as a CPA! And of course, this straightforward and good natured attitude of his makes him a target for his manager Sahil, who is a character typical in so many offices - that of the slick self-absorbed one.
Without revealing much of the plot (which is delicious, let me tell you!), the characters that the author has created are quite memorable in the sense that they satirize actual characters that we see in our daily lives. I'm sure that as you read the book, you will be able to say - Oh! This character is totally like this person I know!
Whether you hate them or love them, they are stereotypes that the author uses to bind his narrative into an interesting mix. The plot of the story is written in quite a fast-paced manner and this ensures that you keep on reading the book - turning on page after the other. Moreover, the character growth of Hitesh, after that deal with the very Godfather-ish Venugopal Reddy. The twist that the author brings about also forms a major part of the story (and without giving a spoiler, let me tell you, it had me on the edge of my seat!)
The environment that the author has created gelled well with the story. The writing style pulls you in and then, YOU end up gelled with the story! It is lucid and easy to understand and I'm sure everyone will find it easy enough to understand.

I rate this book a 4/5 stars! Definitely recommend this for a quick read with just enough substance.

[Anandh Sundar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book but brownie points for depicting life inside an audit firm(outstation audit, seniors, buttering up) and stress points in a cab firm(sign-ups, commissions, O&M, signups, safety). In the age of Uber and Ola, this could well pass for the story of Meru etc, and hence worth a read. The end could have been much tighter but good first time novel. Not on the same lines as say 'Bulls Bears and other beasts' but fine.

[Kumar Bhardwaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Telling you guys from the core of my heart it was such an amazing story. I can't tell you. I can say only you must read this book. I wish the Mr Anonymous must read something like this, so I can read more and more.

[Yogesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such poorly articulated books with rushed plots really make me admire the authentic writers and their craft of transcendental storytelling and attention to detail.

[Jairam Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

SCOCA (a nice acronym for the name of the book, if I say so myself) starts off with how Hitesh Patel, a young CPA working with a multinational accounting firm is leading a normal humdrum life struggling with a busy job schedule which leaves him with little time to do anything else. In the initial part of the book Hitesh comes across as somebody who is a good chap, but naive nevertheless. He doesn’t have the smarts required to move up in the corporate ladder and his naivete is taken advantage of by smarter peers such as Sahil at his workplace.



Fate puts Hitesh in the crosshairs of Venugopal Reddy, Owner of Supreme Motors whose financial accounts were being audited by his firm. Hitesh who uncovers a lot of issues with the Production, Finances and a few other practices of the company. This puts him under the scanner of Venu Reddy who is quite impressed with the fact that this young accountant was able to unearth some of these facts which had been hidden from him over the course of quite a few years. Venu Reddy then goes on to make an offer (which to quote Marlon Brando from ‘The Godfather’) Hitesh simply could not refuse. He offers Hitesh the job of a CEO of a new company which he would set up. Hitesh, in his desperate need to escape from his current life and work which was taking him nowhere accepts and this forms the basis for the rest of the story to develop.



As a CEO Hitesh initially makes all the right moves and in an inspired burst of energy manages to make quite a name for Super Cabs, the new company and himself. The company goes on to become one of the most talked about new companies and also ends up in Hitesh being noticed all over India, winning a few awards, etc. In the meantime, Sushma, Hitesh’s old friend from college also ends up with him and life seems to be going good for him. Little did Hitesh know that these few months were the relative calm before the storm.



The characters and people that Hitesh have to deal with on a daily basis as CEO of Super Cabs, his core team, his mentor Venu Reddy, all of them are people with shady pasts and even shadier intentions. They get together and in their own ways use Hitesh’s inexperience and his tireless ambitions to meet their own selfish ends. In fact as the story progresses, Hitesh ends up figuring out that there was a whole lot more to Venu Reddy’s offer than met the eye. While he tries to correct a few wrongs, he ends up ruffling a few feathers, and finds himself in a whole lot of trouble. He ends up being branded a criminal, the media ends up making Hitesh the poster-boy for all that is wrong with young India, Hitesh Patel suddenly is a wanted criminal by the police, and he ends up being on the run from the law.



What went wrong, what was Venu Reddy and the others’ plan all along, how does Hitesh end up embroiled in all this mess, and how he manages to get out this situation forms the rest of the story. The end has a particularly nice twist which I didn’t quite anticipate and ended up adding a lot to my reading experience.



I personally liked the fact that the author paid enough attention to the details but didn’t allow himself to get so bothered with all of them that he missed out on keeping the narrative moving along. The pace of the novel is just about right, not too slow and not too fast either. SCOCA is a quick read. I read the book over the course of 2.5 hrs over a 5 hr time period during a relatively relaxed day in office. It has enough speed to keep you turning the pages over.



The fact that all the characters are mostly caricatures of everyday people that I have come across is something that adds to the charm of the book. An extremely kiss-ass kind of manager like Sahil, a cliched Telugu businessman who has interests in the film field as well like Venu Reddy, a classic scum bag politician like GS Rao, a loud mouth Labor Union Leader like Mohan Babu, all of these are characters whom I have encountered in South Indian movies over time. In fact, given that the author has refused to identify himself, I am willing to hazard a guess that he is from Hyderabad, given all the subtle references to a lot of popular Telugu culture. If you are from Hyderabad and read the book carefully enough, you will surely get what I am talking about.



All in all a nice read. Well worth the time spent reading the book. Apt for a lazy weekend which has been kept aside for some light reading.

[Abhishek · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you get a hang of reading books of certain standards, you start to develop a kind of literary hunger, which then is satisfied by only a handful of books. I learned this lesson the hard way. This book is loosely based on the Satyam scam, and highlights the position of people who are caught in the crossfire in these scams.

The story moves at fast pace, sometimes too fast for one's liking. I mean the whole point of reading/writing a book is that one has time to develop a character, which is believable. The characters in this book were not at all convincing, the plot resembled a cheap Bollywood flick & storytelling was far too predictable.

All in all, a complete waste of my precious 4 hours! I wonder if the author knew the standard of this book & hence chose to be "Anonymous"

[Sukhamaya Swain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a simple manner, this initially does not conjure enough seriousness. However, as one goes through the first few pages, one gets engrossed. Yes, as has been mentioned by some previous readers, there is a correlation with the Satyam scam but it also allows you to revisit our contemporary history of which the scam was an important chapter but we normally tend to forget because of our daily busy life.
I liked the surprising, sharp and quick turn of events. The best thing is that this can be read in a single sitting.

[Ankit Agarwal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly disappointed! Wonder if the whole 'Anonymous' author was only a publicity stunt. The story reads like a too-good-to-true fiction work and reads like a badly done bollywood script. The only thing good about the book is the price tag. Detailed review at http://bookmyreviews.com/2012/04/11/b...

[Zombie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just another story based in corporate setup.

Frustrated from his regular workaholic lifestyle of an auditor, boy jumps to an exciting opportunity, earns big bucks, falls for a girl, ends up in a deep mess, girl ditches, somehow revives and finally finds 'true love' and shit load of money.

Just another typical story. Read if absolutely free. One can always afford to miss this.

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to read if you have an interest in politics and finance, and love the words ‘boss’ and ‘yaar’.

Read the full review on my blog.

[Shwetar · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review can be accessed at: http://muddledup.wordpress.com/2012/0...

[Sanjeev Chhabra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good racy book on corporate India with a well done ending. I would rate this author at least on par with Ravi Subramanian (Bankster)

[Vikas Chourasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book