India, July 25 -- The financial crash of 2008 was the pin that burst the bubble of the American dream. In the smouldering aftermath, we meet the protagonist of Carnivore, Kash - a Bangladesh-born chef trying (and failing) to run his exotic-meat restaurant in New York's elite food scene. As debts pile up, a brutal loan shark is knocking on his door, and chopping off fingers. At this point, the desperate Kash makes a last-ditch attempt to break into the billionaire boy club with a degenerate appetite. But does he make it or does he end up getting swallowed? That's what writer K Anis Ahmed explores in this part culinary noir, part immigrant hustle fever dream. What begins as survival morphs into something darker; you're compelled to question just how far an ordinary person can be pushed under pressure, or worse, temptation. And who might they take down with them? That's the question at the core of this fast-paced, deeply disturbing satire. Ahmed writes with an almost surgical eye for the grotesqueries of power, privilege, and the (literal and figurative) capitalist food chain. The humour is biting, the characters morally murky, and the plot dripping with tension. There are laugh-out-loud lines, too; until you realise what you're laughing at. It comes with a steep emotional cost, when the grotesque and the gourmet collapse into one. But right as you feel it goes too far, Ahmed grounds you with the texture and tenderness of Kash's childhood in Dhaka. It's an all too important reminder that this isn't just a high-stakes thriller, but a meditation on identity and the disturbing yet delicious need for acceptance in a world built to exclude you. Title: Carnivore Author: K Anis Ahmed Publisher: HarperCollins Price: Rs.499...