If you thought real estate was cut throat here in Northern Virginia, you need to read Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga. This novel centers on an older apartment building in Mumbai. A builder offers the residents a great deal of money to buy their apartments, more than most Indians earn in their lives. Several residents resist. Eventually, there is only 1 man left who doesn't want to sell. If he refuses everyone loses all their money.
One reviewer called it an adult Lord of the Flies, and that was pretty apt in my opinion. It's a quick read simply because you want to know what happens. What will the builder do to push out residents, what will the other residents do? Why are some people stalling and what are others dreaming about buying and why?
A great insight into people's motivations, the book is a bit dark at moments as it explores man's greed. As Adiga begins he points out that many of the apartments have religious stickers on their doors. I would guess that one of his themes points back to the scripture: no man can have two masters, no one can serve both God and money. (Not that religion plays into the novel, just where it seems to lead to me.)
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