Disclosure

A corporate power play between two ex-lovers. On one side is Meredith Johnson, beautiful, ambitious, ready to do anything to win the powers that be and move ahead. Then there is Tom Sanders, hard-working and capable, one-time her lover who moved city after their relationship hit the rocks on account of her infidelity. He’d nearly forgotten about her, gotten married with two kids. Several years later the high-tech multi-location company they are both working for is about to be secretly acquired by a conservative organization. But instead of Sanders getting promoted as division head, it is Meredith from another location that got the job and so arrived once more to come in contact with him, this time as his boss.

The very first day she arrived, she goes after Tom in the evening, trying to seduce him, only to claim the next day that he sexually harassed her. But rather than accept to be transferred out of town as a result of the false accusation, Tom decides to fight back, hiring a top-notch lawyer, Louise Fernandez, to represent him in a corporate sexual harassment and ill-treatment action. The battle has just begun.

After several tense days of exchanging fire, it then begins to make sense what really was happening. The big boss Garvin was backing Meredith only because it was she that found the buyer for his company. She had schemed to get Tom fired or paid off, so she could take the job he should have gotten. Her attempt at seduction on the very first day and the subsequent false accusation was part of her plan to do this. And she nearly succeeded. But in the last few climactic chapters her scheme was exposed to Tom, especially by a character in their Malaysian office who sent him evidence he needed to effectively challenge her.

A very good read, a bit similar to Airframe in plotting and characterization.

July 22, 2015. Review initially written in 2012. Novel first published in 1993; this Ballantine Books edition being published in 1994; ISBN 0-345-39105-5.

The Business

The Business is a multinational holding organization with roots dating back to Roman Empire times. Now it is the late 1980’s and Kate, the heroine, has risen rapidly in the hierarchy by her intelligent guesses about information technologies that have turned out correct and earning The Business lots of revenue from its investments. Now The Business is about to make an investment in Thulahn, a Third World country in the Himalayan mountains, that would literally result in taking over the running of the country.

Marriage by Kate to the Prince of Thulahn is one of the cards the leaders of The Business want to play. Only that she is really not in love with the Prince. Another twist to the tale is somebody within the firm is doing some personal business, cheating on The Business as it were. It is Kate’s job to find out who it is and take action before the guy succeeds in getting away with the loot. She succeeds in doing this. And also decides to marry the Prince, so as to be able to advise him and make sure the hawks in The Business do not do things that would be too detrimental to the people of Thulahn.

July 1, 2015. Review initially written in 2003. Novel first published in 1999. Picture source: Yahoo (Images).

Flowers and Shadows

This is about the ruin of one tough rags-to-riches businessman of brutal and secret methods and how this affected his son and wife. In particular it’s about how the son Jeffia came out of the experience a more matured young adult. Jonan is the business man who started from nothing setting up a paint business with Sowho his half-brother. In other to get to the top he eliminated Sowho by having him jailed. When Sowho got out of jail he secretly began planning his revenge. Now the time has come for his revenge.

Jonan is worried that Sowho should telegram him about his planned visit. His business wasn’t going well and Sowho made secret deals with his co-directors in order to undermine him. When Gbenga resigned Jonan wanted to teach him a lesson so he sent thugs to beat him up and this led to his death. Jeffia got involved with Cynthia, the daughter of one of his father’s former staff whom his father framed and jailed when he posed a threat. When Jonan and Sowho finally met, a fight resulted, later to turn into a car chase, during which Jonan had a heart attack, rammed into Sowho’s car, and they were both killed. Jeffia and his mother were left to pick up the broken pieces, with Cynthia leading Jeffia on.

The book is full of teenage thoughts about life and corrupt society, and the style is rather long-winded. Sometimes the voice sounds unrealistic, for example in describing a black person as going “pale,” in that many of the women had “distinct” or “pointed” noses, in saying that an Igbo character ”prostrated” for his boss. Igbo people don’t prostrate like Yorubas do.

April 28, 2015. Review initially written in 1992. Novel first published in 1989. Picture source: Yahoo (Images).