17 November 2014

Review #78: Poison Pill by Glenn Kaplan



My rating: 2 of 5 stars


“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
----Mahatma Gandhi

That's incredibly correct. What will be left of us, if we all start to do that "eye-for-an-eye" thing- the world will be certainly doomed. But in this 21st century, we've clearly and proudly chose the road to doomed future rather than a better future- courtesy: thanks to revenge.

Well, sorry for drifting away from the topic, I mean that's what I was literally feeling after reading, Glenn Kaplan, a New York Times bestselling author's latest book, Poison Pill . Although my initial reaction after reading the book was WTF!?!! , still I felt it was something worth reading to have a reading-Robin-Cook-kind-novel-experience only till the mid-way of the book. And the ending was drastic, so w\out-of-the-world, and really crappy! End of story!

Synopsis:
Caught in a war that pits greed and ambition against conscience and love, Emma Conway faces the fight of her life—to save her family, her company, and everything she treasures.
Emma is finally living the dream—a happy second marriage and a great career. She has built Percival & Baxter’s painkiller, Acordinol, into a huge success. But her dream becomes a nightmare when a Wall Street raider threatens a hostile takeover. Worse, the raider is no ordinary cutthroat but her ex-husband Josh Katz, father of their teenage son.


P&B’s Poison Pill defense implodes when a mysteriously tainted batch of Acordinol starts killing people, including P&B’s CEO. Emma is put in charge as P&B’s stock plummets.
Her ex’s game traps her in a web of secrets locked within secrets. A shadowy Russian oligarch behind Josh is lusting after the holy grail of drugs, the first Viagra for women. And a clandestine romance between Emma’s son and the oligarch’s estranged daughter puts them in the cross-hairs of their parents’ mortal combat.
The author Glenn Kaplan looks inside the heart of today's business world to create page-turning suspense in a powerful tale of a woman who leans into success—and discovers deadly peril.


Doesn't the blurb sound incredibly thrilling and intriguing! Well at least that's what I thought about the blurb. And once I started reading the book, I simply couldn't stop myself- only till the mid-way of the story!

From the well-developed characters to the smooth flow of narration to articulate prose- everything sounded and looked perfect in order to be the next best thriller. But alas, when the company's stocks became lower, the plot took a total 360 degree turn and fell in to the Devil's Sinkhole, logically speaking, the story went out of its pace- became slow, the characters lost its charm, except Emma Conway and wait the worst is yet to come, the most deadly Russian villain in the world falls for his daughter's sweet little trap! How cliché!

Anyways, I liked Emma a lot- determined, caring mother- for both her teenage son and her company P&B. Anyways, the beginning of the story was super-awesome- completely Robin-Cook-novel-type. I was scared too, sweating out in anticipation, and that stupid ending, especially almost mid-way in the book, I felt like, I cannot keep reading this. But for the sake of the author's hard work, I somehow managed to read it till its end. I already said, the book's writing won't disappoint you-simple and very narrative, and I can almost see the events unfolding right in front of my eyes. Well I wish there was something missing from the plot- the element which will give you an adrenaline rushing feeling.

The characterization was very skillfully done. All the primary key characters were completely justifiable with the plot- a very ambitious corporate woman to the clueless, virgin teenager to a rich aristocrat! They could have charmed their readers only if they would have got opportunity to show off their hidden talents and charm in the story! But overall the revenge angle shown in the story was bit dull and not at all interesting!

Verdict: It was not at all a page-turning suspense, but in the beginning it managed to keep me in its intriguing loop!

Courtesy: I'm very grateful to the author, Glenn Kaplan, for proving me with a review copy of his book. 
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Author Info:
Glenn Kaplan is the author of The Big Time, a non-fiction book based on interviews with over 300 top executives that examined the dynamics of success in the world of big business. He spent over 20 years in advertising, creating campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. He is married and lives in New York.
Visit him here

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