The real story is not what it appears to be

If Michael Crichton's novel Disclosure is about sexual harassment, then Peter Benchley's JAWS is about the fiscal impact of a natural disaster upon a small town's tourist driven economy. Tom Sanders comes to work on Monday morning expecting to be rewarded with a profitable promotion as the company he works for merges with another. Instead Meredith Johnson, a former girlfriend of Sanders, has been given the position. Making matters worse are the problems with the new line of products. A production line that Sanders is responsible for. Meredith schedules an evening meeting with Tom. During that meeting she becomes sexually aggressive and, after a moment of temptation, Tom leaves. The next day Meredith claims Tom sexually harassed her. Humiliated and angered by the fraudulent claim, Tom quickly files a counter and the game of corporate cat and mouse begins as the announcement of the merger draws closer. But there is a serious problem that Tom is not paying attention to and it is that, not the sexual harassment charge, that could lead to his downfall if he does not catch it in time. Disclosure is typical Crichton - breathlessly paced, the characterization two-dimensional, at best, and the technical and corporate red herrings have been over simplified to fit into an impossibly tight narrative time frame. Nonetheless it keeps the reader reading, which is all that pop fiction like this aspires to do. A diverting read, but far from Crichton's best work.

a welcome change from today's popular fiction fare...

Let me preface this review by saying that most popular fiction books I've read in the recent past, no matter who the author, have been a disappointment. Most of the time, the beginning or even the majority of the common novel is at least decent. Toward the end, though, you either know what's going to happen, don't particularly care because the story or characters were never really interesting or developed, or most often, the novel simply runs out of excitement and suspense, a lot of times because the novels I'm referring to are often action or suspense novels with "stock" or "cliched" endings. I'm sure many readers have had the same feeling, similar to that occasional movie that you don't end up seeing the end of and don't particularly care to.

This isn't the case with Disclosure, by Michael Crichton. Though the driving subject and central scene of the novel- sexual harrassment in a corporate setting- is not exactly new, Crichton presents it in a brutally honest and refreshing way, along with well developed and real characterizations. This allows the story to be interesting and even suspensful throughout the length of the work, not just the majority, because Crichton expertly uses the main scene as a driving force for the actions of each character for the rest of the story. There are some cliches and weird elements (the amazing virtual database bit just seems like nonsense in current contexts), but Crichton has presented a character driven story with a remarkably consistent pace. I also liked Crichton's commentary on the nature of sexual harrassment as a tool for those with power, and that the concept of it being gender driven (that is, males harrass females as a natural rule) is a fallacy resulting from the fact that males simply have always been superiors in the work place.

I could say more, but I'd rather not give too much away...read it, you'll enjoy a novel that actually offers something all the way through, not just tepid action and suspense that never materializes.

An Incredible Read

Nothing goes right for Tom Sanders from page one of this book. He is running late for work and has to help his wife with the kids. There's problems with the new products he's in charge of. He doesn't get the promotion he expected to get.And to top it all off his ex-girlfriend got his promotion and is now his boss. Things go downhill (if possible) from there when he is sexually harrassed by her. He finds himself stuck in the situation when people don't believe a man could possibly be harrassed by a woman. These events lead to a story that is powerful, gripping, and puts the reader on an emotional roller coaster.

Disclosure is an awesome book. Based on a true events this book grabs the reader and won't let go. It is very well written and is easy to follow. Reader beware though this book has some strong language and some explicit scenes. If you are open-minded enough this shouldn't be a problem and the explicit scene is important in the story as it's the focus of the book.

This book is great at exploring the inner workings of a major corporation. It also explores the idea of a man being sexually harrassed by a woman instead of the usual scenario with the woman as the victim. It focuses on the stigma that is attached to the accuser and the accused.

Disclosure is an incredible book to read. It is very entertaining and is easy to read. It keeps the reader interested until the very last page. Well worth the time and definitely one to recommend!