None of Your Business

Rating:
Summary: Smart, Funny, Worth It
Review: A fun fast read that I could not put down. A computer mystery with odd, well developed charachters, witty writing and a compelling plot. A great book and this will be a great movie.

(I agree with the reviewer that says the cover doesn't make any sense)...Buy it anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Smart, Funny, Worth It
Review: A fun fast read that I could not put down. A computer mystery with odd, well developed charachters, witty writing and a compelling plot. A great book and this will be a great movie.

(I agree with the reviewer that says the cover doesn't make any sense)...Buy it anyway.

Rating:
Summary: A cyberworld police procedural
Review: Mitch Greiff, described as a "celebrity tax accountant," fumbles through life while women take care of him. There's his beautiful wife Patricia, a former model; Heather, a reasonably attractive junior manager and one-time romantic interest; and Erica, the only person in the office who actually reads the daily tax report from cover to cover every day.

Erica, the strongest, wields the most influence. A brusque, unattractive woman, she nevertheless wins Mitch with her intelligence and attention to detail. Although she's direct to the point of rudeness, I admire her style. "I won't bond with you," she says to a total stranger who begins sharing PMS stories in a hallway.

At the same time, I think the book could be at least fifty pages shorter. Multiple viewpoints don't bother me -- but we learn far too much about everyone's personal and past life, in excruciating detail. Patricia and Mitch have two sons who are unattractive in uninteresting ways. One of the cops has an animal-loving wife; the other seeks romance while living with his mother. Enough, already!

Although the book gets shelved with mysteries, it's really more of a car chase, with computers instead of cars. I didn't really understand why Mitch was so eager to follow Erica's lead. True, he was getting bored with his life, but he had more than enough resources to move. He became more and more passive as the book wore on.

Nor did I really see what Erica wanted or why she needed Mitch. Granted, he was a good lover who accepted her unique physical quirks, but she was perfectly capable of starting a new life on her own.

Then again, perhaps the book ultimately is about being unappreciated in one's world. Erica is vastly overqualified for her job and Mitch's partners urge him to find a more attractive junior manager. Patricia's beauty and competence are unappreciated, at least by her husband. Tony, one of the cops, has a last straw moment when cops take credit for his success.

There's also a subtheme of being put upon. Both Patricia and Erica find themselves responding to rude comments from strangers. They're asked about their religion, health, pregnancy and more -- and they feel these questions as intrusions.

It's so easy to create multiple identities in yahoo and hotmail -- why didn't she? By the end of the book I was rooting for her.

Rating:
Summary: A "must have" for your mystery collection!
Review: Mitchell "Mitch" Greiff, a Manhattan-based celebrity accountant, is a partner with the firm of Friedman, Greiff, & Slavin. He told everyone he was going for a vacation in Japan. Then he simply disappeared. No one seems to know if Mitch really went to Japan or if he is a victim of foul play. The only facts known is that his vacation was approved by his partners for two weeks, now it had been close to four weeks, and $14 million dollars have disappeared at the same time Mitch did. The money had been electronically transferred out of various clients' accounts. The clients have so much money that they did not even realize a good chunk of their money had disappeared.

Detectives Dennis Sprague and Anthony Ballestrino, of the Computer Crimes Squad, are put on the case. Whoever took the money left no trail, electronic or otherwise. All leads led to dead ends. Too many people had access to the needed keys or information. Wire transfer approvals were forged, so were bank confirmations. Now what?

***** Author Valerie Block took a complex mystery and turned it into a witty, fast paced novel that is sure to delight everyone! The novel does not follow just the detectives. It also follows some of the most colorful characters you will ever meet. A "must have" for your mystery collection! *****

Rating:
Summary: Flunky.
Review: My God, I didn't want this book to end. The best I've read all year. There are several synopses on the page already so I'll skip that. "None of Your Business" was extremely funny, clever, well-written and enthralling. I waited a long time after Ms. Block's first book for her follow-up, and she certainly did not disappoint. Should be on the best seller list.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: My God, I didn't want this book to end. The best I've read all year. There are several synopses on the page already so I'll skip that. "None of Your Business" was extremely funny, clever, well-written and enthralling. I waited a long time after Ms. Block's first book for her follow-up, and she certainly did not disappoint. Should be on the best seller list.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Read
Review: THis was a pretty fast read. The plot is fairly interesting- ugly ducking woman embezzles money form the accounting firm that she works for. We learn about the computer investigation unit of the NYPD, which is more interesting than it appears. We meet a varitety of different characters along the way, and we find out how New York City can be an easy place to get lost in.

I had a few problems with this book.
1) The amount of characters. We are introduced to a lot of didderent people in this book, we start to learn about them, and then they pretty much disappear. I think more attention should be paid to fewer characters.
2) One-dimensional characters- many of the people are very predictable sterotypes- the macho Italian cop, the pampered housewife, the sexy office manager. A few are fine- when every character is cliched it gets a little much.
3) The ending is just not right. It is too pretty. I wanted something more.
4) I didn't like any character in the book. Not one. I had no sympathy for anyone.

But, outside of this, the book is a fast read. The plot is interesting and entertaining. Better than your garden variety beach book. And there is definatley some humor to be found- Block's style of writing is snappy and cute, and wordwise she is not trite at all.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Read
Review: THis was a pretty fast read. The plot is fairly interesting- ugly ducking woman embezzles money form the accounting firm that she works for. We learn about the computer investigation unit of the NYPD, which is more interesting than it appears. We meet a varitety of different characters along the way, and we find out how New York City can be an easy place to get lost in.

I had a few problems with this book.
1) The amount of characters. We are introduced to a lot of didderent people in this book, we start to learn about them, and then they pretty much disappear. I think more attention should be paid to fewer characters.
2) One-dimensional characters- many of the people are very predictable sterotypes- the macho Italian cop, the pampered housewife, the sexy office manager. A few are fine- when every character is cliched it gets a little much.
3) The ending is just not right. It is too pretty. I wanted something more.
4) I didn't like any character in the book. Not one. I had no sympathy for anyone.

But, outside of this, the book is a fast read. The plot is interesting and entertaining. Better than your garden variety beach book. And there is definatley some humor to be found- Block's style of writing is snappy and cute, and wordwise she is not trite at all.

Rating:
Summary: Smart, Funny, and Entertaining,
Review: Writer Block did a nice job on her "None of Your Business." The characters are fun, the dialogue interesting and the plot entertaining...A very appealing combination.

John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures Inc.
Beverly Hills, California