The following review was contributed by NORM GOLDMAN EDITOR OF BOOKPLEASURES

To read an interview with the author click HERE

Although over one half of the labor force in corporate America is made up of women, there is still a very small percentage that makes it to the top as CEO or President. It is with this theme in mind, that author Patricia E. Gitt focuses her debut fictional novel, CEO.

Gitt has created a character, Melissa Lyn Horn (known as ML to her colleagues), who becomes CEO of United Chemicals Corporation (UCC) that until the very last page remains something of an enigma. We are not quite sure who is the real Ms. Horn. Is she the tough uncompassionate woman who will walk over dead bodies to achieve her goals, or is she someone who is a puppet of her mentor and chairman of the board of UCC, E.F.Haynes? Even Ms. Horn is not quite sure of her talents, as she self-questions if she could have risen to the rank of CEO without Haynes, who had placed her in most of her jobs along the way.

As the story opens, readers are apprised of the fact that Pamela Green, a reporter for Economics World Magazine, has secured the plum task of writing the biography of Ms. Horn. As Green takes on the role of Horn’s shadow following her around within the walls of the company as well as to various social functions, we learn of the inner workings and politics of UCC. We also learn that UCC is in the process of acquiring a biotech company that will keep the company profitable and maintain its dominant position within its industry. Apparently, it was the plan to acquire this company that catapulted Ms. Horn as the ultimate choice of the Board of Directors in appointing her as CEO.

However, we also learn that Ms. Horn has made some malicious enemies along her path to the upper echelons of corporate America, namely, her nemesis William Smythe Foley. Foley is the company’s corporate counsel, who believes that he was unjustly slighted in favor of Ms. Horn.

The story is a griping read due to Gitt’s sharp eye pertaining to backroom shenanigans so prevalent in corporate America, particularly when it comes to accepting a woman as a CEO.

Although some of the characters are not completely convincing, this does not distract from the novel’s entertaining quality as a good bedtime read.