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- Three Weeks Less A Day Reviewed By Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
Three Weeks Less A Day Reviewed By Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
- By Norm Goldman
- Published July 15, 2019
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Norm Goldman
Reviewer & Author Interviewer, Norm Goldman. Norm is the Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com.
He has been reviewing books for the past twenty years after retiring from the legal profession.
To read more about Norm Follow Here
Author: Gary D. McGugan
ISBN:978-1-4602-9326-3
On the back cover of Gary D. McGugan's
first novel, Three Weeks Less A day, there is a description of
the author as being someone who loves to tell stories. I would like
to further add, he tells his story like a master of suspense as he
deftly builds up a story that takes some surprising swerves. This is
very much in evidence with this intricate fast-moving yarn that will
keep you on the edge-of-your-seat until the very end. And just when
you believe you have the plot all figured out, McGugan throws in
another red herring that keeps you guessing.
The story is
carefully built focusing on a highly successful enterprise, Multima
Corporation headed by its crafty founder, CEO, and Chairman of the
Board, John George Mortimer. Three divisions comprise the company:
Logistics, whose President is Wendal Randall, a brilliant technology
expert, Supermarkets, whose President is Suzanne Simpson and who
possesses a larger than life personality and outstanding people
skills and James Fitzgerald, President of Financial Services, who is
a financial wizard.
As the narrative kicks off, the seeds of
the plot are planted when we meet Randall who just receives a
confidential text message from an influential board member of
Multima, Howard Knight, mentioning that Mortimer intends to leave
the company at the end of the fiscal year. This would have
incalculable implications concerning the possible replacement of
Mortimer. Who would be the choice of the Board of Directors and where
would Randall fit it?
Knight is a director on the board of
Multima and on another company's board, Venture Capital Investments
(VCI), a large private equity fund. There is an intriguing history
between Randall and Knight. Apparently, Knight came to Randall's
rescue when he had owned a small company that experienced financial
difficulties. Knight had bailed him out, and it was he who was
instrumental in having Randall become the President of one of the
Multima's divisions. There is also another disconcerting matter
concerning an event that happened at MIT where Randall was pursuing a
master's degree in business administration. Randall had found
himself in a nasty situation concerning a young woman and once again,
Knight rescued him from some dire consequences.
After Randall
contacts Knight, it is confirmed that Mortimer will be leaving the
company and that some board members are considering Randall as a
possible successor. Knight wants to know immediately if Randall would
accept becoming CEO? Randall assures him that he would take the
position. Knight tells Randall that he will back him; however, it is
imperative that his succession to the CEO be handled delicately if
they want to win the support of the entire board. Randall believes
there doesn't seem to be any strings attached concerning Knight's
generous offer, or is there, considering Knight's past help?
We
learn a little more about Knight and VCI, which owns fifteen percent
of Multima Corporation's preferred shares, the result of its
billion-dollar investment at the time Multima acquired Randall's
distressed company. McGugan slips into the story mention of an entity
called “ the Organization” that is behind VCI and states that they
didn't invest its money just to earn adequate returns. We are now
trying to figure out what this entity is all about and who are its
principals? If Mortimer releases day-to-day management of the
company, Knight would then be in a position to apply some fundamental
operating policies that would be of benefit to the Organization.
Randall has now become an indispensable component of these changes,
and thus his succession to Mortimer is pivotal.
The tale
now switches to Mortimer, who is informed by his medical doctor that
he has breast cancer and must undergo an operation. He is adamant in
keeping his disease a secret and not divulge his diagnosis to
Multima's board members or executives. He convenes a crucial meeting
of the division presidents at the company's headquarters in Fort
Myers, Florida. At the meeting, the three senior presidents are given
an assignment where they would have to come up with a single
game-changing strategy to re-invent their business unit. Each
President and their respective teams have sixty days to accomplish
the project.
With this skilfully crafted story, McGugan
employs his vast knowledge of the ins and outs of the world of
multinational corporations and zooms in on the quest for power no
matter what means and tools are used. He keeps the story humming with
a balancing act that includes three diverse people with some
intriguing histories who are thrown into a high stakes grueling
competition. Readers have much to chew on as they ponder who will be
the winner and will he or she be chosen as Mortimer's successor?
What creative strategy will each employ in arriving at the most
business effective plan? Will each play by ethical and legal rules,
or will they be overtaken by their greed and ambition? How about the
secrets lurking in Randall's past and his relationship with the
devious Howard Knight? And what about the confidential revelations
concerning Simpson and Fitzgerald. How will this all play out?
Three Weeks Less A day is the first of McGugan's
Multima series and I am looking forward to reading the next one in
the series.
Follow Here To Read Norm's Interview With Gary D. McGugan