Reviews
Skyscrapers
Jill Wilson Brennan
AuthorHouse (2013)
ISBN 9781491823545
Reviewed by Sheri Bebee for Reader Views (9/14)
“Skyscrapers” by Jill Wilson Brennan is a suspense drama around two CEO’s, Vern Webb, Sr., CEO of Midwest Industries, and Eleanora Torquemada Smith (Ellie Smith), CEO of AgriBusiness. Eleanor is a self-made woman, doing whatever it takes to get what she wants, sleeping with influential men as necessary, and distancing herself from her Hispanic heritage by becoming Ellie Smith. Smith is planning to take over Midwest Industries when a cunningly woven sequence of events takes the story to untold twists. Webb has an impeccable reputation, but he also has shady past and there is more interest in Midwest Industries than from that of his direct competitor.
A series of covert attacks threatens to bring Webb’s well hidden past to life, steadily deteriorating his reputation, and he soon finds himself sought after by both sides of the law. Suddenly Ellie Smith’s life is threatened when she is attacked and shot at close range by a car thief. The gun control lobby and NOW use this event to build Smith into a public heroine. Meanwhile certain individuals aware of Smith’s ambitions to acquire Midwest apply pressure: in exchange for help in incriminating Webb, they will make the Merger of Midwest Industries and AgriBusiness a reality. This exchange comes with a price and Smith must use everything she’s learned to get control of the situation. Will these powerful CEO’s survive and prosper in spite of all their challenges?
Wow. Quite the agenda going on in this story and while I can honestly say I really liked Skyscrapers, it was a challenge to follow all of the parallel events and to decipher the significance of those events in the context of the story. For me, it would have been a more intriguing story with a bit more character development. This is a personal preference, I like to be able to relate to all my characters, whether they have the lead role or a bit part, though admittedly, looking back there were some characters I knew enough about to dislike immediately!
Overall, there was definitely a lot of action and suspense, and the story had some very unique twists and turns. “Skyscrapers” by Jill Wilson Brennan kept my attention until the very end and I’m certain it will be a hit with lovers of a good, distinctive suspense story.
