dead behind the eyes by Brock Car... So "This" is a Mystery?

AT&T Long Lines

"Long Lines"
The Bell System Unit For Nationwide
and Worldwide Communications

John Wellman stared at the report on his desk and felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe his eyes. To add insult to injury, it was clear that while the report contained information that was shocking to him, it was apparently common knowledge... John was a dying breed and a bit of an enigma even to those who knew him best. The company newspaper once described him as a compassionate man who just happened to be CEO of Great Western Communications...

In his years at the helm of Great Western, John never hit his revenue targets. That's not to say Great Western wasn't profitable. It was extremely profitable. But when it was a part of the old Bell System, Great Western never met the inflated revenue goals set by its parent, AT&T. The idea of "reworking" the numbets to make goal, never occurred to John. When the Chief Financial Officer, Dave Crease, suggested they go back and massage" the numbers, John was stupefied...

"I appreciate your candor, Dave, I really do. But we're not changing the numbers. I consider myself trusting and optimistic, but naive is probably a more apt description...But telling the truth is always the right thing to do. And I still intend to do what's right...Great Western Communications continued to earn millions in profits...

But the profits were never enough to satisfy the executive board members who insisted GWC's stock should outperform the other Baby Bells. It was all about the money. And so John was on his way out...

~~~

dead behind the eyes

By Brock Carr

When I'm ready to start a new book, I first study the cover and then turn to the back for the blurb. One excerpt from Alex Kava, a best-selling author, had provided: "Ordinary people caught at their worst...I dare you to guess who did it." By that time, I had already narrowed my thoughts down. And when 30 pagest had been read, I was almost positive I knew who the killer was... Only to later have it confirmed...

The Killer? Oh yes, there's been a murder! From the time that John Wellman was beginning to adjust to his being fired, a replacement had been named. It really wasn't a surprise to John since he probably would have considered replacing himself with Max Riley... If he had not just discovered that Max and an employee were having an affair. And they were even meeting on the executive floor to do it! Leah had looked him in his eyes and lied...

John Wellman brushed past Leah as
she waited for the elevator.
"Good Morning, Mr. Wellman," she cooed...
~~~

It didn't take him long to call her boss, tell her to transfer her...and then, broke that news to Max...
Have to say he was a "good" scoundrel...good enough to immediately play the game with his present boss--thanking him over and over for doing something since he had grown addicted to Leah and had been unable to give her up... In fact, her boss, another lover, had the same reaction, even though his affair with Leah had been over for quite some time...

Leah was smart enough to know that something was about to happen. But she'd been so successful in the past, getting what she wanted to move up in the corporation, that she couldn't see that this might all cause problems for her, especially when he was killed.

But that was well after she had already started to put pressure on him to bring her back to the home office.
She figured if she flew out for his new job announcement.
But the pilots had also scheduled the company condo for the trip and discovered them...

Only to have Max fire them both...

But when he also had her delivered to the airport after the celebration when the plane was full of company officials, well, that proved to be the breaking point... at least from the cops point of view...

Leah was arrested for the murder of Max Riley... Well, readers definitely know what she was doing prior to his death...but did that prove she was guilty???

Claudia Sullivan was a corporate VP and had been hired by John Wellman. She wasn't sure she wanted to continue working there, but her husband wasn't keen on the idea of giving up her huge salary. Claudia had been studying and had passed to get her license as a PI... With the connections she had built up through her present job, it was very easy to get involved with the investigation, helping the police. But then, she was even formally asked to help by Max's family... and would be her first paid job...

Now interviewing all of the potential people that could decide to kill a high-ranking officer in a major corporation is a big job, so the police were quite happy to have her participate given her thorough knowledge of the company. Lots of potential enemies, lots of sexual activity to keep readers busy. But, by the time that the police decided to proceed with the case, Claudia was still not definitely convinced...

Given that Alex Kava had dared readers to guess who did it... and the reviewers who have already reviewed the book are giving it high marks, I feel disappointed...Am I so good a mystery solver that I figured out the clues immediately? Or was I just lucky?  Or can I give it a lower score because I felt it was "somebody's" fault that it was so easy... Of course, that's my personal opinion... It's a shame, really, because the book itself is good--but who wants to know almost immediately the who and why of it all... You decide on this one...


GABixlerReviews

Biography

After a long career in corporate communications, Brock Car established her own advertising/public relations firm and wrote for magazines and literary journals. Car divides her time between North Hutchinson Island, Florida and Omaha, Nebraska.