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- The Multima Scheme Reviewed By Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
The Multima Scheme Reviewed By Norm Goldman of Bookpleasures.com
- By Norm Goldman
- Published July 18, 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
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
ISBN: 978-1-77370-645-0
Don't
worry, you don't have to rush out and pick up a copy of Gary D.
McGugan's debut novel, Three Weeks Less A Day before reading
his second in the Multima series, The Multima Scheme.
McGugan crafts a pretty good follow-up and avoids falling
into the trap of recreating the original plot, although he
effectively builds on it. In the second novel, he chooses to develop
his characters more fully and he includes more extensive theme
progressions. These themes involve human trafficking, the darker
corners of organized crime and their penetration into corporate
America, the development of technology as a means to cause havoc in
our financial system, and the extent to which unsavory characters
will stoop to gain power.
Once again, the narrative focuses
on Multima corporation and its three business units, Supermarkets,
Financial Services, and Solutions, as well as their respective
presidents, Suzanne Simpson, James Fitzgerald, and Douglas Whitfield.
We also learn the many secrets affecting the lives of each of these
well-drawn characters. And there are some unusual surprises! There is
also the matter of the CEO, John George Mortimer's cancer, which the
prognosis does not look too encouraging.
Readers are briefly
brought up to speed on what transpired in the previous novel when we
learn more about Howard Knight, who is now in hiding. He was a
director of Multima as well as president of Venture Capital
Investments (VCI), which is part of organized crime. As he is no
longer a director of Multima, VCI is determined to having him
replaced by one of their own.
Knight is in the bad books of
VCI and is on the run due to his dreadful deal in purchasing the
logistics division on behalf of The Organization. The result of the
fiasco caused The Organization to lose a considerable amount of
money. All of this was the result of being outsmarted by the CEO of
Multima, the wily old fox, Mortimer. By the way, Knight was also
romantically involved with Fidelia Morales who helps him in his
escape.
Another ramification of the disastrous deal was the
disappearance of Wendal Randall, who had been the president of
logistics and The Organization's choice to replace Mortimer. Under
arrest by the FBI and they have managed to extract from him some
fascinating information concerning Knight and VCI. They also have
arrested a close associate of Randall, Frau Schäffer who turns out
to be quite a surprise.
Mortimer appoints Douglas Whitfield at
the new division of Multima Solutions. We read some astounding
disclosures concerning Whitfield's activities as they relate to
Multima. These involve its personnel, VCI, and some very chilling
software that the division had developed, which would have profound
effects on the banking system.
When Mortimer begins to dig
deeper into the operations of VCI and how they are going about
penetrating Multimea, he begins to suspect one of its employees,
Janet Weissel as being a mole. She works in corporate and investor
affairs, and Mortimer believes she is associated in some way to VCI
and Howard Knight.
Neatly woven into the narrative is the
relationship between Simpson and Mortimer and the shocking
revelation that she is his daughter as a result of his week-end of
passionate love-making in Québec City with her mother, Louise
Marcotte. Simpson discovers that Multima has some connection with
her mother and her estate and is adamant that Mortimer reveals all to
her.
She also finds out that her mother, before her death, was
receiving secret monthly payments to her bank account by a subsidiary
of a company she managed. Also, Mortimer had granted to Simpson's
mother preferred shares that eventually helped him in blocking Knight
from replacing him with Randall. And there is also the matter of the
suspicious deaths of Simpson's mother and that of murder of the
Notaire, who had been handling Marcotte's estate, as well as that of
his wife and son. It seems that the Notaire and his son were sticking
their noses into the machinations of VCI -something "The
Organization" would not tolerate.
The challenge that
McGugan faces in creating this second novel is to stay true to the
more significant plot-line of the series. There is also the added
problem to create a sequel that would be complete enough that readers
could just read the follow up without being lost. It becomes a
balancing act, which McGugan has admirably pulled off. He also has
appreciated what it was about the first book that captivates his
readership, and thus, he more fully develops these themes in The
Multima Scheme.
Although, I must admit this second novel is quite busy, perhaps too busy, yet McGugan manages to give his readers something new. You have to realize that authors always take a risk when writing a sequel as very often readers end up disappointed. On the other hand, if you are lucky, they could love the sequel even more. In the case of The Multima Scheme readers will not be disappointed and I am certain will patiently wait to read the third one in the series, Unrelenting Peril. Stay tuned.
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Here To Read Norm's Interview With Gary D. McGugan As He Discusses
The Multima Scheme