Book Report #223 Disclosure

Disclosure by Michael Crichton

It didn't even take me 24 hours to consume this book. I was so hooked. And what deliciousness to find out at the end that it was based on a true story.

Plus, it's a movie with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. I'd never heard of it!

Set in the early 90s Seattle, Tom Sanders is a department head at a tech company expecting a promotion to VP. When he gets to work, he finds out that his ex-girlfriend from ten years ago got the job instead, and he wasn't even aware she'd been working at the company.

Tom's department is experiencing production problems, so he tries to navigate that storm while adjusting to the changes in his company as it heads into a merger. Tom stands to gain millions if the merger goes through. But his ex-girlfriend makes advances on him in her office that lead him to claim sexual harassment.

The examination of sexual harassment, how murky the subject can get, the biases people bring into it, and the corporate and legal proceedings around it were endlessly interesting. Plus, the plot was a real thriller.

General consensus: Crichton took on such a wide array of subjects in his novels, and they were all brilliant. I'm in awe, and ready to read another one.