Disclosure

Feb 24, 2009 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

I recommend it if you are looking for a quick read. It's about 400 pages and I read it in three days. The story is extremely complicated. The plot is so convoluted that I'm still not quite sure it all ties together. There are plot twists every few pages. In fact, there really is nothing but plot twists. Crichton does not allow plot threads to play out before there is another turn in the story. This might make the novel sound like hackery, but a confusing and meandering plot is necessary to the t...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Harv Griffin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, reviewed

Disclosure is not my favorite Michael Crichton novel, but so far as I have been able to determine, Crichton was actually unable to write badly. I personally rate most of his science fiction books among the top 50 sci-fi books ever written by anyone. Maybe what I don’t like here is that the hero Sanders is on the defensive from page one, fighting a losing battle that progressively gets more hopeless. And he’s kind of a wimp. Still, Crichton got me to read this twice.

Problems at home, problems at...more pic of my copy of Disclosure

Disclosure is not my favorite Michael Crichton novel, but so far as I have been able to determine, Crichton was actually unable to write badly. I personally rate most of his science fiction books among the top 50 sci-fi books ever written by anyone. Maybe what I don’t like here is that the hero Sanders is on the defensive from page one, fighting a losing battle that progressively gets more hopeless. And he’s kind of a wimp. Still, Crichton got me to read this twice.

Problems at home, problems at work, limping from a company touch football game wound, late to work on the most important day of his life, an old girlfriend of his is brought in as his new division boss (taking the job he expected to get), a merger bringing two companies together, dashing the job security of everyone until things get sorted out, unresolved issues with a new drive are so serious that someone high up may be looking for a fall guy, then a sexual encounter with his new-boss/old-girlfriend goes so wrong it seems like a set-up. It is a set-up.

Now I have to identify with a hero who everyone thinks sexually assaulted his boss, for, the, rest, of, the, novel…

But then I started enjoying the legal aspects of the novel, identifying with the company lawyer Sanders goes to for help. Once the lawyers get involved, this puppy picks up.

From DISCLOSURE:
“I see. Those studies are wrong. But the studies about sexual differences are right?”
“Well, sure. Because sex is fundamental. It’s a primal drive.”
“I don’t see why. It’s used for all sorts of purposes. As a way of relating, a way of placating, a way of provoking, as an offer, as a weapon, as a threat. It can be quite complicated, the ways sex is used. Haven’t you found that to be true?”
The woman crossed her arms. “I don’t think so.”
Speaking for the first time, the young man said, “So what’d you tell this guy? Not to litigate?”
“No. But I told him his problems.”
“What do you think he should do?”
“I don’t know,” Fernandez said. “But I know what he should have done.”
“What?”
“It’s terrible to say it,” she said. “But in the real world? With no witnesses? Alone in the office with his boss? He probably should have shut up and f---ed her. Because right now, that poor bastard has no options at all. If he’s not careful, his life is over.”

But then Saunders grows a real pair, the pair he didn’t use in the sexual encounter with his boss, to fight back against the accusations, and the novel gets fun for me. Eventually, I started enjoying the power plays and corporate back-stabbing. ©1993, Michael Crichton goes astray with an extended virtual reality riff that just seemed clumsy to me, and overall I didn’t like the hero much; Sanders seemed too clueless and distracted about the behavior of other people until the end.

I like the book better than the movie; although as I recall, the movie had some good moments.

Crichton reverses the sex of the usual participants of sexual harassment for this novel; I’m sure there are some guys perched in powerful jobs who are actually far worse than the gal in this book was. @hg47

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Feb 07, 2013 Al added it · review of another edition

A brutal struggle in the cutthroat computer industry; a shattering psychological game of cat and mouse; an accusation of sexual harassment that threatens to derail a brilliant career...this is the electrifying core of Michael Crichton's new novel, the first since Rising Sun.At the center: Tom Sanders, an up-and-coming executive with DigiCom in Seattle, a man whose corporate future is certain. Until: after a closed-door meeting with his new boss -- a woman who was his lover ten years before, a wo

...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Ash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Micheal Crichton is an ingenious story teller with beautifully crafted plot that revolves around corporate environment in a high-tech company. The one thing about Mr. Crichton's books are his trademark use of technological advancement which he entwines perfectly in the design of his plot.
This book is no different. But one would be skeptical thinking it will be all technological blabber. So wrong!
The most pleasurable thing about reading the book is, it is articulate. All technology is explained...more

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May 05, 2012 Jane Connor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Том Сандерс, житель Сиэттла, занимающий достаточно заметную должность в компании по разработке и производству компьютерного оборудования, ожидает повышения со дня на день. Его компания скоро должна совершить слияние с еще одной крупной фирмой. Какого же удивление Сандерса, когда директор компании за несколько дней до объявления о слиянии назначает вице-президентом компании и начальником отдела разработок вовсе не его, а Мередит Джонсон, молодую и пробивную даму, с которой у Сандерса был когда-то...more Том Сандерс, житель Сиэттла, занимающий достаточно заметную должность в компании по разработке и производству компьютерного оборудования, ожидает повышения со дня на день. Его компания скоро должна совершить слияние с еще одной крупной фирмой. Какого же удивление Сандерса, когда директор компании за несколько дней до объявления о слиянии назначает вице-президентом компании и начальником отдела разработок вовсе не его, а Мередит Джонсон, молодую и пробивную даму, с которой у Сандерса был когда-то роман.

Джонсон в качестве жеста доброй воли приглашает Тома выпить с ней вина и обсудить проблемы их будущей совместной работы, и там же начинает к нему приставать, а когда Том в конце концов отказывается с ней переспать, сообщает начальству и юрисконсульту, что Сандерс преследовал ее на сексуальной почве. Сандерсу тут же предлагают перевод в другой филиал (что для него значит потерю будущих прибылей по акциям и в конечном итоге потерю работы, так как этот филиал собираются закрывать). Шокированный Сандерс отказывается и обращается к юристу для решения этого вопроса.

Если помните, был такой одноименный фильм в свое время, в главных ролях там снимались Майкл Дуглас и Деми Мур. Так вот, оказывается, и этот фильм поставлен по роману мастера на все руки Майкла Крайтона. Похоже, «сложных» жанров для него вообще не существовало: хотите фантастический триллер – будет вам триллер; хотите психологический триллер с битвой умов – сколько угодно! Но так как прошлый мой опыт с романом Крайтона закончился неудачно – «Рой» оказался слишком длинным и слишком бессмысленным, – на многое в этой книге я не рассчитывала.

И была приятно удивлена. Книга у Крайтона вышла крепкая, сбалансированная, очень вдумчивая (и без занудства!). Писатель, явно никогда не боявшийся идти против течения и думать не как все, ставит перед собой деликатную, откровенно говоря, задачу – показать проблему сексуального преследования (пресловутого харрасмента) с другой стороны. Не с точки зрения «мужчина – самец, женщина – жертва», а исходя из совершенно разумного и логического умозаключения, что жажда власти (в любой ее форме) от пола не зависит.

Крайтон, основывая свои выводы на статистике, говорит, к примеру, что женщины чаще становятся объектами сексуального преследования от своих начальников-мужчин потому, что мужчин элементарно больше на руководящих должностях. Если изменить процентное соотношение среди руководство до 50/50, то неизбежно появятся и сексуальные хищницы. Современное политкорректное общество в это поверить не готово (добавляю я уже от себя), потому что несмотря на несомненную победу феминизма (или благодаря ей) на Западе, женщина все равно ставится на пьедестал и считается лучше и чище мужчин.

Роман полон огромного количества незаметных на первый взгляд психологических нюансов, при помощи которых Крайтон ясно показывает, что у людей может быть несколько различных мотиваций для одного и того же поступка, что люди часто врут сами себе, даже не замечая этого, и что человеку очень сложно признать свои ошибки. В этом смысле психологическая дуэль между Сандерсом и Мередит Джонсон кажется наиболее интересной.

Сандерс знает, что Джонсон лжет (а она лжет все время, постоянно, заменяя одну ложь другой), но доказать это невозможно, да и весь мир теперь против него (достаточно лишь обвинения в харрасменте, общество и пресса додумают все сами). Крайтон отлично передает вот это ощущение «смыкающихся стен», удушающей лжи, разрушающей репутацию и семейную жизнь.

И все же роман не только об этом. Майкл Крайтон, любитель технобабла, не забывает и о новинках технологии (новинках начала 1990-х годов, конечно ;)), и о производственном процессе. Он создает убедительный бэкграунд для своей истории, который не кажется театральным задником, а вполне яркой, интересной и существенной частью повествования. Отлично он описывает корпоративные нравы, внутрикорпоративную жизнь, интриги, поток сплетен и слухов. В романе нет ни одной ненужной детали – если уж Крайтон что-то упомянул, то это обязательно потом всплывет и сыграет важную роль в сюжете. Как будто читаешь хороший детектив, где каждой зацепке найдется свое место.

В общем, я под большим впечатлением от этого романа. Явно Крайтон, написавший его по мотивам реальных событий, проделал тщательную подготовительную работу, но это не самое главное. Главное то, до какой степени книга у него получилась сильная, с реалистичными характерами, поступками, поведением абсолютно всех людей. Если он где и добавил остроты и интриги, то это пошло лишь на пользу.(less)

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Mar 27, 2012 Alejandro Teruel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ficción

I saw the movie some time ago and have only come round to reading the novel almost twenty years after it was first published in 1993.

It is a techno-legal thriller pitting the all-American, decent, somewhat forgetful but red-blooded hero skillfully shouldering his wide shoulders through the shoals of flighty nerds, ruthless, immoral scramblers up the corporate ladder, offshore shenanigins and rather shallow attempts at psychological acuity. The hero is ultimately saved by some pretty fortunate d...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Ben rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels-fiction

Disclosure, a novel by Michael Crichton, takes place in 1993, during that seemingly ancient era of CRT monitors and thick-as-a-brick cellphones. Crichton paints a realistic portrait of a 30-something VP of a technology firm, based in Seattle and competing with other high-tech firms in a race for fast-CD read/write speeds. Tom Sanders, the main character, enjoys his life in the ever-changing world of 90s technology. With a wife, two kids, and a nice home in Seattle, Tom is also gifted with superb...more Disclosure, a novel by Michael Crichton, takes place in 1993, during that seemingly ancient era of CRT monitors and thick-as-a-brick cellphones. Crichton paints a realistic portrait of a 30-something VP of a technology firm, based in Seattle and competing with other high-tech firms in a race for fast-CD read/write speeds. Tom Sanders, the main character, enjoys his life in the ever-changing world of 90s technology. With a wife, two kids, and a nice home in Seattle, Tom is also gifted with superb management skills and a passion for his company and its products. However, as is commonplace in Crichton's novels, something goes wrong, and in this case, it's an off-chance sexual encounter with his new boss, a woman by the name of Meredith Johnson, whom he had known many years before during a brief but intimate relationship. During their intercourse, Sanders realizes that what he is doing is entirely wrong; his job, marriage, and reputation are on the line. Sanders attempts to leave, to which Meredith goes into a rage, threatening that Sanders will lose his job unless he continues their intimacy. The next day, Sanders finds out that Meredith, unsurprisingly to the reader alone, has filed a sexual harassment claim against Tom, alleging that he directed his anger at being passed over for promotion at her, supposedly molesting and later raping her, using his "inherent male strength". It is at this point Crichton's trademark twists take over, leading Sanders to discover that all is not as it seems with Meredith or his company. The harassment claim, he discovers, is more than just a way for Meredith to get back at him; it's only one small step in something much larger, and much more complex, than he. Disclosure is a page turner, though this is redundant, as all of Crichton's books are. Corporate conspiracy, passion and several twists and turns keep the reader from putting the novel down; though not a masterpiece in its own right, Disclosure manages to keep the reader fully engaged and excited.(less)

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Nov 29, 2010 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

CD-ROMs! Small (aka, hilariously clunky) cell phones! Modems! Virtual reality! Sexual harassment lawsuits! And hey, what's this Internet thing?

Yes, it's ripped right from the headlines... of the early 90s. Which is fine, that's when the book was written, but it's so funny how the book trying so hard to seem contemporary and topical makes it feel dated that much sooner.

So it was fine, it kept me reading.

But... I'm not sure it actually all came together in the end.

(SPOILERS)

OK, at the end, we fi...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Dani Noviandi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Siapa yang tidak mengenal Michael Crichton? Penulis sci-fi paling ngetop berkat karya-karyanya yang sensasional. Jurrasic Park, The Lost World, Timeline, Sphere, Congo, semuanya tentang dunia sci-fi yang tidak terbayangkan pada zamannya. Buku beliau yang saya baca baru 2, yaitu Timeline dan Sphere. Namun keduanya sungguh sangat mencengangkan, bagaimana seorang Michael Crichton meramu kata-kata dan science menjadi sebuah cerita yang seru dan enak dibaca.

Nah, sebuah buku dari Crichton yang judulny...more Siapa yang tidak mengenal Michael Crichton? Penulis sci-fi paling ngetop berkat karya-karyanya yang sensasional. Jurrasic Park, The Lost World, Timeline, Sphere, Congo, semuanya tentang dunia sci-fi yang tidak terbayangkan pada zamannya. Buku beliau yang saya baca baru 2, yaitu Timeline dan Sphere. Namun keduanya sungguh sangat mencengangkan, bagaimana seorang Michael Crichton meramu kata-kata dan science menjadi sebuah cerita yang seru dan enak dibaca.

Nah, sebuah buku dari Crichton yang judulnya Disclosure ini yang akan saya bahas. Melihat tulisan yang ada di cover buku ini, sungguh sangat berbeda dengan buku-bukunya yang lain, karena disitu tertulis: “Pelecehan Seksual Seorang Bos Wanita terhadap Bawahan Prianya.” Bisa terlihat kalau dari sini sangat gak-sci-fi-banget. Tetapi ternyata saya salah. Memang, cerita yang terjadi merupakan cerita seputar “pelecehan seksual” yang terjadi antara Meredith Johnson dan anak buahnya Tom Sanders. Namun, setting dan tempat kerja tokoh-tokoh novel ini yang istimewa. Ditulis pada tahun 1994, perusahaan yang diceritakan ternyata sebuah perusahaan yang bergerak dalam bidang teknologi. CD-rom, drive komputer, telepon genggam, hingga internet sudah sangat fasih diceritakan oleh Michael Crichton. Mungkin kalau buku ini terbit akhir-akhir ini, hal tersebut sudah sangat biasa, tetapi ini terjadi tahun 1994, bahkan dimulai sejak akhir tahun 1980-an, dimana teknologi “modern” seperti itu masih sangat jarang ditemui. Makanya, di buku terjemahan ini, translator kadang memberikan keterangan tentang istilah-istilah teknologi yang waktu itu masih “aneh”.

Cerita dari buku ini sendiri diambil dari kisah nyata. Crichton menuliskan catatan bahwa ini nyata di akhir buku. Bahkan, Crichton mewawancarai si pelaku-pelaku yang terlibat dalam kejadian ini. Memang, tema yang diusung seolah klise, pelecehan seksual. Namun, ada hal yang lebih besar dari itu, buku ini menyadarkan kita tentang kenyataan di masyarakat luas bahwa pelecehan seksual seorang wanita terhadap pria itu tidak mungkin terjadi. Ya, seolah-olah pelecehan seksual hanya terjadi oleh pria terhadap wanita. Nah, pelecehan di buku ini jelas terjadi dilakukan oleh Johnson terhadap Sanders. Sanders, seorang ayah dari dua anak yang di masa lalu ternyata “mantan” dari Johnson menolak “melakukan itu” dengan Johnson. Akibatnya, Johnson menjadi murka dan tidak bisa menerima. Hal itu belum seberapa, karena keesokan harinya, justru Sanders menerima laporan dari atasannya yang lain, Blackburn, bahwa ia telah melakukan pelecehan seksual terhadap Johnson. Bahkan Blackburn mengusulkan agar Sanders segera mutasi ke daerah lain untuk mencegah terjadinya isu tidak sedap ini tercium keluar. Apalagi saat itu perusahaan ini akan merger dengan perusahaan lain yang lebih besar. Sanders, seorang kepala divisi, yang tadinya digadang-gadang akan menempati posisi yang ditempati oleh Johnson langsung mendapati hidupnya yang tadinya nyaman dan berprospek cerah harus menghadapi realita baru ini, dimana dia dituduh melakukan perbuatan yang dilakukannya, dan dicibir pula oleh lingkungannya karena perlawanannya bahwa dia yang dilecehkan oleh Johnson dianggap tidak masuk akal. Akhirnya, resiko diambil oleh Sanders. Ia menempuh jalur hukum dengan menyewa pengacara, Louise Fernandez. Setelah berpartner dengan Fernandez ini, akhirnya ditemukan bahwa ada motif lain yang terkait dengan keberlangsungan proses produksi perusahaan. Bukan sekedar pelecehan seksual “biasa”, motifnya lebih besar dari itu, bahkan dapat menggemparkan seluruh perusahaan.

Buku ini cenderung untuk dewasa. Istilah-istilah yang ada lumayan vulgar dan ceritanya pun demikian. Cerita tentang pelecehan seksual ini hanya berlangsung di awal buku saja, namun pengungkapan kasus ini berulang-ulang dibahas, jadi lumayan cukup banyak kata-kata vulgarnya. Membaca novel ini sendiri awalnya saya kira hanya tentang drama percintaan. Semuanya menjadi salah dan jelas ketika telah terhanyut dalam cerita buku ini. Ini tidak hanya tentang percintaan dan drama, tetapi juga unsur-unsur hukum dan kriminal, hingga tentunya science juga tertuang di buku ini. Satu hal yang istimewa tentang dunia science disini ialah bagaimana diceritakan bahwa perusahaan ini telah berhasil membuat suatu teknologi virtual baru. Teknologi ini memungkinkan seseorang masuk ke dunia virtual yang berisi data-data dan arsip perusahaan, dan “bertualang” di dalamnya. Mudahnya, bayangkan anda berada di dalam sebuah perpustakaan, namun perpustakaan tersebut berisi laci-laci yang berisi data dan arsip, dan data dan arsip tersebut merupakan bentuk softcopy, bukan hardcopy. Jadi, seakan anda browsing data di komputer anda, tetapi ini dengan gerakan-gerakan seperti dunia nyata, membuka laci, membuka-buka arsip, hingga mengetahui detail dari data dan arsip tersebut.

Satu hal lagi yang menjadi kekhasan Crichton dalam buku-bukunya (yang telah saya baca) adalah adanya tokoh-tokoh yang terkesan tengil. Di dalam buku ini tokoh tersebut ialah Don Cherry, dan si Don Cherry inilah pencipta teknologi virtual data yang diceritakan di atas. Buku ini pun telah difilmkan dan dibintangi oleh Demi Moore, bahkan cover buku ini pun diadaptasi dari film tersebut. Oh ya, membaca novel setebal 650-an halaman ini dan menyelami konflik di dalamnya, tidak bakal terasa bahwa sebenarnya di buku ini cerita yang terjadi hanya berjalan 4 hari, Senin-Kamis. Overall, saya memberikan 5 bintang buat buku ini, buku keren yang wajib baca.
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Sep 05, 2012 Mario rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery, thriller

This is certainly a story with a Very Special Message™, but the underlying plot, once it gets going, is pretty good overall. It's a more psychological book than anything else, as Sanders has more trouble remembering moments from his past than anyone I've ever seen. Some of the technological achievements described as of such dubious value that I have trouble believing that anyone could ever think otherwise (view spoiler)...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Chad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Michael Crichton may be the best fictionist of the 90s. This is pretty high praise, but when you consider the breadth of topics that he wrote on, and not just wrote on, but wrote on with a level of understanding that is usually limited to those who have spent years in the field.

My most recent read was Disclosure, the story of Tom Sanders as he works in the high tech industry with CD Rom drives. When Tom doesn't get the promotion he expects, but is instead passed over for an old girlfriend, Mered...more Michael Crichton may be the best fictionist of the 90s. This is pretty high praise, but when you consider the breadth of topics that he wrote on, and not just wrote on, but wrote on with a level of understanding that is usually limited to those who have spent years in the field.

My most recent read was Disclosure, the story of Tom Sanders as he works in the high tech industry with CD Rom drives. When Tom doesn't get the promotion he expects, but is instead passed over for an old girlfriend, Meredith Palmer, from his past he doesn't want to rock the boat. But when Meredith invites him to a meeting and sexually harasses him and then throws him under the bus Tom gets mad and fights back filing a sexual harassment claim, the only problem is that Meredith has already charged Tom with sexually harassing her. Not only is it now a game of he said, she said, it's clear that there is more to this story than appears and with only days left to discover whats really going on and clear his name Tom needs to figure out whats really happening.

This book was written in the 1990s, so although Tom Sanders works for a high tech company on the cutting edge it's pretty outdated now, though as someone who was involved in high tech at the time I can tell you that the technology is accurate, and the speculation of what the future would be like was right on. Yes, people in the 90s thought CD-Roms were the promise of a better future, with their ability to store hundreds of megabytes it could bring encyclopedias to peoples homes. The idea was correct, in that people would devour the data if it were available, they were just wrong in the delivery method -- the internet became fast and ubiquitous enough to deliver the content that CD-Roms proved just too slow to do.

That being said, the thought of being charged, wrongly, of sexual harassment is almost as frightening today as it was then. It can be used as a devastating weapon as the book shows that a charge of sexual harassment results in an immediate assumption of guilt and one has to prove innocence. Crichton is a fantastic author, and his characters seemed all to real in this book. I found myself hooked and reading until late into the night. I could hardly put this book down.

Frightening, chilling, excellently orchestrated. A good read.(less)

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Sep 02, 2012 Joy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. It was different than many of his other books, basically based on a real story where a woman had sexually harassed men in the work place and gotten away with it for years as a favorite of the boss. An intelligent manipulative woman, she knew how to gain the boss's respect and stay in his good graces, mostly by playing to his emotional needs. I don't want to give away the story line so won't say more. Almost reads like an investigative report found in a big corporation. Exc...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

397 pages. Donaated 2010 January.

"Expertly crafted, ingenious and absorbing." The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The #1 Bestseller by the author of "Jurassic Park." As he did in "Rising Sun," Crichton focuses on a topic as close as today's newspaper headlines: sexual harassment.
Tom Sanders is an up-and-coming executive at the computer firm DigiCom. When his new boss turns out to be a woman who is both his former lover and a business rival, Sanders determines to be professional. But after a closed-door m...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Dave marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: calibre, fiction

SUMMARY: "Expertly crafted, ingenious and absorbing." The Philadelphia Inquirer.The #1 Bestseller by the author of "Jurassic Park." As he did in "Rising Sun," Crichton focuses on a topic as close as today's newspaper headlines: sexual harassment. Tom Sanders is an up-and-coming executive at the computer firm DigiCom. When his new boss turns out to be a woman who is both his former lover and a business rival, Sanders determines to be professional. But after a closed-door meeting, the woman accuse...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Lizpeveto rated it 4 of 5 stars

Crichton surprised me w/ this plot as there was no weird plot. This is supposed to be based on a true story about sexual harrassment in the corporate workplace brought by a man against his woman boss. It was very believable, especially given Tom's passive personality. Tom's strength and skill in merging the engineering w/ marketing and merchandising the product is absolutely vital for the success of a company. How to build/design it in a "clean, academic setting" versus applying the design in a...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Callum G rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some Chrichton books have a more moral aspect to them, and certainly in this book it comes to the fore. He tackled a more weighty and contentious about harassment in the workplace with undertones of sexual dominance and prejudice. For something that could have easily offended many people, he has crafted this book quite skillfully, and hasn't dropped entertainment value in the process. The plot is a little complex at some points, particularly during the climax of the book, it seems that twists ar...more

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Mar 26, 2009 Barbara ★ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller, read-2009

I love Michael Crichton's books. They are so off the wall and hit you from behind every time. There are just so many twists and turns, that you find yourself looking totally in the wrong direction for the bad guy. Fabulous!

Tom Sanders, a guy in charge of the development and production of new computer components has expected to be promoted when the merger takes place. However, unexpectedly the position is given to a woman he used to date who in his opinion has zero experience for the position.

Mer...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Laura Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have mixed feeling about this one. The book started slow, but once it got going I flew through it. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the plot, trying to figure out who is undermining who on the corporate ladder. However, I'm not sure Crichton achieved what he was hoping to with the sexual harassment case.

The case is interesting because it is a sort of role reversal, a female executive harassing a male employee. I think Crichton was trying to make the point that this type of situation exists and...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Lester rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is my first Crichton. It started rather like a lot of pulp fiction, but grew on me within the third chapter. By time I was halfway through, I was hooked on the story. A very enjoyable read, and it is amazing that the author could drag me in.

The story itself is about the nature of sexual harassment, and it cleverly makes the reader wonder about who the aggressor is in the story. It was based on real events and this made the story a more compelling read. Until the end, you are never really s...more

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May 23, 2012 Crystal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The themes of this book were intriguing, and the mystery of the Twinkle device was entertaining to figure out. However, I have a hard time enjoying books when I hate the characters, and unfortunately I hated them here. I thought Tom was an idiot, and Meredith was despicable. I know Crichton tends to heavily favor plot over character (which is why I also disliked his book Timeline), and so I did give this book three stars for its strong plot. I kind of want to say that the themes on gender were s...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Corey Tardif rated it 4 of 5 stars

Michael Crichton is an excellent author, he really knows a lot about his technology. A business executive, Tom Sanders who works for a computer firm is expecting to become the new director of his company. But things change when a female employee named Meredith Johnson gets promoted, and Meredith happens to be Tom's former lover. One night Tom goes into Meredith's office, she tries to sexually assault him.

When word of it gets out, no one believes his story, and Meredith has everybody believing To...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Saloni rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is truly a 4.5/5, but I just love Crichton so much that I can't help giving it the full rating. This book is technologically outdated in 2013, of course, which will make you giggle. But it's still an interesting look at Silicon Valley in the 90s. You're drawn in with the gender role reversal in a sexual harassment case and the protagonist is just someone who wins your sympathy immediately. You feel invested in his case from nearly the start - and once you are, there's no putting this book d...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Scartowner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had to read this twice because there I couldn't follow all the twists and turns of who was lying to whom. It was worth the two days more as this is a tense and complicated story, based on a real situation. A high tech company has a female climber willing to do anything to cover up her inept handling of product launch in order to secure a merger. Her former lover, now employee, accuses her of sexual harassment, her intended outcome since she wants him out of her way. After walking around in a f...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Gerold Whittaker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Passed over for promotion, Tom, a Division Manager for a Communication Technology company is sexually harrassed by his new boss - a woman - who happens to be someone with whom he had a relationship years earlier. A bad situation turns worse when she accuses him of harrasment and demands his transfer - and subsequent loss of a big cash payout. Things get interesting when Tom appoints a female lawyer to represent his case...
Not the type of book I normally read, but enjoyed the intrigue once I was...more

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Jan 23, 2010 Bill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: film, thriller

I'm torn on this one. The story finally sort of paid off. But I actually set it aside for a couple of weeks to read The Golden Compass. It's not that it was bad, the writing was OK. I just didn't care for the characters that much, one of the scenes actually made me very uncomfortable (and not just in the way the author intended), and some of the action hit too close to home (high-tech company politics). That last point could be a little disingenuous on my part, since it's one of the things that...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Let me start off by saying I love Michael Crichton. That being said, I didn't love this book, simply put, it was confusing. I think I grasped the main idea, but it seemed very long and convoluted for something that could have been a lot more straight forward and didn't leave me scratching my head. I'm not sure how the hole thing fit together and there were too many characters to keep track of.

However, this is still a pretty good read. It was a quick read and if you can accept the idea that you m...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I wish there was a sixth star for the ones that go beyond all expectations of what the English language is supposed to be able to do. "Unputdownable!" You see that on the jackets and on the backs of paperbacks all the time. But Disclosure really did that to me. I actually tried to put it down. Twice I put it down, turned off the light, rolled over, and closed my eyes. Twice I opened my eyes, rolled back over, turned on the light, and picked it back up. It only was unputdownable twice, though. Af...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Brett rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first Crichton book that I've read. He's got a very plain, clear style and knows how to tell a story. It's fun to read about the cutting edge technology there and how we've long since passed it. At the end of the book we discover that the book is based on an actual case, but I'd be interested to know how faithful it is to that case. I'm sure Crichton had to take some liberties for the sake of storytelling. The story moves along nicely, we like and dislike who we're supposed to, and a...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Holger C Andersen rated it 2 of 5 stars

A problem when writing books on computer technology is that time is really flying. I think the book was published in 1993, and the IT-world in 2012,whenI read the book, has very little to do with 1993 "breaking news".
But Chrichton knows how to write an interesting story, and I was entertained.
It claims to be based on a "true story", and maybe it is.
Some of the characters are really not easy to like, but hey, its a jungle out there, so maybe its true.
I doubt Chrichton will ever be regarded as one...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading a book now, based on an early-90's technology company, it just goes to show how ahead if his time, that Michale Crichton really is (see: Jurassic Park circa 1990 also). Anyways, I couldn't put this one down!... and as I was reading it, my sister had told me that Demi Moore and Michael Douglas starred opposite eachother as the two lead roles in the movie version, so those are the faces/ voices/ mannerisms of the characters that I likened to the two main characters that made it that much m...more

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title link	preview: Disclosure
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