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The Underwriting
In this sexy debut novel a high-stakes deal pitches the power of Wall Street against the savvy of Silicon Valley—until a young woman’s death threatens to topple it all.
The Social Network meets The Wolf of Wall Street in The Underwriting, as it takes you behind closed doors into a post-recession world of sex scandals, power plays, and underhanded dealings.
Todd Kent is young, hot, and on his way to the top of Wall Street when the eccentric founder of Hook, the popular new dating app, handpicks him to lead its IPO. Given just two months to pull it off, Todd and his investment banking team—brainy Neha, party-boy Beau, and old college flame Tara Taylor—race to close the $14 billion deal of the decade. It’s the chance of a lifetime for Tara, too, who sees her opportunity to break through the glass ceiling and justify six years of sacrifices for her career. But nothing is what it seems in Silicon Valley, and when tragedy strikes Stanford University’s campus, there’s no telling where the sparks will fly.
The Social Network meets The Wolf of Wall Street in The Underwriting, as it takes you behind closed doors into a post-recession world of sex scandals, power plays, and underhanded dealings.
Todd Kent is young, hot, and on his way to the top of Wall Street when the eccentric founder of Hook, the popular new dating app, handpicks him to lead its IPO. Given just two months to pull it off, Todd and his investment banking team—brainy Neha, party-boy Beau, and old college flame Tara Taylor—race to close the $14 billion deal of the decade. It’s the chance of a lifetime for Tara, too, who sees her opportunity to break through the glass ceiling and justify six years of sacrifices for her career. But nothing is what it seems in Silicon Valley, and when tragedy strikes Stanford University’s campus, there’s no telling where the sparks will fly.
372 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2014
65 people are currently reading
2648 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Miller
24 books97 followersMichelle Miller wrote pseudonymously until the publication of her debut novel, The Underwriting, which she initially released as an online serial before publishing with Penguin in 2015. It was subsequently translated into 16 languages and developed for television with Fox. Her short story collection The Fairer Sex was an Amazon bestseller, whose TV adaptation she’s currently writing with Amazon Studios.
She holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University and, in a past life, worked at JP Morgan, Bain & Co. and dabbled in the start-up scene.
Michelle lives between London and Asheville, North Carolina, where she was born and raised.
She holds a BA and MBA from Stanford University and, in a past life, worked at JP Morgan, Bain & Co. and dabbled in the start-up scene.
Michelle lives between London and Asheville, North Carolina, where she was born and raised.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 271 reviews
February 10, 2017
The author has no tenderness for her characters. They are unconvincing, mostly unlikeable, and the author judges them from atop some high horse for their (rather blinkered) beliefs and decisions – which, if you've been following, she gave to them. Perhaps the most insulting part of the whole story is that all of her Stanford / Ivy League characters in prestigious jobs carry themselves with little of the brilliance, quirks, or even self-insight associated with the country's highest achievers.
Aside from the awful characterization and a laughable plot device that hinges on ignoring how databases work, the story moves briskly and the last chapter packs several punches but stops short of closure. What Ms. Miller succeeds at, most of all, is experimenting with a model for a book that makes its author a little more money, by cutting out Amazon or Apple as the middleman, and by getting corporate sponsors onboard.
Aside from the awful characterization and a laughable plot device that hinges on ignoring how databases work, the story moves briskly and the last chapter packs several punches but stops short of closure. What Ms. Miller succeeds at, most of all, is experimenting with a model for a book that makes its author a little more money, by cutting out Amazon or Apple as the middleman, and by getting corporate sponsors onboard.
June 24, 2015
It seems like (in literature at least) the closer you are to a lump multi-million-dollar sum, the closer you are to a nervous breakdown and/or possible murder investigation.
With that knowledge, I think I'm happy in book publishing, and not in investment banking. But it doesn't mean we can't read with interest about the east and west coasts rushing head-long towards possible mutual destruction (fictitiously speaking, of course).
Which is part of the reason why The Underwriting is such a page-turner.
Plus you can get it for free... which is always nice: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
With that knowledge, I think I'm happy in book publishing, and not in investment banking. But it doesn't mean we can't read with interest about the east and west coasts rushing head-long towards possible mutual destruction (fictitiously speaking, of course).
Which is part of the reason why The Underwriting is such a page-turner.
Plus you can get it for free... which is always nice: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
October 23, 2015
4.5 Stars
The Underwriting reminds me of a nighttime soap. The novel focuses on a group of millennials working to make an online dating app., Hook, go public. The cast of characters include:
Todd, the pretty boy womanizer, who can't figure out what's missing in his life--he's also pretty clueless when it comes to women.
Tara, a pretty but not pretty enough girl, fighting her way to the top.
Juan, the son of illegal immigrants, who is torn between worlds.
The Underwriting is pure entertainment--I really felt like I was watching a t.v. show while reading this book! I would have given it 5 stars, but I took off a half star for the ending. I am looking forward to the sequel.
The Underwriting reminds me of a nighttime soap. The novel focuses on a group of millennials working to make an online dating app., Hook, go public. The cast of characters include:
Todd, the pretty boy womanizer, who can't figure out what's missing in his life--he's also pretty clueless when it comes to women.
Tara, a pretty but not pretty enough girl, fighting her way to the top.
Juan, the son of illegal immigrants, who is torn between worlds.
The Underwriting is pure entertainment--I really felt like I was watching a t.v. show while reading this book! I would have given it 5 stars, but I took off a half star for the ending. I am looking forward to the sequel.
June 21, 2015
There aren’t too many books these days that I start reading on the day they come into my house. (Welcome to the life of a compulsive book purchaser). But one flick through The Underwriting convinced me that I needed to read this baby, now. It’s like the madcap energy that the characters have to pull off one of the biggest, hottest listings on the stock market in record time infused me on opening the book. Plus, with points of view from multiple characters and an opening line of, “you’re much an asshole”, how could I resist?
Despite the pink of the title, The Underwriting is not a girly book. It’s more like a financial thriller (yes, Michelle Miller proves that finance can be sexy and interesting). A group of relatively young Wall Street employees of L.Cecil need to prepare an IPO (initial public offering) for Hook, a dating app kind of like Tinder which has the iGeneration mesmerised. Todd gets the unexpected phone call from the geeky, socially awkward founder of Hook, Josh. The catch is – Todd must run the IPO. L.Cecil needs the good publicity, so Todd prepares his team – Beau, who is more of a playboy; Tara who is wrapped up in the no-sleeping, no-eating, no-fun life of Wall Street and junior Neha (who is just a little too into work life). It won’t be easy. But when you throw in a jilted hook-up, a murdered college student and a CFO who wants it all, now…life just got difficult for the L.Cecil crew.
I absolutely adored The Underwriting. I almost didn’t want to finish it because that would mean the end. It had everything I was looking for in a book – drama, intrigue, double-crossing, interesting and unique characters and a mystery which just gets deeper and deeper… The drama reaches a crescendo as Hook opens on the market and all the characters motivations, knowledge and secrets come to the forefront. The ending is spectacular and blasts into oblivion everything you thought you had figured out. I believe there is a sequel in the works and I hope that will astonish me and entertain me in the way that The Underwriting did.
The plot is so fast paced, it’s like being there on the ground – yet I didn’t forget any of the plot threads or character names, which can happen in books with loads of characters. The characters vary in how likeable they are. Nick, the CFO of Hook is almost a laughing stock in his one track mind to be the best of the best. He’s kind of pathetic in his desire. Todd is the leader of the L.Cecil group and he genuinely doesn’t realise what an idiot he can be, but he tries so hard that he’s very likeable. Tara is probably the most likeable of the characters for me – possibly because we see her human side much more than the male characters. She’s uncertain and anxious under her work persona and reflects that uncertainty in your twenties when you wonder, ‘what the hell am I doing?’ The supporting characters are just as memorable – Rachel, the cool PR girl with a ready remedy for any situation to seedy, creepy Josh who really isn’t what you want your dating app creators to be like.
Although the book is primarily a thriller, it covers serious topics too. Tara is told she’s there to look pretty for the investors, not for her brain. Julie, the receptionist at Hook is there because of her looks – but very few know that she understands (and is taking down) every little detail. The Underwriting shows that sexism is still rampant in this industry and women have to sacrifice even more to ‘make it’ (Tara’s wannabe mentor for example, has alienated her husband and children). There’s also the concept of privacy online and exactly what is happening (and who is looking) to your data. What happens if that information was used for evil?
I could go on and on, but I really suggest you read The Underwriting. It’s a page-turner that will have you forgetting time as you continue to read and read and read!
Thank you to Text Publishing and Goodreads for the First Read win.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Despite the pink of the title, The Underwriting is not a girly book. It’s more like a financial thriller (yes, Michelle Miller proves that finance can be sexy and interesting). A group of relatively young Wall Street employees of L.Cecil need to prepare an IPO (initial public offering) for Hook, a dating app kind of like Tinder which has the iGeneration mesmerised. Todd gets the unexpected phone call from the geeky, socially awkward founder of Hook, Josh. The catch is – Todd must run the IPO. L.Cecil needs the good publicity, so Todd prepares his team – Beau, who is more of a playboy; Tara who is wrapped up in the no-sleeping, no-eating, no-fun life of Wall Street and junior Neha (who is just a little too into work life). It won’t be easy. But when you throw in a jilted hook-up, a murdered college student and a CFO who wants it all, now…life just got difficult for the L.Cecil crew.
I absolutely adored The Underwriting. I almost didn’t want to finish it because that would mean the end. It had everything I was looking for in a book – drama, intrigue, double-crossing, interesting and unique characters and a mystery which just gets deeper and deeper… The drama reaches a crescendo as Hook opens on the market and all the characters motivations, knowledge and secrets come to the forefront. The ending is spectacular and blasts into oblivion everything you thought you had figured out. I believe there is a sequel in the works and I hope that will astonish me and entertain me in the way that The Underwriting did.
The plot is so fast paced, it’s like being there on the ground – yet I didn’t forget any of the plot threads or character names, which can happen in books with loads of characters. The characters vary in how likeable they are. Nick, the CFO of Hook is almost a laughing stock in his one track mind to be the best of the best. He’s kind of pathetic in his desire. Todd is the leader of the L.Cecil group and he genuinely doesn’t realise what an idiot he can be, but he tries so hard that he’s very likeable. Tara is probably the most likeable of the characters for me – possibly because we see her human side much more than the male characters. She’s uncertain and anxious under her work persona and reflects that uncertainty in your twenties when you wonder, ‘what the hell am I doing?’ The supporting characters are just as memorable – Rachel, the cool PR girl with a ready remedy for any situation to seedy, creepy Josh who really isn’t what you want your dating app creators to be like.
Although the book is primarily a thriller, it covers serious topics too. Tara is told she’s there to look pretty for the investors, not for her brain. Julie, the receptionist at Hook is there because of her looks – but very few know that she understands (and is taking down) every little detail. The Underwriting shows that sexism is still rampant in this industry and women have to sacrifice even more to ‘make it’ (Tara’s wannabe mentor for example, has alienated her husband and children). There’s also the concept of privacy online and exactly what is happening (and who is looking) to your data. What happens if that information was used for evil?
I could go on and on, but I really suggest you read The Underwriting. It’s a page-turner that will have you forgetting time as you continue to read and read and read!
Thank you to Text Publishing and Goodreads for the First Read win.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
May 28, 2016
What I wanted: an entertaining read about the scandalous, dramatic lives of young and rich Wall Street people. What I got: a boring read about the uninteresting lives of young, rich, and awfully annoying Wall Street people. Just throw in an irrelevant murder mystery that only makes up like 1/4 of the book and is "solved" in the most disappointing way and a CRAZY cliffhanger that is obviously the author's attempt to make you read the sequel because she probably knows this first one sort of sucked, and you've got a great book to read if you ever want to waste a week of your life. Glad I got this for free at an internship over a year ago and didn't have to spend a penny on it.
December 24, 2018
very entertaining. read it in 2 days.
November 1, 2023
Na knyga tai šiaip sau. Skaitėsi labai sunkiai, ne dėl rašymo stiliaus, o dėl daugybės įvairiausių veikėjų. Knygos autorės sukurti personažai visai neįtikinami, patys nepasitikintys savo jėgomis. Knyga yra apie verslo pasaulį. Dažnai tekdavo versti puslapius tagal ir žiūrėti kas gi tas ar anas yra toks. Pabaiga irgi be pabaigos – labai jos trūko. Nors pati knyga neįdomi, tačiau vis dėlto buvo įdomu kaip gi baigėsi keliems veikėjams, tačiau to ir nesulaukiau.
April 11, 2015
This book's pre-release literature compares it to recent films like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Social Network, but I'd prefer another parallel. Edith Wharton's 1905 classic "The House of Mirth" had moments of hilarity without ever resorting to jokes, episodes of tragedy without ever descending into despondency. Throughout this debut novel, I repeatedly recognized Miller and Wharton as kindred spirits. I also cringed to realize, in 110 years, how little Manhattan has changed.
Todd Kent has ambitions. He wants a managing directorship at historic investment bank L.Cecil before he turns thirty, and he needs one cream assignment to accomplish this. When a wildly successful dating app offers Todd a no-bid contract on its lucrative IPO, he thinks his toast is buttered for life. But managerial interference, manipulative colleagues, and shady internal dealings jeopardize Todd's high-rise fantasies. When it appears this app was involved in murder, everything goes south.
Miller worked a brief Wall Street hitch before deciding her real love was words. I struggle to decide which character in Miller's satirical roman à clef represents herself. Tara, the financial whiz granted a VP title, but no autonomy, at the absurd age of 27? Amanda, the jilted lover whose attempts to remake herself inadvertently uncover festering corporate rot? Kelly, the idealistic English major who accepts an L.Cecil job offer--then dies under mysterious circumstances?
I wonder because Miller clearly has real people in mind. Her characters' motivations, and their flaws, reflect a world where early achievement isn't just common, it's mandatory. Her milieu reeks of privilege, steadfastly immune to the lessons of 2007. Todd and Tara work aggressively, sleep at their workplace, manhandle fortunes larger than some city budgets, and make paper billionaires at their computers. But only one successfully squelches their conscience; a brutal awakening awaits the other.
Given an impossibly short two-month window on their IPO, Todd and Tara begin a marathon journey from Manhattan, to Palo Alto, to London and beyond, turning digital promises into real money. Miller's telling of this odyssey is educational. She demonstrates how financial rainmakers spin facts, skirt the law, and anchor massive monetary promises on foundations that don't yet exist. People who play nice don't last. Before long, the ambiguity becomes too much for one player.
Hook, the startup app, combines Tinder's sexual abstemiousness with Über's gender equity and regard for safety. Boasting 500 million users, it secretly collates users' data, contra its own security agreement, granting one ethically conflicted engineer unique insight into an open murder investigation. Hook's founding CEO, a computer engineer who places dollar values on every interaction, spotlights his app's social aspects, yet his dispassionately forward conversations leave everyone feeling like they've been groped by a Vulcan.
Meanwhile, Juan, Hook's lead programmer, makes a discovery. Hook is stockpiling user data which it specifically denies even exists. A secret database which only the privileged few can even find contains quantities of information on half a billion people worldwide, information that can be used for super-advertizing... or for blackmail. When Juan realizes Hook has invaluable evidence in Kelly's murder, which shouldn't even exist, all his dreams of benevolence, funded by startup millions, become poisonous.
Though Miller never resorts to jokes, her satire often stings of cutting hilarity, because she succinctly spotlights the absurdities her characters blithely accept. Manhattan finance requires ambition and egotism enough to make Donald Trump blush, because billions turn on single deals, and reputations live or die by one day's work. The Defense Department would blanch at these numbers. I'd think Miller's fast-paced style was mere slapstick exaggeration, if my 401(k) balance sheet didn't say otherwise.
Admittedly, this book isn't for everyone. The press material describes Miller's story as "sexy," but maybe they mean something I don't. These characters have sex to mark time, blowing through other people like leftover goulash; the "romantic" encounters, which begin as a Fifty Shades-ish turn-on, quickly become anti-erotic. Ordinary practices of everyday life--sex, conversation, work--become a destructive narcotic for these characters. Children, the easily offended, and aspiring Rockefellers will find this book imposing.
Okay, so Miller's style isn't for blue-hairs. But her story, of a financial sector willfully blind to its own consequences, matters because it's familiar. Miller, like her characters, worked Wall Street after the collapse, and saw firsthand how big-shots refuse to learn. The conditions that imploded America eight years ago still exist. And in Miller's capable hands, the story of characters completely immune to basic self-reflection becomes a madcap farce, when it isn't painfully sobering.
Todd Kent has ambitions. He wants a managing directorship at historic investment bank L.Cecil before he turns thirty, and he needs one cream assignment to accomplish this. When a wildly successful dating app offers Todd a no-bid contract on its lucrative IPO, he thinks his toast is buttered for life. But managerial interference, manipulative colleagues, and shady internal dealings jeopardize Todd's high-rise fantasies. When it appears this app was involved in murder, everything goes south.
Miller worked a brief Wall Street hitch before deciding her real love was words. I struggle to decide which character in Miller's satirical roman à clef represents herself. Tara, the financial whiz granted a VP title, but no autonomy, at the absurd age of 27? Amanda, the jilted lover whose attempts to remake herself inadvertently uncover festering corporate rot? Kelly, the idealistic English major who accepts an L.Cecil job offer--then dies under mysterious circumstances?
I wonder because Miller clearly has real people in mind. Her characters' motivations, and their flaws, reflect a world where early achievement isn't just common, it's mandatory. Her milieu reeks of privilege, steadfastly immune to the lessons of 2007. Todd and Tara work aggressively, sleep at their workplace, manhandle fortunes larger than some city budgets, and make paper billionaires at their computers. But only one successfully squelches their conscience; a brutal awakening awaits the other.
Given an impossibly short two-month window on their IPO, Todd and Tara begin a marathon journey from Manhattan, to Palo Alto, to London and beyond, turning digital promises into real money. Miller's telling of this odyssey is educational. She demonstrates how financial rainmakers spin facts, skirt the law, and anchor massive monetary promises on foundations that don't yet exist. People who play nice don't last. Before long, the ambiguity becomes too much for one player.
Hook, the startup app, combines Tinder's sexual abstemiousness with Über's gender equity and regard for safety. Boasting 500 million users, it secretly collates users' data, contra its own security agreement, granting one ethically conflicted engineer unique insight into an open murder investigation. Hook's founding CEO, a computer engineer who places dollar values on every interaction, spotlights his app's social aspects, yet his dispassionately forward conversations leave everyone feeling like they've been groped by a Vulcan.
Meanwhile, Juan, Hook's lead programmer, makes a discovery. Hook is stockpiling user data which it specifically denies even exists. A secret database which only the privileged few can even find contains quantities of information on half a billion people worldwide, information that can be used for super-advertizing... or for blackmail. When Juan realizes Hook has invaluable evidence in Kelly's murder, which shouldn't even exist, all his dreams of benevolence, funded by startup millions, become poisonous.
Though Miller never resorts to jokes, her satire often stings of cutting hilarity, because she succinctly spotlights the absurdities her characters blithely accept. Manhattan finance requires ambition and egotism enough to make Donald Trump blush, because billions turn on single deals, and reputations live or die by one day's work. The Defense Department would blanch at these numbers. I'd think Miller's fast-paced style was mere slapstick exaggeration, if my 401(k) balance sheet didn't say otherwise.
Admittedly, this book isn't for everyone. The press material describes Miller's story as "sexy," but maybe they mean something I don't. These characters have sex to mark time, blowing through other people like leftover goulash; the "romantic" encounters, which begin as a Fifty Shades-ish turn-on, quickly become anti-erotic. Ordinary practices of everyday life--sex, conversation, work--become a destructive narcotic for these characters. Children, the easily offended, and aspiring Rockefellers will find this book imposing.
Okay, so Miller's style isn't for blue-hairs. But her story, of a financial sector willfully blind to its own consequences, matters because it's familiar. Miller, like her characters, worked Wall Street after the collapse, and saw firsthand how big-shots refuse to learn. The conditions that imploded America eight years ago still exist. And in Miller's capable hands, the story of characters completely immune to basic self-reflection becomes a madcap farce, when it isn't painfully sobering.
March 19, 2015
I received ARC for my honest review.
I happened to know a bit of the world Michelle Miller wrote in THE UNDERWRITING, and all the characters are SPOT-ON! Of course there are good and wise people in any place including Wall Street and Silicon Valley, but Authors have to exaggerate characteristics of the world to make a point. And, she didn't do injustice. These people DO exist. It's not fair to criticize Miller without knowing the inside of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
You may not find anyone in this novel decent, but that's the point. These people may have been good and decent in a different setting, but their environment which controls HUGE amount of money makes them a**h**es. If you don't become one of them, you can't survive.
If you were the main female character Tara, what would you do? Would you stay there to get better at the game and become a winner, or leave before your soul is destroyed (but stay poor and being nobody)? Having read Miller's bio, I guess she went through this dilemma.
Just to be clear, THE UNDERWRITING is not meant to be a literary fiction. It's an entertaining thriller. As a thriller portraying arrogance of Wall Street & Silicon Valley and entertain readers, this novel succeeded perfectly.
I happened to know a bit of the world Michelle Miller wrote in THE UNDERWRITING, and all the characters are SPOT-ON! Of course there are good and wise people in any place including Wall Street and Silicon Valley, but Authors have to exaggerate characteristics of the world to make a point. And, she didn't do injustice. These people DO exist. It's not fair to criticize Miller without knowing the inside of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
You may not find anyone in this novel decent, but that's the point. These people may have been good and decent in a different setting, but their environment which controls HUGE amount of money makes them a**h**es. If you don't become one of them, you can't survive.
If you were the main female character Tara, what would you do? Would you stay there to get better at the game and become a winner, or leave before your soul is destroyed (but stay poor and being nobody)? Having read Miller's bio, I guess she went through this dilemma.
Just to be clear, THE UNDERWRITING is not meant to be a literary fiction. It's an entertaining thriller. As a thriller portraying arrogance of Wall Street & Silicon Valley and entertain readers, this novel succeeded perfectly.
October 20, 2015
Are you kidding me?? 372 pages only to find out there's a sequel that I have to wait for to find out what happened??
I super enjoyed this book... but I'm just gobsmacked right now. Yes, some things were resolved, but most things were not and then it turns into a on the last page??
I need some time to rethink what I had planned to write about this. I'm still giving it 4 stars, BUT...
I super enjoyed this book... but I'm just gobsmacked right now. Yes, some things were resolved, but most things were not and then it turns into a on the last page??
I need some time to rethink what I had planned to write about this. I'm still giving it 4 stars, BUT...
February 1, 2016
Hook, the Tinder-esque dating app with a Zuckerberg-esque CEO is set to have their IPO and they have picked stud Todd and his merry band of bankers to lead it. The CEO has decided that bankers are useless, though, and only lets four tiny souls work on the deal instead of the gigantic team one would normally require. That, uh, makes sense? I guess? And who will save this deal from going down like the titanic? Will it be Todd, playboy with the superhero ability to cause every female character in his scene to blush two, maybe even three times per page? Will it be Neha, nerdy Indian girl? How about Tara, the only character with any remote character growth? No, it will be the blue blood who only cares about sleeping with women named Beau (yes, his name is actually Beau)?
Really, you won't care because every character is a cutout of some stereotype and less interesting than dry cement. Every man thinks of nothing but preening, sleeping with women, and putting down other men. Every woman thinks of nothing but who she might marry before she turns 30 and how often to blush in front of said men. But they are Wall Street bankers and High Tech Silicon Valley management types so if you get off on schadenfreude and raging about these terrible people, then maybe you will like them?
Oh, and the plot makes no sense. Whatsoever. Even the twist at the end doesn't really make any sense. No detail should be turned because you will regret thinking about how little sense anything makes. And the author really tries to cover a lot: sample topics include Wall Street, Silicon Valley, hookup culture, college rape, Syria, the news media, millenial entitlement, and a few others. Maybe the author could have picked one or two or thee or even four of these and focused on them?
I really want to give this a 1.5 star rating, and was teetering on the edge of pushing it down to 1 for the sub-YA writing, but hey, it is a quick read and the plot pushes along at a brisk pace. The viewpoint shifts from character to character giving it a *slight* bit of complexity and allows lingering on the few characters that the author deems worthy of minimal (if predictable) growth.
Really, you won't care because every character is a cutout of some stereotype and less interesting than dry cement. Every man thinks of nothing but preening, sleeping with women, and putting down other men. Every woman thinks of nothing but who she might marry before she turns 30 and how often to blush in front of said men. But they are Wall Street bankers and High Tech Silicon Valley management types so if you get off on schadenfreude and raging about these terrible people, then maybe you will like them?
Oh, and the plot makes no sense. Whatsoever. Even the twist at the end doesn't really make any sense. No detail should be turned because you will regret thinking about how little sense anything makes. And the author really tries to cover a lot: sample topics include Wall Street, Silicon Valley, hookup culture, college rape, Syria, the news media, millenial entitlement, and a few others. Maybe the author could have picked one or two or thee or even four of these and focused on them?
I really want to give this a 1.5 star rating, and was teetering on the edge of pushing it down to 1 for the sub-YA writing, but hey, it is a quick read and the plot pushes along at a brisk pace. The viewpoint shifts from character to character giving it a *slight* bit of complexity and allows lingering on the few characters that the author deems worthy of minimal (if predictable) growth.
July 29, 2015
Honestly, this is more of a 3.5. Couldn't bring myself to make it a 4 though.
First off, why is this book part of a series? It read clearly as a one off and then at the end it became clear that things were not wrapping up as they should. Does this book need a sequel? Worlds of no. Will I read it? Worlds of yes cause I want some closure.
There were literally no likable characters in this novel. Even Juan, who I'd love to hang out, took too damn long in that decision. In fact, it was made without him! Amanda needed a quick slap across the face and Tara needed one as well for completely different reasons. I think Tara is on a good path (with question people) and Amanda will always be that bitchy girl who thinks she deserves more than she has. Todd is a complete douchebag, but he will get what is coming (maybe Amanda doesn't need a slap...). Beau is a skeezeball. Nick is also a douchebag, but in a completely different way! Variety of douchebags! I had a soft spot for Charlie, but he also had his flaws with his obsession with Syria and wartime journalism.
So why did I keep reading? Cause damn those were actually interesting characters to follow and see how they fucked up next. I like the setting cause it's a business I'll never experience (both sides) yet I'm fascinated with (Social Network is a favorite movie). And the characters were interesting to follow. The writing could do some work since I found myself groaning at the predictability. It was kind of blah and nothing noteworthy.
Read it if the plots sounds interesting to you. Skip it if it doesn't.
First off, why is this book part of a series? It read clearly as a one off and then at the end it became clear that things were not wrapping up as they should. Does this book need a sequel? Worlds of no. Will I read it? Worlds of yes cause I want some closure.
There were literally no likable characters in this novel. Even Juan, who I'd love to hang out, took too damn long in that decision. In fact, it was made without him! Amanda needed a quick slap across the face and Tara needed one as well for completely different reasons. I think Tara is on a good path (with question people) and Amanda will always be that bitchy girl who thinks she deserves more than she has. Todd is a complete douchebag, but he will get what is coming (maybe Amanda doesn't need a slap...). Beau is a skeezeball. Nick is also a douchebag, but in a completely different way! Variety of douchebags! I had a soft spot for Charlie, but he also had his flaws with his obsession with Syria and wartime journalism.
So why did I keep reading? Cause damn those were actually interesting characters to follow and see how they fucked up next. I like the setting cause it's a business I'll never experience (both sides) yet I'm fascinated with (Social Network is a favorite movie). And the characters were interesting to follow. The writing could do some work since I found myself groaning at the predictability. It was kind of blah and nothing noteworthy.
Read it if the plots sounds interesting to you. Skip it if it doesn't.
April 16, 2015
Populated by a cast of unlikable characters who wantonly abandon all ethical and moral grounding in their pursuit of money and the Wall Street & Silicon Valley power that follows. Even more stereotypically, the only characters who seem to possess any redeeming qualities are the (spoiler) dead girl, the token minority character, the truth-hunting reporter, and the one character who decides to give it all up in order to find her true self/happiness. Blech. Aren't we over the 1990s yet?
January 4, 2017
Чувствам се изтощена.
Има около 1000 героя, които трудно помнех през цялото време.
По-лесно щях да схвана индиански, отколкото този измислен свят на Уолстрийт и цялата финансова информация изсипана в книгата.
Доста противоречиво чувство остави в мен и определено изглежда недовършена.
Но има някои неща , които разбиват на пух и прах "американската мечта".
"-Вие експлоатирахте други нации и повишихте неимоверно разходите,за да задоволите собственото си краткосрочно мислене. А днес ние сме в капана на терористи,които ни мразят, и на дългове,които не можем да си позволим.И онзи идеален,щастлив живот,който ни обещавахте, стига само да работим достатъчно упорито,да вземаме студентски заеми и да успеем да влезем в добри колежи-тези мечти не бяха реални.Ние се отказахме от детството си ,за да се превърнем в успешни възрастни,и сега,когато сме в света на възрастните,откриваме ,че всичко е било лъжа,че не сте ни оставили нищо освен неустойчиви политически стратегии,от които трябва да се измъкваме.........."
Открих много добро определение : "привилегирован американски пашкул".
Има около 1000 героя, които трудно помнех през цялото време.
По-лесно щях да схвана индиански, отколкото този измислен свят на Уолстрийт и цялата финансова информация изсипана в книгата.
Доста противоречиво чувство остави в мен и определено изглежда недовършена.
Но има някои неща , които разбиват на пух и прах "американската мечта".
"-Вие експлоатирахте други нации и повишихте неимоверно разходите,за да задоволите собственото си краткосрочно мислене. А днес ние сме в капана на терористи,които ни мразят, и на дългове,които не можем да си позволим.И онзи идеален,щастлив живот,който ни обещавахте, стига само да работим достатъчно упорито,да вземаме студентски заеми и да успеем да влезем в добри колежи-тези мечти не бяха реални.Ние се отказахме от детството си ,за да се превърнем в успешни възрастни,и сега,когато сме в света на възрастните,откриваме ,че всичко е било лъжа,че не сте ни оставили нищо освен неустойчиви политически стратегии,от които трябва да се измъкваме.........."
Открих много добро определение : "привилегирован американски пашкул".
May 8, 2015
I received an ARC from the publisher.
This book is brilliant! I couldn't put it down. It is fast-paced, entertaining, fascinating, and a total guilty read, something I want to pass around to my girlfriends. They should make a TV series out of it, should be fun.
It is not literary and never claims to be, which some of the reader comments should have taken into account. If you read the afterword the author clearly states that the book is a sort of love letter to Wall St. and Silicon Valley. The characters' purpose is to help paint a picture of what those worlds can be like in a manner easy for outsiders to understand, and the author pulled it off well. It worked for me.
This book is brilliant! I couldn't put it down. It is fast-paced, entertaining, fascinating, and a total guilty read, something I want to pass around to my girlfriends. They should make a TV series out of it, should be fun.
It is not literary and never claims to be, which some of the reader comments should have taken into account. If you read the afterword the author clearly states that the book is a sort of love letter to Wall St. and Silicon Valley. The characters' purpose is to help paint a picture of what those worlds can be like in a manner easy for outsiders to understand, and the author pulled it off well. It worked for me.
July 4, 2015
Such a waste of $20.00 not to mention my time reading it. I never waste my time reading such a horrible book but with people giving it 5 starts I thought it had to get better. It didn't !!!
March 6, 2022
For fans of Billions and Industry. This is just as fast paced and actions packed. Loved it.
June 28, 2015
This is definitely one of those books I never thought I would adore, or even understand (the words 'investment' and 'banking' didn't fill me with confidence). I've never read a book like this before, but I was so pleasantly surprised at how engaged I was in the plot and the lives of all the characters. In the novel you follow the lives of Todd, Tara, Kelly, Charlie, Amanda, Juan and Nick with their entourage of business beetles scuttling within the walls of Wall Street and Silicon valley.
Who knew investment banking could be this entertaining?!
There was nothing I could fault in this book. The characters were vivid, flawed, carefully crafted; you loved to hate them and even deliriously admired them at times. In particular, Todd Kent was someone whom I instantly disliked, yet when the book drew to a close I realised that he was one of the male characters whom I hated least. The plot was fast-moving and fluid; I was carried away with it and thoroughly caught up in the chaos until the final page. Miller herself, as a former employee of J.P. Morgan, casts an all-seeing and ruthless eye on the sparkling world where no one sleeps. It is clear that this book was not simply created to entertain. Miller leaves us as the readers to evaluate whether this is a world that should be allowed to exist, and whether some of the richest people in the world, who are behind our most well-loved apps and programs, should be allowed to carry on the way they are.
Furthermore, Miller also showed us what it is like to be in the minority, and how social diseases such as sexism, homophobia and racism does not appear to faze most in the cut-throat world of Wall Street.
THE ENDING. Throughout the whole book I kept on wondering to myself, 'How is this going to end? What's going to happen to *character name*?' 'Will Hook go through?' But I couldn't guess at any of the answers. The ending was horrific, delightful, terrifying. The ending a book like The Underwriting should have, to remind readers that despite all preconceptions, Wall Street is not a place for happy endings. Not everyone comes out alive.
I thoroughly recommend that you, your mum, your grandpa and your uncle's dog go out on June 25th and buy this book. It will keep you captivated until the very last page, I promise you.
Who knew investment banking could be this entertaining?!
There was nothing I could fault in this book. The characters were vivid, flawed, carefully crafted; you loved to hate them and even deliriously admired them at times. In particular, Todd Kent was someone whom I instantly disliked, yet when the book drew to a close I realised that he was one of the male characters whom I hated least. The plot was fast-moving and fluid; I was carried away with it and thoroughly caught up in the chaos until the final page. Miller herself, as a former employee of J.P. Morgan, casts an all-seeing and ruthless eye on the sparkling world where no one sleeps. It is clear that this book was not simply created to entertain. Miller leaves us as the readers to evaluate whether this is a world that should be allowed to exist, and whether some of the richest people in the world, who are behind our most well-loved apps and programs, should be allowed to carry on the way they are.
Furthermore, Miller also showed us what it is like to be in the minority, and how social diseases such as sexism, homophobia and racism does not appear to faze most in the cut-throat world of Wall Street.
THE ENDING. Throughout the whole book I kept on wondering to myself, 'How is this going to end? What's going to happen to *character name*?' 'Will Hook go through?' But I couldn't guess at any of the answers. The ending was horrific, delightful, terrifying. The ending a book like The Underwriting should have, to remind readers that despite all preconceptions, Wall Street is not a place for happy endings. Not everyone comes out alive.
I thoroughly recommend that you, your mum, your grandpa and your uncle's dog go out on June 25th and buy this book. It will keep you captivated until the very last page, I promise you.
May 22, 2015
There are not enough wonderful things for me to say about this book. Read it!
July 20, 2015
A pretty good read, although it seemed to be going around in circles a bit, like a round the table conversation rather than giving you a clear picture of events unfolding. An easy going read though.
June 12, 2015
I could not put this one down. I think the Silicon Vally start-up scene is fascinating--and this book is obviously written by an insider.
September 3, 2022
Fácil de ler e cativante. Mas esse final???? Tantas páginas para depois ficar completamente tudo em aberto e nem sequer ter outro livro de continuação?
April 25, 2018
There are many adjectives words to describe "The Underwriting", a few must include: dynamic, suspenseful, engaging, driven and conniving. Author, Michelle Miller has unveiled another aspect of the financial world, the creation and release of an IPO. It is impressively told as compared to the movie "Wall Street" portrayed insider trading. The writing was so taut and realistic in it's presentation, that it is hard to believe this young artist has written such impeccable story worthy of national and international attention.
The characters are plenty flawed, most are driven by either money or power and usually both. Miraculously, the primary characters are so well written that one can't help at least slightly identifying or feeling a tad sorry for them, because each are blinded by their own ambition, the fear of failure and the lure of success. As new critical characters enter the mix, they derail even the best laid plans. Each character is necessary and has an intricately important role to play moving the plot further into chaos. The gamesmanship is incredibly intriguing and leaves one wondering what could possibly go wrong next? The ending was satisfying with a few characters seeing life with a different perspective.
I highly recommend this book, it is probably one of the best suspense novels, I have read this past year maybe longer. Yes, I am that impressed. You will need to set time aside it is so engrossing, be prepared to loose track of time. I read it in 9 hours forgetting to eat, I was so captivated by this complex drama. That this is a debut novel by the author is almost shocking because the story exceeds the quality of drama, complexity and characterizations published by many popular authors today. Narrated by multiple persons, there was no confusion for the reader nor interruption to the flow of the story. There are no flaws, in fact, Miller does an exceptional job explaining the key aspects of an IPO in easy to understand terms, so don't let the topic frighten you away from enjoying this engrossing novel, that I believe will be a motion picture. DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!!
Thank you to Amazon Vine for providing a copy of this book, in exchange for a honest review.
The characters are plenty flawed, most are driven by either money or power and usually both. Miraculously, the primary characters are so well written that one can't help at least slightly identifying or feeling a tad sorry for them, because each are blinded by their own ambition, the fear of failure and the lure of success. As new critical characters enter the mix, they derail even the best laid plans. Each character is necessary and has an intricately important role to play moving the plot further into chaos. The gamesmanship is incredibly intriguing and leaves one wondering what could possibly go wrong next? The ending was satisfying with a few characters seeing life with a different perspective.
I highly recommend this book, it is probably one of the best suspense novels, I have read this past year maybe longer. Yes, I am that impressed. You will need to set time aside it is so engrossing, be prepared to loose track of time. I read it in 9 hours forgetting to eat, I was so captivated by this complex drama. That this is a debut novel by the author is almost shocking because the story exceeds the quality of drama, complexity and characterizations published by many popular authors today. Narrated by multiple persons, there was no confusion for the reader nor interruption to the flow of the story. There are no flaws, in fact, Miller does an exceptional job explaining the key aspects of an IPO in easy to understand terms, so don't let the topic frighten you away from enjoying this engrossing novel, that I believe will be a motion picture. DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!!
Thank you to Amazon Vine for providing a copy of this book, in exchange for a honest review.
August 4, 2019
I didn’t understand everything to the extent I wanted to, since it was about finance, something I could not give two craps about. The men, and the women in this story SUCKED. They are everything thats wrong with this world. The ending sucked even more than Todd’s persona. And the culprit was really easy to identify, I did it 1/3 through, but didn’t think it was true, since it didn’t make sense. Turns out, it doesn’t.
May 3, 2015
Hook is the hottest new dating app. It's location based and as long as two users match each other they can "hook" up in a matter of minutes.
Jost Hart, Hook's creator, believes it's time to follow in the steps of Facebook and other apps and take his public. He enlist Todd Kent with L.Cecil to help with the IPO. Todd barely knows Josh, having just met him briefly at a strip club months before, but is grateful for the opportunity seeing the potential in the app since he is one of it's users.
Kelly Jacobsen is also a Hook user, one of about 500 million. She has just accepted a position at L.Cecil after interning there over the summer. Now, back at Stanford, she reaches out to Tara Taylor, her mentor during the internship, letting her know of the decision. Tara is very excited for Kelly, this along with being named as part of the IPO team for Hook is really making her week. But after making this decision and spending a night out with friends, the next day, Kelly is found dead, with a drug overdose as the explanation. Her friends and family are baffled by this as this is something she would never do.
The death of a young co-ed and the introduction of a new company going public. Could these events be related in any way? Could Hook somehow be involved with Kelly's untimely demise? As the buzz for the IPO grows so does the speculation of the security of the app and it's users.
With so many changes happening so quickly, what will be the outcome? This book is filled with sex, lies, and billions of dollars, never a great combination when dealing with murder!
When first reading this book I was shocked at the number of different characters introduced so quickly. The book was fast paced from the start. ou meet the team of L.Cecil bankers in charge of the underwriting. From the guy at the top, to the little-a analyst who is crunching all of the numbers. You meet the guys in Silicon Valley from the creator of the app, to the engineers, that help to keep it running.
Everyone has their own agenda in this deal. To be bigger, better, and more powerful than before. And with billions of dollars on the table, the deal would do just that. This was an intriguing book, that thoroughly kept my attention. After reading one night I had very vivid dream about the book. I was sitting at the table with everyone, trying to make the deal work. It was a bit crazy for me. There are parts of this book that leave you with your mouth hanging open as you can't believe what you just read.
Jost Hart, Hook's creator, believes it's time to follow in the steps of Facebook and other apps and take his public. He enlist Todd Kent with L.Cecil to help with the IPO. Todd barely knows Josh, having just met him briefly at a strip club months before, but is grateful for the opportunity seeing the potential in the app since he is one of it's users.
Kelly Jacobsen is also a Hook user, one of about 500 million. She has just accepted a position at L.Cecil after interning there over the summer. Now, back at Stanford, she reaches out to Tara Taylor, her mentor during the internship, letting her know of the decision. Tara is very excited for Kelly, this along with being named as part of the IPO team for Hook is really making her week. But after making this decision and spending a night out with friends, the next day, Kelly is found dead, with a drug overdose as the explanation. Her friends and family are baffled by this as this is something she would never do.
The death of a young co-ed and the introduction of a new company going public. Could these events be related in any way? Could Hook somehow be involved with Kelly's untimely demise? As the buzz for the IPO grows so does the speculation of the security of the app and it's users.
With so many changes happening so quickly, what will be the outcome? This book is filled with sex, lies, and billions of dollars, never a great combination when dealing with murder!
When first reading this book I was shocked at the number of different characters introduced so quickly. The book was fast paced from the start. ou meet the team of L.Cecil bankers in charge of the underwriting. From the guy at the top, to the little-a analyst who is crunching all of the numbers. You meet the guys in Silicon Valley from the creator of the app, to the engineers, that help to keep it running.
Everyone has their own agenda in this deal. To be bigger, better, and more powerful than before. And with billions of dollars on the table, the deal would do just that. This was an intriguing book, that thoroughly kept my attention. After reading one night I had very vivid dream about the book. I was sitting at the table with everyone, trying to make the deal work. It was a bit crazy for me. There are parts of this book that leave you with your mouth hanging open as you can't believe what you just read.
November 16, 2015
The author did a great job weaving plot and characters through a fast-paced Wall Street tale she brings to life in The Underwriting. While the characters may seem one-dimensional and unlikable to many, I believe she portrayed this world accurately. (I'm familiar with the world) She's even got it down to the products they use, the neuroses and habits they have, and the particular brand of vanity and arrogance they exhibit. But it's all done in a such a clever way. She's spot on, in my opinion.
The author's got the story of an underwriting and all that goes along with it to a T, including all the stops along the way on a road show, how the players behave and the fairly predictable responses of Wall Street. The book could easily fall into cliche, but the author handles it all with finesse, sharp writing and good pacing. Many Wall Street novels are flat in my opinion but this one comes to life.
The author's got the story of an underwriting and all that goes along with it to a T, including all the stops along the way on a road show, how the players behave and the fairly predictable responses of Wall Street. The book could easily fall into cliche, but the author handles it all with finesse, sharp writing and good pacing. Many Wall Street novels are flat in my opinion but this one comes to life.
January 1, 2017
A bit of light reading I bought in the airport to read on the plane. The characters are mostly not very likeable and broadly drawn, though the author does bring knowledge of Wall Street firms and Silicon Valley and the IPO process, which brought tension and reality to the plot. I didn't mind that the characters were unlikable, but they were very one-note in their motivations, but perhaps that was the intention of the writer in calling out their character flaws. The novel ended very abruptly and I was a bit confused as to whether or not the story was over. It was quickly plotted though and not boring, but after awhile the many characters and the multiple storylines were a bit confusing.
September 16, 2015
Not being a person well versed in multi billion dollar business deals and high finance, in general, I would have believed I would have been totally out of my element reading this novel. However, Ms. Miller has written the book in such a manner that even a business novice like myself could understand what was going on. Also there is a murder spicing the story up along with many lively personal relationships among the characters that lessen the focus on the business aspects which was fine with me. A great new author with a tremendous upside.
July 21, 2015
A book filled with characters for whom their consciences were rarely an obstacle and a plot that, at times, strained credulity. But hey, we're talking about a book where the lives of cushy, top shelf Wall Streeters, foolish man-children of Silicon Valley and those special snowflake millennials all intersect; all of a sudden, this becomes more believable. Not that it makes it any less terrible. Perhaps a bit too much of the Jim Kramer Mad Money terminology for my tastes, but really--I couldn't put this down.
August 16, 2015
Hum...I'm still trying to figure out if I like this book. The characters were really not likeable, but some of them, in the end, exhibited some moral character. The plot kept moving throughout the story and kept my attention. At the end of the book, there was no resolution and the book ending was left open for the second book. I am still debating if I will read the sequel.
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