"Startup" by Glenn Ogura

If you read novels to relax, this debut thriller by author Glenn Ogura, “Startup” is not for you.  I was at the edge of my seat – frantically turning pages throughout.  A modern yet timeless tale of good vs. evil.  People with integrity versus the morally bereft.  Set in and around California’s Bay Area and Silicon Valley, the novel features an idealistic young entrepreneur, Zack Penny and his mentor, the ruthless CEO of a major technology business.  To further complicate things, this man, Allen Henley is also his boss and the father of the woman he loves.   When events dictate he make his move from under Allen’s wing to his own startup company, Zack believes that finally he will be able to pursue his dream of heading a tech company that values its employees – and trusts that he, and it, will become tremendously successful due to a cutting-edge, flat-screen technology founded by his friend and business colleague, Dimitre.

Zack’s dreams are short lived when he encounters roadblock after roadblock with his new venture.  Industrial espionage, corruption, personal betrayal, unethical law practices and a completely unscrupulous nemesis provide Zack with disillusion, despair and heartbreak.

“Startup” is a true page-turner.  A fast-paced legal/techno-thriller with a memorable – if slightly ‘over the top’ – climax which will appeal to all thriller readers and fans of television shows such as “The Good Wife”.