Need You Now Book Review

According to the abundant promotional material in which this book is slathered, author Grippando is the author of at least a dozen and six published novels, with a number of them labeled “best sellers.” In his latest effort, NEED YOU NOW, the work is technically well crafted, in that each chapter tells its own story, most ending in a cliff hanger.

Additionally, Grippando’s “style” borders on being original, in that chapters dealing with the central character are written first person (“I did this, I did that.”) Everyone else is written third person (“He shot someone here, he stabbed someone there.”) A clever effect which soon became tiresome.

NEED YOU NOW deals with the aftermath of a sixty billion dollar Ponzi scheme, in which a young financial advisor and his girlfriend are confronted by decidedly unpleasant people who want their money back. Oh, and of course you have the normal bad guy who has been framed, and the traditional government people who may or may not be trustworthy. Couple this with an obvious bad guy (Undisclosed until a couple of hundred pages have slipped past your eager fingers.)

So here’s my problem – I don’t care. The characters are reasonably well crafted, but I couldn’t warm up to them. The story line is predictable and pedantic. The endless stream of agencies named by initials only gave me a headache. The only places that drew my attention were those where an expendable clerk was being turned into dog food. (Did I mention the rhetoric here is truly going to move the classification into the “Rated R” category.)

Bottom line: If I had never seen a Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts adventure movie, I might consider the book interesting. Unfortunately I have, so it wasn’t.

A special thanks to my friend Jack Petersen for his contributions on this review.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Amazon Vine program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255