Customer Reviews

None of Your Business

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A fun fast read that I could not put down. A computer mystery with odd, well developed charachters, witty writing and a compelling plot. A great book and this will be a great movie.

(I agree with the reviewer that says the cover doesn't make any sense)...Buy it anyway.

My God, I didn't want this book to end. The best I've read all year. There are several synopses on the page already so I'll skip that. "None of Your Business" was extremely funny, clever, well-written and enthralling. I waited a long time after Ms. Block's first book for her follow-up, and she certainly did not disappoint. Should be on the best seller list.

Mitch Greiff, described as a "celebrity tax accountant," fumbles through life while women take care of him. There's his beautiful wife Patricia, a former model; Heather, a reasonably attractive junior manager and one-time romantic interest; and Erica, the only person in the office who actually reads the daily tax report from cover to cover every day.

Erica, the strongest, wields the most influence. A brusque, unattractive woman, she nevertheless wins Mitch with her intelligence and attention to detail. Although she's direct to the point of rudeness, I admire her style. "I won't bond with you," she says to a total stranger who begins sharing PMS stories in a hallway.

At the same time, I think the book could be at least fifty pages shorter. Multiple viewpoints don't bother me -- but we learn far too much about everyone's personal and past life, in excruciating detail. Patricia and Mitch have two sons who are unattractive in uninteresting ways. One of the cops has an animal-loving wife; the other seeks romance while living with his mother. Enough, already!

Although the book gets shelved with mysteries, it's really more of a car chase, with computers instead of cars. I didn't really understand why Mitch was so eager to follow Erica's lead. True, he was getting bored with his life, but he had more than enough resources to move. He became more and more passive as the book wore on.

Nor did I really see what Erica wanted or why she needed Mitch. Granted, he was a good lover who accepted her unique physical quirks, but she was perfectly capable of starting a new life on her own.

Then again, perhaps the book ultimately is about being unappreciated in one's world. Erica is vastly overqualified for her job and Mitch's partners urge him to find a more attractive junior manager. Patricia's beauty and competence are unappreciated, at least by her husband. Tony, one of the cops, has a last straw moment when cops take credit for his success.

There's also a subtheme of being put upon. Both Patricia and Erica find themselves responding to rude comments from strangers. They're asked about their religion, health, pregnancy and more -- and they feel these questions as intrusions.

It's so easy to create multiple identities in yahoo and hotmail -- why didn't she? By the end of the book I was rooting for her.

The first hint that anything is wrong in Patricia Greiff's life occurs when an insurance representative accompanied by a bailiff force themselves into her Fifth Ave. apartment to assess the value of its contents. Detective Dennis Sprague and Tony Ballestrino of the Computer Crimes Squad follow, informing her that her husband Mitch of the brokerage firm of Friedman, Greiff and Slavin is missing along with over a hundred million dollars from the firm.

While the police do their best to locate him, Mitch lives quietly in a dinky rental home in Queens. He wanted out of his life and bookkeeper Erica King used her computer skills to help him including robbing some of the firm's wealthiest clients through a series of wire transfers to offshore banks. Erica did it out of love for Mitch but when he becomes too dependent, she has to figure out a way of disappearing with her half of the money. As the police investigate her in earnest, they find behind Erica's bland exterior, there is a sharp mind with a cunning sense of survival.

This story is told from multiple viewpoints including the perpetrators, the shocked wife and the two lead officers on the case. Though readers need to adapt to the changing perspective, once done they will find this techniques makes the story more interesting and upbeat because readers get an inside looks at the private lives of key players leading to understanding how they think. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS is a brilliantly written and funny police procedural that gives great insight into computer crime and how hard it is to prosecute those who commit it.

Harriet Klausner

Mitchell "Mitch" Greiff, a Manhattan-based celebrity accountant, is a partner with the firm of Friedman, Greiff, & Slavin. He told everyone he was going for a vacation in Japan. Then he simply disappeared. No one seems to know if Mitch really went to Japan or if he is a victim of foul play. The only facts known is that his vacation was approved by his partners for two weeks, now it had been close to four weeks, and $14 million dollars have disappeared at the same time Mitch did. The money had been electronically transferred out of various clients' accounts. The clients have so much money that they did not even realize a good chunk of their money had disappeared.

Detectives Dennis Sprague and Anthony Ballestrino, of the Computer Crimes Squad, are put on the case. Whoever took the money left no trail, electronic or otherwise. All leads led to dead ends. Too many people had access to the needed keys or information. Wire transfer approvals were forged, so were bank confirmations. Now what?

***** Author Valerie Block took a complex mystery and turned it into a witty, fast paced novel that is sure to delight everyone! The novel does not follow just the detectives. It also follows some of the most colorful characters you will ever meet. A "must have" for your mystery collection! *****

I loved this book! Block is a fresh and funny writer; great dialogue, loved her characters (though I would not necessarily want to interact with them in real life!). I laughed out loud many times while reading this book. I also found the plot fascinating. Extremely entertaining. I can't wait for another book by Block.

The Story is about computer crime and it's about the characters and how you come to know them. But what really grabs you are Block's perfect descriptions of the New York scene. You know those places - the upper east side apartment, the Queens diner, the Hamptons off season. Mystery or not, this book is well written. I loved it.

The other reviews sum up the book well -- it's an interesting police procedural. The frequent changes in point-of-view and time period (forward and back) are confusing at first (the first few chapters were a slow go until I got into the rhythm).

Ignore the cover -- it seems totally out of synch with the novel. If I'd paid more attention to the cover, I might not have even picked this up.

The first hint that anything is wrong in Patricia Greiff's life occurs when an insurance representative accompanied by a bailiff force themselves into her Fifth Ave. apartment to assess the value of its contents. Detective Dennis Sprague and Tony Ballestrino of the Computer Crimes Squad follow, informing her that her husband Mitch of the brokerage firm of Friedman, Greiff and Slavin is missing along with over a hundred million dollars from the firm.

While the police do their best to locate him, Mitch lives quietly in a dinky rental home in Queens. He wanted out of his life and bookkeeper Erica King used her computer skills to help him including robbing some of the firm's wealthiest clients through a series of wire transfers to offshore banks. Erica did it out of love for Mitch but when he becomes too dependent, she has to figure out a way of disappearing with her half of the money. As the police investigate her in earnest, they find behind Erica's bland exterior, there is a sharp mind with a cunning sense of survival.

This story is told from multiple viewpoints including the perpetrators, the shocked wife and the two lead officers on the case. Though readers need to adapt to the changing perspective, once done they will find this techniques makes the story more interesting and upbeat because readers get an inside looks at the private lives of key players leading to understanding how they think. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS is a brilliantly written and funny police procedural that gives great insight into computer crime and how hard it is to prosecute those who commit it.

Harriet Klausner

Mitchell "Mitch" Greiff, a Manhattan-based celebrity accountant, is a partner with the firm of Friedman, Greiff, & Slavin. He told everyone he was going for a vacation in Japan. Then he simply disappeared. No one seems to know if Mitch really went to Japan or if he is a victim of foul play. The only facts known is that his vacation was approved by his partners for two weeks, now it had been close to four weeks, and $14 million dollars have disappeared at the same time Mitch did. The money had been electronically transferred out of various clients' accounts. The clients have so much money that they did not even realize a good chunk of their money had disappeared.

Detectives Dennis Sprague and Anthony Ballestrino, of the Computer Crimes Squad, are put on the case. Whoever took the money left no trail, electronic or otherwise. All leads led to dead ends. Too many people had access to the needed keys or information. Wire transfer approvals were forged, so were bank confirmations. Now what?

***** Author Valerie Block took a complex mystery and turned it into a witty, fast paced novel that is sure to delight everyone! The novel does not follow just the detectives. It also follows some of the most colorful characters you will ever meet. A "must have" for your mystery collection! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.