Customer Reviews

Skyscraper: A Novel

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Now we as readers have come to expect a certain amount of talent from Zane, and in Skyscraper she DOES NOT LET US DOWN!! Zane writes with the same style and enthusiasm that drew us in, captured, and has had a tight hold on our support since book one!! Skyscraper is a FANtastic read!!!

Zane is just off the chain. That is all I can say. I love everything she writes. This book was entertaining and a good easy read. Its hard to tell about the book without giving to much away. I hate when people give away the book in their reviews! I don't know how Zane took such a simple plot of four employees of Wolfe and made it so interesting and exciting. Zetta is off the chain. Diana can't get trying to get over losing her man years ago, Tomalis is rich and poor at the same time, Chico is seduced by the boss' wife, some employees are trying to sleep their way ahead,.......Like I said, Zane is just bad. It is so much drama leading up to the Christmas party. I am a fan of her erotic stories, but the story is good without the sex. She is so funny,and the story unfolds like you would not believe. I read the book in 2 days. I love when I get a book that I can get into to the point where I don't want to stop reading. I hate reading those books that I have to push myself to finish. Zane is my favorite!

There's nothing wrong with a little trash but not when it's this badly written. Zane has no ear for dialogue, her characters are one dimensional, and have no motivation for their actions, every woman has big breasts and an ample sexy backside, every man has a big youknowwhat and EVERYBODY is fine! She needs to take a page from Terry McMillan who writes funny, sexy books but actually knows how to develop distinctive characters a reader can relate to. I understand what Zane is trying to do, but truly I could do better - and that ain't saying a lot. Please if you must read this book - buy a used copy. Don't waste $27.

Zane has done it again. She has written a drama-filled novel with a whole bunch of colorful characters that you would not want to forget. With all the mess going on you wouldn't believe that this novel spans the course of one short week!

Zane's, Skyscraper was a page-turner from beginning to end, with well-rounded characters.

The novel recounts the drama that unfolds at the Wolfe Industries corporate offices the week building up to the mega company party of the year, The Annual Christmas Party. Everything that you could possibly think of unfolds throughout this novel.

The story is told from the eyes of four main characters.

First we have Chico. 19 years old, fresh out of high school and just knows he has a handle on life until he gets caught up with Zetta Wolfe. And she is determined to teach him what being a man is all about.

Then there is Diane the frustrated Executive Assistant to Bradford. She is raising twin 13-year-old boys on her own. Trying to get over the hurt that their father caused, she is determined to keep men out of her life. She is pretty successful doing that until she meets Edmond, the parking attendant that turns out to have more skills then she bargained for.

Then there is Anastasia, one of the many typists in the secretarial pool. She is determined to move onto greater things, but is going about it one bed at a time. Can we say no more?

Last, but not least, there is Tomalis Wolfe, owner and founder of Wolfe Industries. Tomalis is a very strong character that kept everyone else on his or her toes and let everyone know that every hoochie will have her day. If he had anything to say about it.
Readincolor Reviewers
Cynthia

Here's another hot one from the queen of erotica! In this sizzling novel, she takes us into the world of Wolfe Industries, introducing us all to a cast of characters we won't soon forget:

Chico - Mailroom clerk extraordinaire, the highlight of his workday is visiting the "honeys" in the secretarial pool; that is, until he starts sexing the wife of the owner of the corporation....

Anastasia - Part of the secretarial pool, she prides herself on looking "fine" at all times...but looking this good costs a lot of money, so Anastasia does what she must to pick up a little extra on the side....

Bradford - Executive at Wolfe Industries and known as Tomalis Wolfe's "right hand man," he's got an agenda of his own; he's also the benefactor of Anastasia's beauty expense account.....

Diana - Executive Assistant to Bradford, she's had it with his sexual harrassment. She's decided to gather a little evidence of her own..and finds even more than she ever expected.....

Zetta - Gorgeous, nymphomaniac wife of Tomalis Wolfe, she may very well have bedded every heterosexual male in the Industry. But every dog has it's day......

Tomalis - Don't feel sorry for this gorgeous hunk of man. He has everyone's number....and they'll all find out at the annual Christmas Party!

By no means your conventional holiday tale, Zane delivers to her fans a titillating novel that will certainly make your toes curl......

DYB

This is definitely my favorite book by Zane. The office setup made it that much more interesting. The characters are well-rounded and clearly defined. I read this book in 2 days. I definitely enjoyed it more than Nervous, even more than Addicted.

I can tell Zane took her time with this novel. It is intricately woven and depicts a very realistic lifestyle. Zane, you have done it again, girl. I give you your props! Hurry up and write another one!!!

The first Zane book I ever read was Addicted. I really enjoyed it although it was a bit predictable. Since then I've been waiting for her to create a book just as good or better. After reading three others, I will NEVER EVER read another. Skyscraper was such a waste of my money I was searching for the receipt. The writing is simplistic, the characters have no depth and it's so predictable that you can't wait for it to end. As a teacher I've been taking her books away from many of my middle school students. I can only say that this is the audience that she must appeal to. Her writing is so simple that at times it seems like a 13 year old wrote it. Zane, you have so much to learn about writing quality material. This book deserves a -1 but I didn't have that choice. Just terrible. Shame on it all, no, shame on Zane!

Zane, Skyscraper: A Novel, New York, Atria Books, 2003.
289 pages

The narrative of this novel is not told by a single voice, but unfolds in the words of these four main characters:

Chico, a twentyish street-smart highly libidinous kid, unmarried, with a two-year old daughter he idolizes, introducing tension between Chico and the child's mother, McKenna. Chico and his two friends have left behind their careers in fast food to work in the mail room of automaker Wolfe Industries, where they fantasize about the women in the company's secretary pool, namely, Shakia and ...

Anastasia, the second of this buxom pair of secretarial sirens. Shakia and Anastasia supplement their secretaries' salaries by providing additional after-hours "services" for their boss and his associates in the company penthouse. Anastasia has her own plans to better her station by seducing away from his wife her enamored ...

Tomalis, CEO and all-knowing owner of Wolfe Industries. Tomalis has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps to create his company and become wealthy, but he is now cynical and disillusioned, particularly due to the innumerable sexual shenanigans of his wife Zetta with other employees and who knows who else. (Tomalis knows, thanks to Phil, his wife's driver.)

Diana is another voice, and another of the women in the secretarial pool. Unlike her coworkers, she is a bit prudish, a sorority girl, jaded by her failed marriage that produced two sons; she is "so pretty, men avoid her." (Does this happen in real life?) She has avoided men as well after her abandonment several years ago by her slacker husband, until she becomes enamored of Edmund, the garage attendant, when she discovers the nature of his second job. This subplot adds nothing to the main storyline, and would not have been missed if left out.

The story is set rolling with Zetta's seduction of Chico. It builds to its climax at the company Christmas party, where Tomalis has some surprises for his happy crew. The story should have ended with the finale of the party; the effort to tie up all the loose ends on "Christmas Eve the Following Year" is anti-climactic. With its back-cover description as an "exhilarating and boldly erotic novel about the passion of business - and the business of passion," the book is disappointing as an entry in that genre. This is unfortunate; although the characters are shallow and somewhat stereotypical, the book is a fluid and quick entertainment if one avoids erotic expectations. Sorry: the use of the words "f___" or "a__" in every alternating sentence does not erotica make.

Following the novel is a "Bonus Section" of four "Christmas Presents from Zane." "Sex Games from A to Z" is sophomoric, and the list of 40 "nice to naughty" "Stocking Stuffers" could have been devised by anyone.

The final presents, two short stories, "Tattoo" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," are the highlights of this book, gems among a collection of otherwise plain rocks. The former, a woman's tale of her pursuit of a handsome young man to his tattoo parlor in Chinatown, is closer (not quite there, but who cares? It's good enough) to genuine erotica. "I'll Be Home for Christmas," despite its overworked premise, is a moving story of redemption and forgiveness upon the return home of a prodigal daughter. Zane shows with these two stories that she can write well without the "erotica" pretence.

I usually enjoy Zane's novels, but Skyscraper felt very rushed. The characters were undeveloped and boring. The ending was anticlimatic and slow. Hopefully the next novel will be better.

Tomalis Wolfe, CEO of Wolfe Industries has everything his heart desires: a healthy best friend, beautiful wife, plenty of money, successful children, and honest, hardworking, loyal employees - or does he?

With the holiday season and annual company Christmas party fast approaching, Wolfe Industries is far from being full of Christmas cheer. Zetta, the wife of the CEO, gets her kicks finding new acquisitions; or should I say men to occupy her time. Anastasia and Shakia, secretaries in the assistants' pool, offer more than just office services to clients of Wolfe Industries. Being guided by the right-hand man, Bradford, their pockets are definitely being laced with more than a meager salary. Diana, Bradford's assistant, would like nothing more than for Bradford to crawl back under the rock from whence he came. Constantly being sexually harassed by him is getting to be a little bit more than she can take.

With all of this hoopla, can things get any wilder? Tomalis grieves over information he receives from his best friend, realizes that he wants out of his marriage, and finds out that his children are deeply disturbed. What next? It's true what they say about the tables being turned. As all the back-stabbers plot to hurt Tomalis, the annual Christmas party dishes a healthy dose of laughter upon them all...

Christmas this year was done up right - Zane style. With all the right doses of drama, erotica, love, and laughter, readers can only expect the best from this present. The additional gifts don't hurt either; Zane adds spice to everyone's lives with her added bonus section. What's in it? You'll have to unwrap those specialties yourself to see...

Reviewed by T. Belinda Williams
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers