Mara who loves the outdoors and any kind of outdoor activity she can be a part of. She’s attending the University of Colorado to become a lawyer, but feels like something is missing. Enter her best friend James asks her to be a partner in a new startup he’s founding that uses a new algorithm and program to help teachers grade and read papers faster. This algorithm has potential in almost product vertical that they look. After running some dry runs they come across some data that has serious implications. That is where things being to take a turn from good to bad. Uncommon Stock is a mix of thriller and tech/startup. With lots of “business thriller” thrown in.

Narration for this was done by Jennifer O’Donnell and she does a killer job on this. The character that she is portraying is a confident and strong woman in a tech world that is surrounded by men. The voice that she gave her was perfect for this role and allowed me to really get into the story. The other voices that she used for the other characters was really enjoyable too. There was never a time that I felt like I wasn’t sure who the focus was on inside the audiobook.

Well, I love a good business/techno thriller. This was a wonderful mix of both. With business thriller just being the world that they were living in — start ups, tech firms, buyouts, hostile takeovers, angel investors, VC’s, and more. It really had it all if you enjoy both thriller and “tech/business” type books. I work in a tech field and there was a lot of things that really clicked with me from the inside, and I went to school for business so the business side of things that Mara had to deal with were also familiar.

Peper really wrote Mara’s character well for this. She was incredibly likable when Peper wanted her to be, and at times she was also easy to hate. This, to me is a sign of a well-thought out character and character arc. She really grows and changes throughout the book. If you were to look at her from the beginning to her in the final pages, it almost feels like a different person. But the way it was written took the reader along for a ride with Mara. I really felt like I knew her by the end.

Well, once I finished the book, the first thing I did was head over to Audible and look up to see if the other books in this series were on audio. To my dismay–they are not… yet. I hope that Eliot Peper continues this series in audiobook. And to do that I’m sure that the more reviews he gets, the more likely he’ll continue it. So, pick this up and leave a review. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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Hold on tight, bring snacks, and stop to go potty before you start, you're not going to want to put this down. This was an unusual type of book for me, and I really really enjoyed it. Book#1 was a freebie on BookBub and that led (as I'm sure was intended) to purchases of books #2 and books #3. Detailed in a fast-flowing way, interconnected in not-so-obvious or hit-you-over-the-head obvious ways, and stuffed full of information on a world (new business start-ups, financing, IPO's... all of it) about which I have no more knowledge than your average news consumer who lives near Silicon Valley. As a side note, it had enough info in there to sound REALLY smart, and enough info so that I could grasp the story line. Some of the other reviews really harped on how excellent that information was... I don't know, it was just a great story with a perfect amount of time spent educating the reader. Side note: The writing from book 1 through book3 improves, the style improves, and Book #1 is very well done to begin with, so that SAYS something! Thank you Eliot Peper!

Uncommon Stock is a really, really good book -- and for a number of different reasons. First, characters --oddly those things which annoyed the two-star reviewer about Mara Winkel are exactly those things I think praiseworthy. As a (supersmart) junior in college, she's a very convincing work-in-progress, and the less admirable aspects of her character -- her impulsiveness, over-confidence, and tantrums are keys to the unfolding story. Second, background -- who knew how weirdly complicated starting a company could be? The author writes with style and authority about the how-to's of entrepreneurial derring-do; and makes it all sound interesting (no small achievement, as I hate math and know nothing about business), As I would rate the writing itself just between good and great, I would give the book 41/2 stars -- I don't really believe that it's possible to ignore that many phone calls/ e-mails, and all the parents are still a bit card-board-y and way-too-easy-going. The premise is cool, the suspense excellent -- I ordered book 2 the minute I finished book 1. Write faster, Mr. Peper. I need book 3 tomorrow . . .

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast and I’m glad I got the opportunity to get it as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is well thought out and well written. The characters are interesting and while it take a while, do have some growth by the end of the tale. I work for a startup so I enjoyed getting to see all of the back office work and drama that goes into building a company and how the characters worked (or didn’t) to try and resolve their issues. Reading the story it felt very real to me. While I did find the story line interesting, since the primary part of the story is the building of Mosaic Industries I didn’t find the plot to be very thrilling or mysterious, but I finished it in three days so you can tell my enthusiasm for tale. My biggest issue with this book is that it doesn’t tell a complete story. There is a giant cliffhanger at the end trying to get you to go into the next version of the story which is one of my pet peeves. Other than that I can’t recommend this enough, especially for anyone who thinks they want to start their own company.

Loved this book. Will purchase the follow-up to see what Mara and James are up to. Both Mara and James are college dropouts who have started a new software company that will among other things help companies and banks uncover money laundering and fraud. If you ever wanted to start a new company, there is some interesting data included. Mara and James are likable and very smart. Try the book. I think you'll like it.