Dennis Cuesta

As the book opens, something tragic had occurred at a housewarming party (the reader doesn’t know what yet) and the story backtracks to reveal the events leading to it. It is 1999 and Steve and John work to resolve issues related to the Y2K “bug”. Personal and professional jealousies are a recipe for disaster.

This is a very fast read, but it just didn’t resonate with me. It was interesting learning about startups, dot com billionaires, and all the furor about Y2K. But the personal stories didn’t particularly appeal.

I didn’t find anything appealing about any of the characters and I wasn’t sure what the point was.

Thanks to @netgalley and #celestialeyespress for the ARC.… (más)

Steve Galanos and John Goertz work together in a company that is preparing for and trying to head off the impending disaster of Y2K, when the year changes to 2000 (The term Y2K is not even a term yet when these IT people start on how to solve this problem. At first Steve is hesitant and a little mistrustful of John's plan but they find common ground and become friends.
One night they are out and notice a beautiful woman, Lauren, working in woman's clothing store and Steve dares John to go into the store to meet this woman. John goes in but instead he meets someone else, Mary, and decides to converse with her. As time goes on, the four of them become friends and we find out more about these characters and their secrets. John eventually marries Mary and buys a house. Secrets, jealousy, deceit, all come to a head at John and Mary's housewarming party and the party takes a drastic turn and tragedy ensues
Thank you to NetGalley for a ARC.… (más)

Do you remember the anxiety in the late ‘90’s as the years moved closer to the Year 2000? Would the Millennium bug or more popularly known at the time the Y2K bug (for the Year 2000) create the risks computer programmers began talking about? Could the bug be fixed in time?

It’s 1994. John Goertz and Steve Galanos work at a phone company with John as the lead of the Year 2000 Conversion Team and Steve as delivery manager, a direct report to John. Almost despite himself, Steve becomes friends with John but it’s hard not to envy John as his life seems to move forward with all the right moves. But it’s time to put envy aside and celebrate another milestone in John’s life. Newlyweds John and his bride are hosting a housewarming party in mid-December 1999. It’s party time – a new home, the holiday season, and it’s almost 2000. So what could go wrong?

I finished the last page and surprised myself as I had exclaimed out loud, “WoW!” Whether you were listening to the news or in meetings at work conversations were filled with the repetitious drone (to many of us!) of the Y2K bug. It was interesting to read this novel and remember that time.

The author created realistic colleagues to friends, socializing after work and/or on weekends with dialogue touching on a variety of topics including religion and politics. It was an easy read to immerse oneself in earlier years. For me, it was more drama than suspense or thriller although the psychological component is present. After this introduction to the author’s writing, I wouldn’t hesitate to read more.

My sincere thanks to Dennis Cuesta, and Celestial Eyes Press for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

#ManyAreInvited #NetGalley… (más)