The story centres on Darren Vender, also known as Buck. He's a black guy who works in a coffee shop until he manages to impress a startup CEO and create the opportunity that he has been waiting for to show his potential. What follows is a rollercoaster ride where he works his way through a predominantly white corporate environment, loses himself, forgets where he came from, and alienates the people who matter most.
I say rollercoaster because the story does chuck you around a fair bit. I wasn't convinced by every twist and turn in the plot, particularly the speed at which the protagonist achieves his success and develops his business acumen. He almost seems to have an implausible ability to hyptonise clients. Also, at one point a character is locked up for a murder that they didn't commit and then we never hear anything more about it. So yeah, fast-moving.
The story deals with (or shoots past) issues of racism, affirmative action and the question of what responsibility we have to pass on what we know and create opportunities for one another. As the novel draws to its conclusion, one feels rather beaten over the head with these ideas, but definitely worth a read.
I say rollercoaster because the story does chuck you around a fair bit. I wasn't convinced by every twist and turn in the plot, particularly the speed at which the protagonist achieves his success and develops his business acumen. He almost seems to have an implausible ability to hyptonise clients. Also, at one point a character is locked up for a murder that they didn't commit and then we never hear anything more about it. So yeah, fast-moving.
The story deals with (or shoots past) issues of racism, affirmative action and the question of what responsibility we have to pass on what we know and create opportunities for one another. As the novel draws to its conclusion, one feels rather beaten over the head with these ideas, but definitely worth a read.