The Barsley Brief

Boo hoo is a gripping, insider’s account of the rise and fall of this most controversial of internet startups – a global, online retailer of sports and designer clothes.  ‘Such a dazzling version of the boo phenomenon that as readers turn the pages they will be rooting for the company to survive even though they know the story ends in disaster.’ The Sunday Times

Boo Hoo is the story of Boo.com a online designer clothing store founded in 1998 by Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrik Hedelin.  They set out to create a global fashion website launching simultaneously in several countries.  The book is written by Ernst Malmsten and is a facinating insider look at the Boo story from the idea’s conception through to the end.

I found that the book was a brilliant read and many of the lessons in the book or website designs are as useful now as they were 10 years ago.  10 years ago I wasn’t involved in eCommerce and can’t remember ever visiting Boo.com.  However when I consider today’s leading websites, few are as complex as Boo set out to be -

E.G. Boo aimed to launch with

• Free delivery and returns to all the countries they operated in
• Different prices for each territory
• 3D Product images
• A Fashion Magazine (again personalised for each country)
• Leading designer brands
• A Virtual Assistant
• Free returns

There are few websites today which try to do so much.  Ultimatly from reading the book I think that this was their downfall, the systems were so complex they never seemed ready to launch, should they have tried to launch in one country first, make a stable income then grow?  Or were they right to be bold?

The book naturally seems a little one sided, as it was written by one of the founders it is their view of the Boo story, while it seemed a in-depth expose of what happened it does also feel a little one sided in where blame is centred.  There are many headline grabbing lines and interesting stories – Boo burnt through $188 million dollars before it failed, when told there were security issues in their offices, they employed a team of ex Gurkha’s to protect the building.

All in all I would really recommend this to anyone interested in the Internet or eCommerce or just wants a good read!

After stumbling upon David Baldacci’s latest novel in Sainsburys I have become hooked and am quickly working my way through his back catalogue.

Split second is the first book in the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series.  In a split second everything can change, and the King and Maxwell it did in the worst possible way, both secret service agents lost their principles.  King’s was assassinated, Maxwell’s was kidnapped several years later, but is there a connection between the two?

Here’s the blurb from the back of the book

‘He was the only one in the room who could see it. His attention stayed there for one beat, two beats, three beats, far too long. Yet who could blame him for not being able to pull his gaze away from that?’

When something distracts Secret Agent Sean King for a split second, it costs him his career and presidential candidate Clyde Ritter, his life. But what stole his attention? And why was Ritter shot? Eight years later Michelle Maxwell is on the fast track through the ranks of the Secret Service when her career is stopped short: Presidential candidate John Bruno is abducted from a funeral home while under her protection.

The similarity between the two cases drives Michelle to re-open investigations into the Ritter fiasco and join forces with attractive ex-agent King. The pair are determined to get to the bottom of what happened in those critical moments. Meanwhile, high-ranking members of the legal system and key witnesses from both cases are going missing. King is losing friends, colleagues and clients fast and his ex-lover, Joan Dillinger, is playing curious games – she wants Sean back, but she also owes him for something . . .

As with the other Baldacci books I have read I was hooked from the first page, I like the fast paced style of the book.  However while there was an exciting conclusion to the story I felt it was slightly over complicated and implausible, but it was a great read!

Click here to find out more about the book and buy from Amazon.co.uk

‘I need a war . . .’

Nicolas Creel, a super-rich arms dealer, decides that the best way to boost his business is to start a new cold war – and he won’t let anything or anyone get in his way.

As international tensions rise and the superpowers line up against each other, the lives of three very different people will never be the same again. As intelligence agent Shaw, academic Anna Fischer and ambitious journalist Katie James are all drawn into Creel’s games, can anything stop the world from spiralling out of control?

This terrifying global thriller delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters and can’t-put-it-down pacing that Baldacci fans expect – and still goes beyond anything he’s written before.

Soon after reading my first David Baldacci I have read a second and I wasn’t disappointed!  Whereas First Family was part of a series of books containing the same characters, The Whole Truth is a stand alone book featuring Nicholas Creel an arms dealer who wants to take the world back to the cold war.  The hero of the story is Shaw an intelligence agent working for a shady worldwide group who are able to do what governments can’t!

One great thing I found reading this book was that as the reader you knew everything that was happening from both sides of the story, rather than the “bad guy” being revealed at the end following him through the book made the story more gripping and explained the world of Perception Management.  A great read!

Click here to buy The Whole Truth from Amazon UK

I picked up The Associate in my local Supermarket….

It’s a deadly game of blackmail. And they’re making him play. Kyle McAvoy is one of the outstanding legal students of his generation: he’s good looking, has a brilliant mind and a glittering future ahead of him. But he has a secret from his past, a secret that threatens to destroy his fledgling career and, possibly, his entire life. One night that secret catches up with him in the form of some bad men in a dark alley – they have a deeply compromising video of the incident that haunts him. The men make it clear to Kyle that he no longer owns his own future – that he must do as they tell him, or the video will be made public knowledge, with all the unpleasant consequences. What price do they demand for Kyle’s secret? Strangely, it is for Kyle to do exactly what any ambitious young lawyer would want to do: take a job in New York as an associate at the largest law firm in the world , a job that is incredibly well paid and, with mammoth hours and outrageous billing, could lead to partnership and a fortune. But Kyle won’t be working for the company, but against it – passing on the secrets of the company’s biggest trial to date, a dispute between two defense contractors worth billions of dollars to the victor. Now Kyle is caught between the criminal forces manipulating him and the FBI, who would love to unmask the conspiracy. Will his intellect, cunning and bravery be enough to extricate him from an impossible dilemma? Full of twists and turns and reminiscent of “The Firm”, “The Associate” is vintage John Grisham.

I have read the majority of John Grisham’s books and enjoyed them, The Associate is no exception.  The book starts as Kyle is in the last days of law school, and he becomes forced into a career in a New York law firm as an agent for forces unknown.  My only complaint is the ending, while good after such a build up it is all over too quick.

And now a cheesy YouTube Trailer

Buy The Associate at Amazon UK

First Family is the first book by David Baldacci that I have read.  First Family is the newest of David Baldacci’s books to be available as paperback.  It is from the Sean King and Michelle Maxwell series of books.

Camp David, USA. A birthday party turns into a nightmare when a child is snatched after the celebrations.

The First Lady enlists the services of Sean King and Michelle Maxwell to bring the child home safely. But she and King share a past. Years ago he saved her then senator husband from political disaster. And this may not be all that passed between them.

With Michelle still battling her own demons, the two are pushed to the limit, with forces aligned on all sides against them – and the line between friend and foe impossible to define . . . or defend.

I really enjoyed this book, full of twists and turns I could pick this book up and enjoy it despite not reading any of the previous books in the series, but could see quite a bit of character development which would interest anyone who had read previous books in the series.

Buy David Baldacci First Family on Amazon UK