Disclosure

Inhoud

High-tech company executive Tom Sanders expects a promotion following DigiCom's merger with a publishing house. Instead, his ex-girlfriend, Meredith Johnson, is offered the position he thought would be his. When he spurns her amorous advances, she exacts her revenge by undermining his work and arranging his transfer to a different department in addition to filing sexual harassment charges against him. The transfer prevents him from getting stock options which would have made him a wealthy man. Sanders decides to countersue for sexual harassment, throwing the merger and his future with the company in jeopardy. Sanders begins to build his case against Johnson with the help of virtual reality technology and a helper known only as "A. Friend." In the end, he discovers that he was a pawn in a much larger game of corporate intrigue. Along the way he learns about sexual politics in the workplace, including an array of double-standards in the way men and women are expected to act and how they are perceived.

Bespreking

Interesting premise drives decent thriller

High-tech company executive Tom Sanders has it all made. Today he is on his way to his office at DigiCom where it is certain to be promoted to division leader. There are some minor set-backs on a production line that he leads, but nothing he cannot handle. But all is not well. When he enters the building he notices his ex-girlfriend Meredith Johnson talking to the big company chief. What's happening? Is the upcoming merger going to reshuffle the complete organisational structure? When he gets called for a one-to-one meeting with Meredith Tom's career is about to be completely blown away.

Disclosure builds on the fairly interesting premise of the danger associated with a growing trend of sexual harassment cases on the work floor. Is this a legal tool only reserved for female employees only or can males also be sexually intimidated? Crichton spins a story that is slow at getting up to speed, but once its setting is clear it delivers on many fronts. One of the more powerful aspects of the story is the duality that is been kept alive throughout the story. It is never a clear cut case and most of the time it bathes in moral ambiguity. The only minor drawback to this set-up is that, following the typical formula of any decent thriller novel, the story begs for a factual resolution and Crichton made sure that this was also the case for this novel. Although the resolution might not be fully in line with the build-up of the story, it still maintains a certain level of authenticity many readers will be able to appreciate.