Book Review: The Undeserving Boss by Hasina Saiyeda

 

The Undeserving Boss by Hasina Saiyeda
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had such high hopes from this novel. The blurb speaks of a "a scam so profoundly integrated into the company’s system that if neglected, could bring her father’s reputed business down to its knees" and promises "riveting corporate drama". The cover is interesting too!

I was expecting a scam of epic proportions. Something more outrageous than accounting frauds at Enron, Satyam (and Wirecard more recently).

I was outraged but not at the purported scamsters. I was outraged that the novel has no 'riveting corporate drama' whatsoever. Forget about a boardroom showdown, the novel does not even mention the words board of directors or shareholders because the so called 'company' in the novel is some sort of proprietary concern with not more than 5-6 employees. Also the scam, is just a case of theft. I seriously wonder if the person writing the blurb has actually read this novel or indeed any corporate thriller at all.

While this was bad enough. I wish I could report that atleast the plot and writing is interesting. It is a story of Ella, the narrator who takes over her dad's business, uncovers rampant theft and resolves the mystery of who the thief is while also falling in love in the process. It has been written as if the author wanted to write an amateurish detective novel. The narrator's sidekick does indeed refer to himself as Watson a number of times as they try to solve the mystery of the scam / theft. There is also some family drama in the narrator's life which the book could have done without.

The writing does not involve any sort of detailing and is almost comically vague, imprecise or just wrong at times, like when the narrator guessing a password and opening a hidden excel file is described as 'hacking'! Similarly all descriptions of how business is conducted at the company seem like they were written by a school going kid who has the most rudimentary understanding of how businesses are run. It wasn't even remotely comparable to how any other business thriller (or any other book for that matter) which I have read.

Did I mention that the resolution of the mystery only happens largely by chance and only in the last 10-15 pages of the novel? While the plot continued to disappoint, I hoped that a book set in Calcutta would atleast take me on a ride through the city describing its sights, smells and unique approach to life which is unlike any other Indian city. However, no such luck either. The characters drink cutting chai, have naan and chicken, and there is simply no reason why the book is specifically set in Calcutta. Lastly, the book has been poorly edited and has sentences like - The tea arrived. It was smocking hot. I felt the smoke coming out of hot terracotta mugs. - I really hope that the author gets a good editor for her future novels.

The only saving grace is that some (not all) of the interactions between the narrator and her best friend seem relatable and I guess cliché enjoying romantics may find cute, the dialogues between her and her love interest.

All in all, please avoid this book at all costs.

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