The Adventurist – Hipps

The Adventurist is set in the present.  Henry is a software engineering director, who is pressed for time to meet a quarterly sales goal.

Any good book requires that the reader finds something to relate to in the story.  It would be unfortunate if the only people who could enjoy this book would be corporate types. However, the strength of Hipps’ writing style is that the plot isn’t what matters. The circumstances don’t need to be familiar to the reader because everything in between the dialogue is universal. Hipps puts into words the things we have felt but have never been able to piece into coherent thought. Perhaps that is why I wouldn’t consider this to be an “easy read”. Not because the language is difficult or unrelatable,  or the subject matter uncomfortable, but because one cannot simply skim over the details. To slow down and consider is to engage in the humanness of the main character.

I was concerned that this was going to turn into yet another book about adultery, but I should have known it would never be that simple. I would say that the end was unpredictable, but it’s almost as if this story didn’t have an ending. It begins and ends in the middle of Henry’s life, and one can imagine it just keeps going. No happily ever after summary here.

Rating = 3