The Themes of The Manhattan Puzzle

By Laurence O’Bryan

What has been hidden in Manhattan by the most powerful people on earth?

What would you do to a Manhattan banker who treated ordinary people like slaves?

What magic is buried under Manhattan that allows it to rise again from anything the world throws at it?

BXH Bank building, Manhattan, vehicle entrance visible under the arch.

Image © LP O’Bryan

These are the themes of The Manhattan Puzzle. The story sees Sean and Isabel (my characters from The Istanbul Puzzle and The Jerusalem Puzzle) reunited in Manhattan at the headquarters of one of the world’s largest banks, BXH. There’s been some grisly murders, and now the plot takes a new twist. The contents of the book they found in Istanbul are revealed.

My personal journey with this story grew out of my disgust at the financial crisis that has brought many so low. I am interested in the myths and the beliefs of those who value money above everything.

But The Manhattan Puzzle is about other things too. For instance, what would you do if your partner didn’t come home one night? And what would you think if the police turned up at your door the next day looking for him?

Relationships are under stress everywhere, because of the demands placed on us by our jobs, but few of us will face what Isabel has to face when Sean goes missing.

There is violence from the start in The Manhattan Puzzle too, but the opening has a woman inflicting it on a man. I am tired of reading about men inflicting sexual violence on women. I think it’s time for the handcuffs to swop wrists. And they certainly do in The Manhattan Puzzle. You can download the first chapter here as a pdf.

But don’t get me wrong. I love Manhattan. It’s a city in a snow globe of dollar bills. So look in your bookstore and on your E-readers and order it too, if you want.

To order The Manhattan Puzzle click here.

Or to visit my website click here.

And thanks for reading this and for buying The Manhattan Puzzle, if you do. I hope you find it entertaining and the themes interesting.

 Imagine that: the New York Times reports that females at the esteemed Harvard Business School are less likely to thrive than their male classmates. Despite having equal or superior academic skills, a distressing number of women fall short on classroom participation—the subjective assessment that comprises 50% of their grades.

To its credit, Harvard has devised a number of well-intentioned academic interventions to reverse this trend. Most are doomed to fail. It is a law of nature, universally observed, that high stakes competition encourages an assorted bag of dirty tricks and exclusionary practices especially amongst the “Masters of the Universe” types that populate elite business schools. Official sanctions are a palliative that will ultimately send these chest-thumpers underground to snicker with like-minded members of their ‘secret societies’.

I propose a different tact, one that sends an unequivocal message to both genders. Women have to toughen up and fight for their place at the table. Far too many of them have assumed that “feminism” is some quaint concept spoken fondly about by their addled moms and grandmas. Many young women refuse to identify themselves with it, and openly state that the battles have already been won. REALLY?

Being a “nice” girl ensures that you will curry favor with a certain type of man who may date you but rarely chooses to hire and promote you. Speaking up (or out) poses risks but it also confers benefits such as self-respect, leadership, and yes, a better grade for “class participation”. I am unsympathetic to claims that women are “intimidated” by sneering classmates who challenge or ignore them. This is the real world, ladies, especially for those of you who actually enter the fray whether in the financial jungles or the boardroom.

One can be comforted by the knowledge that many of these superannuated Frat boys will be indicted, imprisoned, or lopped off the evolutionary chart in the decades to come—hoist on their own noxious petard.

Courage under fire never comes easily but taking responsibility for one’s own life is part of the deal. Just ask those soldiers (male and female) who risk their lives daily for the rest of us.

Female applicants must gird their lady parts for the battles ahead. By clarifying their personal and professional goals and calmly assessing their willingness to fight the good fight, they may just reverse the current trend.

Stop waiting for a savior—gallantry died long ago.

I have delivered literally thousands of speeches/presentations over my career. In my former life, I taught aspiring Executives how to maximize their public appearances. (Disclaimer: I never taught them line dancing or encouraged participation in poorly scripted videos.) Consider this advice when you market your book.

 Dos and Don’ts

1 – The Joke’s on you. (Don’t start with a joke unless your routinely do stand-up comedy. You’ll be memorable for the wrong reasons)

2 – Don’t imagine everyone in the room is naked to dissipate your nervousness.  (REALLY! Look around this room. Would you really like to see most/any/all of your colleagues au natural?)

3 – Unless you are specifically reading from your novel DON”T READ! SPEAK to your audience. Use keywords on an index card if you must but not FULL SENTENCES.  You’ll bore them into a stupor, possibly an irreversible coma. There are civil and criminal penalties for this offense.

4 – Humor is an especially effective tool when giving a presentation but only if it is NATURAL to you.  Your goal is to make you AUDIENCE relax, have fun, and hear your message. Determine your own style and go with it.

5 – Read your audience—If they’re nodding off, it’s time to change tactics, or conclude your talk. Remember: leave them wanting more.

6 – Tip for the ladies: AVOID those little bitty, tentative voices that lack authority. You’re selling your product and yourself— confidence breeds acceptance by others.

7 – Tip for the gents: AVOID being pompous, especially in an all female audience. Don’t play the big man—Don’t take yourself too seriously—CALCULATED HUMILITY builds audience rapport.

8 – Move around the room a bit if you can—don’t stay glued to a podium. It relaxes you and your audience.

9 – Avoid sexist or other controversial uses of language. It interferes with your message, and you’re there to give a clear, unambiguous sales pitch for you & your product. Keep Mr. Hyde chained up at home while you play Dr. Jeckyll.

10 – HAVE FUN—If you enjoy yourself so will they. It also builds confidence and enhances your authority with an audience when they see that you have mastery of your subject.

MIRROR, MIRROR

 Are all observations about appearance off the table in our politically correct society? President Obama recently stepped into a buzz saw by noting what was clear to anyone with eyes: California’s Attorney General is one beautiful woman. Immediately the chorus of protest arose (mostly from women’s groups), about objectifying females and devaluing their professional attainments.

As a card-carrying feminist and author who has fought and won those battles, I have a different view. Appreciating beauty is a gender-neutral trait that is also a fact of life. Gorgeous women and sizzling men raise our thermostats to boiling and make even the monogamous among us sit up and take notice. We experienced that phenomenon in Massachusetts recently with the senatorial candidacy of Scott Brown, a respected attorney, legislator and astoundingly handsome guy who once posed for Cosmo. People noticed and that’s not wrong.

My novels are categorized as romantic suspense and I happily subscribe to the formula that the protagonists will ALWAYS include an attractive woman and an especially hot guy. Naturally, the hero is also brilliant, successful and fabulously wealthy, just like the men one meets every day. In speaking with readers of all ages, I find that my mostly female audience expects and appreciates male beauty. After all, reading transports us into a land where fantasy becomes reality for at least a short while. We all need a chance to dream. Reality pummels you every time you stand in line or use public transportation, and very often it’s not pretty.

To those who lament the tendency of men (and women), to celebrate physical perfection, I say this: Get over it! It’s normal to acknowledge everything a person brings to the table in both form and substance. Let’s keep that in perspective and discuss the things that really count.

I try not to overreact. Truly, I do. But when I see yet another publication lament about “bereft empty-nesters” (always women, may I add), I go CRAZY! Today’s Boston GLobe waxes on about women, “even those who worked full-time” who feel desolate when in the natural course of events, their children strike out on their own. It implies–hell, it outright states–that these unfortunate females have no more purpose in life now that their maternal duties have waned. I recognize that PARENTS may indeed long for and miss having their children close at hand.That’s a good thing, and not exclusively the domain of a female. But stable families forge bonds between parent and child that will never be eroded. I’ve heard far more grumbling about the “boom-erang” generation that returns to the nest.
Face facts: life has stages. That means change, growth and evolution. Don’t fight it–embrace it. And don’t consign all mothers to the group of aimless souls who bemoan the “Empty nest”. While you’re at it, please pledge never to use that absurd, essentially sexist phrase ever again.