Thank you Netgally and SparkPress, I enjoyed this well done listen.

I got through this one but frankly maybe I’m a little out of touch with the subject in order to be intrigued. I really enjoyed the male voice of narration. His voice was perfectly suited to the subject matter. The cover was excellently suited as well.

Here’s the rub:
This is the saga of a tech entrepreneur struggling to launch his startup business and hold together a shaky relationship with his girlfriend. Not a good combination for sure.

Stuart is no doubt talented as a software engineer developing a secure system, called COMPASS. It’s premise is that it helps clients safely connect to a “distributed cloud infrastructure.” This is an especially unconventional project since it is based on “open software,” the “rebel cult” to which he’s religiously devoted.This reader says what?!?!

He is living in San Francisco with his girlfriend, Marie. His work is taking him out of the country further hobbling his and Marie’s relationship. He’s completely focused and obsessed with his career, and she’s equally attached to the prospect of having a baby. Unfortunately Stuart is completely disinterested in fatherhood. So there is the great divide. Marie misses Stuart in his absence, and suddenly, without announcement, she flies to Seoul to see him, a visit he receives with ambivalent feelings. They move to Singapore together and travel all over Asia, but she’s unhappy. She wants to get married! You see Marie has little interests, neither a career nor a child to fill her days,

Stuart’s career downfall is getting across to prospective clients the benefit of his product. I said Marie has little interests but she is a latent author. Stuart asks her to ghostwrite a book for him, a task that keeps her busy and at least nominally connected to his preoccupations.

The author gives the reader a good dose of the cultural ethos of the tech world.

This is an intriguing but overly technical tale p, for this reader, of frustrated love and ambition.

I wanted so badly to love this book but despite my perseverance I just couldn’t get there. A beautiful setting and Silicon Valley success story couldn’t make up for unsavoury characters and overkill on the technical jargon.

Maybe if I was a bit more tech savvy but as I am not This one fell flat for me.

⭐️⭐️ 2 stars with a 14+ rating

I listened to the audiobook of Riding High in April. It follows the story of tech entrepreneur who is following his dreams in the Asian tech market. Hi longtime girlfriend follows him there and both are irrevocable changed. The book is very heavy on techno speak which I believe woudl make the average reader put the book down - too difficult to follow. Since I can speak that language, I persevered. It was a little tedius at time and I felt like I was back at work in the '90's. they story was all biz dev. There were big gaps in the story with people who were supposedly main characters that just fell off the pages. Jackie Townsend obviously know the tech industry. The rabbit hole they go down is totally accurate. I just don't now that UI was invested enough to care.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I listened to this book as an audiobook. A tech entrepreneur is trying to build something great but his bank account is dwindling. He is over in Seoul working when his girl friend of 15 years shows up. She realizes how different life is in that part of the world. The book seemed to be heavy on technical jargon that was hard to follow. It may have been easier with an actual book instead of the audio version.

Loved the story in this one. It was thrilling and engaging. The narrator was amazing and brought life and movement to the telling of the story.

Nothing I like more than a silicon valley story, but this one was just lackluster. Maybe it was the difficulty of listening to the novel--the voice of the main character just felt incredibly off and I couldn't relate to the characters motivations at all.

Wow, that was one heck of a ride! Definitely a good listen that came across so realistic that I nearly forgot it was a novel. I’d recommend it to others who are interested startups and Silicon Valley reads. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for ARC.

Content Warnings: suicide, death and mental illness

I'm not sure whose idea it was to "bleep" every expletive, but it made the book unlistenable. I gave up without finishing it.