Review: The Secret (of Happiness)

Blurb:

Once upon a time, Max the billionaire invited David to his private island where whiz kid golden boys zip around the globe in private jets making millions and living the dream. But all may not be as golden as it seems. Max wants happiness. David wants his girlfriend back. Marcie just wants to avoid getting fired from her cashier job at Walmart. And the Guru knows the answers—or does he? Follow them on a wild roller-coaster ride through offshore paradises, out into space, over the Himalayas, across the Russian tundra, and through an evolutionary quantum shift to a final showdown in the Texas desert. The Secret of Happiness is a fast-paced, offbeat, fairytale thriller charged with suspense until the final word.


My Review:

This book took me by surprise! It really did. I wasn't sure what to expect. The description on the back seems interesting but then it kinda sounds like a few other books. I expected to read about the main character going through all sorts of life changes, having this wonderful opportunity presented to him, taking it, finding out he didn't really need it to be happy, etc. etc. Good grief was I wrong! I mean this book really pushed through my initial stereotyping and gave me something totally different!

David and Max are both well written and likable characters. Max is someone whom I expected to despise but I was hard pressed to find something about him that I didn't like? Hm ...how about he's rich and I'm not? David is flawed but even those flaws didn't stop me from liking him. The secondary characters are also well written. The threads connecting everyone and everything come together at the end to make a great book. The ending is perfect and definitely not where I thought the book was going. I won't spoil it but I loved the conclusion.

All in all this is a good read and I give it a rating of 4/5.