COUNTERPUNCH: Maryl Morgan Marks: Book 1 - A strong female MC battles narcissism and misogyny inside high-tech corporate crime

by Taylor Zane, Margaret McKay (editor)

In the cutthroat world of tech startups, secrets are currency and trust is a luxury no one can afford.

Maryl never wanted the corporate life, but she finds herself thrust into the heart of a booming software company—a world of coding, competition, and calculated risks.

When Maryl meets Ethan, the company's golden boy, they become the "it" couple, who will surely lead the company to success. But behind closed doors and whispered conversations exists a level of everyday crime that stuns her.

Insider trading. Power grabs. Betrayal. Gaslighting. Misogyny.

As Maryl climbs the corporate ladder, she stumbles through the sexism, narcissism, and heartbreak of the patriarchal technology industry of the 1980s.

She's in deep. Her career, her relationships, and her sanity are all compromised. Who can she trust when the man she loves might be the most dangerous of all?

From the gleaming skyscrapers of Philadelphia, inside the high-stakes world of power and abuse, Maryl must navigate this dangerous minefield. With her career at risk, she realizes that in this game, there's only one way to strike first.

And so she does.

"CounterPunch" is Taylor Zane’s pulse-pounding debut novel that will keep you guessing until the explosive final page.

Stay tuned for Book 2: REBUTTAL

277 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2024

About the author

Taylor Zane spent decades navigating the fast-paced, male-dominated corporate tech world that inspired the Maryl Morgan Marks series — and lived, more or less intact, to tell the tale. The resemblance between her career and Maryl's is, as she will freely admit, not a coincidence.
After years of living — and writing — non-fiction during her corporate career, she decided that fiction was more liberating, and considerably less subject to HR review.
Writing is a heart flow, gushing and moving and thrilling, to be shared, laughing and screaming at the top of your lungs. She now writes Women's Fiction that embraces, pulls, shoves, shakes, cajoles, and wraps its arms around you — for every woman who ever sat in a room full of people who underestimated her, and smiled anyway.
At 72, she has officially retired from corporate life, though corporate life has not entirely retired from her — it keeps showing up in her manuscripts, apparently unwilling to let go.
Off the page, she lives a gloriously quieter existence involving books, gardens, good food, excellent movies, friends old and new, and a puppy who is, frankly, running the household.

Reviews

[Lisa]

I love this fast-moving book and all of the characters, even the bad ones! I also love how Zane writes about Maryl’s complicated relationship with her father. Following Maryl’s adventures was a wild ride. I felt like I was in each scene (biting my nails). I have to say, after a short hiatus I’ll probably be reading Zane’s next book to find out what happens!

[Chad Dulac]

Counterpunch follows the tale of Maryl Morgan Marks, a feisty redhead with a penchant for speaking her mind. Set against the backdrop of corporate 1980's, the story follows Maryl's life adventures (both good and bad), punctuating her hi's, lows, and several pulse-pounding 'wow' moments in between. When she finds financial success in a corporate job, she meets the man of her dreams and is whisked off to Philadelphia, only to discover her new life is not what she expected.

Taylor Zane's first book of the series is a one-two-punch that had me turning the page to see what happens next. Maryl's personality comes through in spades with cheeky wit, intelligent insights, gritty moxie, and vulnerability tempered by events from her past. When I read this, I found myself rooting for her successes, cursing her adversaries, and empathizing with her adverse life situations.

Zane's cast of supporting characters are so well written they feel like your co-workers, your best friends, or annoying family. Her storytelling style is vibrant and crisp with period specific details and nuances that makes the story part romance, part mystery, part thriller, and part time capsule. Couple that with heart wrenching encounters between family, lovers, and villains, Counterpunch is an emotional expedition showcasing Maryl's strength, resilience, and fortitude of spirit.

If you're looking for something different, set in 80’s modern fiction, with a strong female protagonist, Counterpunch is for you!

[Jim Morgan]

Very few books immediately grab my attention. COUNTERPUNCH by Taylor Zane is one of them. Captivated by how she smoothly walks the reader through equally exciting adventures or painful and excruciating experiences, I didn’t want to put it down.

Not only does the main character, Maryl Morgan Marks, take us behind the curtain of the 1980s corporate computer world, she also reminds us how fragile human connections are. Her struggles with her place within her family, corporate America, and life in general, are real and familiar; we all have the same questions, which makes Maryl very relatable, and familiar. You can’t help but cheer her on.

In the boardroom, she fits the fiery, good-looking, red headed stereotype fighting the male-dominated industry to a tee; smart, ambitious, determined, dripping with confidence and attitude. However, her thoughts are haunted by self-doubt, anger, and past humiliations that play into her personal and professional life; like most of us.

Choices matter. When her heart and mind battle each other, her life becomes an unexpected topsy-turvy, rollercoaster. Small cracks in her relationships go unchecked and over time become chasms that grow so wide they appear impossible to navigate. It doesn’t matter if they’re friends, lovers, or family, some never recover. Will she?

Hang on tight. COUNTERPUNCH is a great read.

[elena j.]

CounterPunch drops you straight into the polished surface of 1980s tech culture and slowly reveals what’s rotting underneath it. Taylor Zane, with editorial work by Margaret McKay, builds a corporate world that looks like success from the outside, but feels increasingly like a controlled system of power, manipulation, and quiet violence once you’re inside it.

What makes the story work is Maryl herself. She doesn’t arrive as someone trying to fight a system she fully understands she’s pulled into it, shaped by it, and slowly forced to recognize what she’s actually surrounded by. The relationship with Ethan adds another layer of tension, because it never settles into simple romance. It becomes part of the machinery she’s trying to survive.

The corporate environment is where the book really sharpens. Insider trading, subtle power plays, gaslighting, and gendered control aren’t treated as background details they’re part of the daily rhythm of the workplace. That slow normalization is what makes everything feel more unsettling, because nothing happens all at once. It builds.

At its core, this is a story about awareness turning into resistance. Maryl’s arc isn’t just about climbing a ladder, but realizing what the climb is built on and deciding what it costs her to stay on it.

[Treva Thomas]

I read this in one sitting without putting it down. I loved that it showed an example of one of the early generation of professional women who were trying to break into the boys club. The heroine's relationship with her parents and how they shaped her decisions, both professional and personal, in the changing landscape of the '70s and 80's was especially interesting to me, as a member of the generation that followed. I never fully appreciated exactly how hard that must have been to pave the way for us--generations of women owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the doors that have been opened to us, so entertainingly demonstrated in this book.

If you're looking for a fast paced read with a spunky, smart and relatable female lead who isn't afraid to step up and take what she wants instead of waiting for someone to give it to her, this should be your next series.

[Teresa Kuryn]

Ladies, If you are looking for a true to life page turner, this book is for you.
This author had me reading way past bedtime. I just had to know if this heroine was going to come out as the victor after all the obstacles that kept getting in her way!
This book is for all of you ladies who are "easy on the eyes" and pushing forward in male-dominated industries and for all of you ladies who have been in a personal or business relationship with a narcissist.
The story is so well written that I laughed, cried, and even got really angry to the point I was yelling at the characters in the book. (This is very unlike stoic me.)
I applaud this author and look forward to book 2!

[Leah Freedom]

Eh. Interesting story and kept my attention but overall the plot & story is meh. I think the author is trying to create a strong female lead but imo she has no backbone. Her boyfriend dictates her life and she just lets him, and passively goes along with things she doesn’t agree with, then gets mad that he did those things but instead of confronting him she runs away when he isn’t there and then tattles on him to get him in trouble as revenge. This is set up as some b@d@$$ “counterpunch” but it’s just cowardly and weak. She becomes what she hates in other people and she’s proud of it…. It’s not a good look imo.

[janet w fuller]

I read this book in one evening. Once I got into it, the story enthralled me. The author introduces you to a young woman, Maryl Marks, entering the corporate world.
Maryl gets into and out of scrapes with messy aplomb. The author, Taylor Zane, gives impetuous Maryl a back story that makes you cheer for her as she begins her climb up the corporate ladder, makes errors in judgment, adjusts her viewpoint, and comes out swinging. We should all learn to counter punch!

I look forward to reading the further adventures of Ms. Marks.

[Dianne S]

I totally enjoyed having a window into the fast paced tech world of the 1980s. Ambition, greed, intrigue and entitlement clash with romance, passion, hard work and naivety; it was compelling!
The author, Taylor Zane, set her vibrant protagonist, Maryl Marks, in a corporate world where she had to learn to navigate the unscrupulous, self-absorbed corporate climbers, all while trying to find love and grapple with her nagging conscience. Her journey of self discovery had me alternately cringing and cheering her on!
All in all, a fine debut novel.
Can't wait for the rest of the series!

[Shelley Chambers]

This book follows the struggle of a woman who ventured into the male-dominated world of tech in the mid-seventies. Despite a natural ability to relate to men as colleagues, she discovers a minefield that many will recognize from their career experiences. An empowering read that makes you realize that women can right the ship of corporate America and be successful in that world.

[Maralyn A.]

This book gives fascinating insights into the culture of power businesses and the lengths that people will go to further their agenda against other people's interests and safety. A compelling read and well written. Bravo on this debut novel.

[Colleen Aylward]

Poignant and a bit cathartic as I also came from the high-tech startup world. Great characters and dialogue. This is as realistic as they come. Can't wait for Book 2 of the series!