Five-Star FLEECING

by Maura Stone

Escape with laughter in this madcap adventure filled with crazy colleagues, paparazzi and celebrities. Linda Lane, an unconventional heroine, faces unbelievable obstacles which prevent her from doing her job. How can she handle renegade guests, racist mercenaries, nasty coworkers while stopping the employees, especially the General Manager, from ripping off the luxury hotel from inside? How does she deal with the moral dilemma? What’s a girl to do?

Genres: Fiction, Humor

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 2009

About the author

Maura Stone is a comedy writer with eight books under her belt, three awards, and praise from literary critics. She finds it therapeutic to weave her life choices into stories rather than spend money on therapy. Through humor her books address her issues of integrity and consequences from standing up for what’s right. Her unexpectedly profound insights and edgy unforgettable adventures leave readers inspired to rethink their moral high ground. She has even set a new standard for satire due to her unique style, taking the genre of autofiction to an exciting new direction. Maura lives upstate New York with her feral feline companion, Maxwell.

Reviews

[Hannah Worthington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book about a fancy, but messed-up Manhattan hotel and the mostly incompetent staff who fawn all over their celebrity clients. Linda, the protagonist seems like the only semi-normal manager in the bunch. But her honesty ends up costing her and sets her on a course to get sweet revenge against her corrupt boss and some of his cohorts. Lots of laughs in this one.

[June Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly loved this book and even though I was in a courtroom waiting area with people all around I couldn't help myself from laughing out loud so much I was afraid they were going to throw me out!!! I am waiting patiently for a sequel or another masterpiece from Maura Stone as this was one of the funniest books I have read in years!!! In par with George Carlin and Bill Cosby!!! Two comedians with different takes on comedy as Maura is also in a class all of her own!!! Keep it up!! I am a true fan!!!!!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maura Stone catches the behind-the-scenes inner workings of a 5 star hotel. Add intrigue, theft and scandal and you have a five-star fleecing in the making. A fast paced and satisfying romp in the hospitality industry.

[Rachel P · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won Five-Star Fleecing, by Maura Stone, as a first-reads giveaway. I entered to win this book because I thought it would be an informative behind the scenes look at the upscale hospitality industry. Sadly, I was mistaken. This story is about Linda Lane, Resident Manager of the fictional 5-Star Supreme Superior Hotel. Linda is not at all a sympathetic or likable character. Indeed, the first chapter starts off telling the reader of her cowardice when leaving her last job. However, she finds herself in a similar situation with her vain and unscrupulous boss, Mr. Ganiff. In fact, all her colleagues at the Supreme Superior are greedy, self-absorbed, and outlandishly eccentric. You wouldn't believe that you could ever meet so many eccentric people let alone all in one place.

I could not get into this story at all. There was not one funny or enjoyable moment in this book nor was there any character I felt anything other than disgust for. The flow of the story is rough and disjointed; the ease of readability is non-existent. There are smatterings of fake celebrity gossip thrown in to no benefit of the story and only added to the choppiness of the read. Also, the writing style is raunchy and unsophisticated. I trudged through the prelude in hopes of finding the rest of the story better but, again, I was disappointed. I would have put this book down and gave it up after the first few pages if I didn't feel obligated to write a first-reads review. Now, if I actually PAID for this book that would have been the real five-star fleecing.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly appreciate receiving this complimentary copy from Goodreads First Reads. What an entertaining peek behind the scenes at avarice and greed in the corporate world! Linda, an assistant manager at a five-star hotel, often finds herself jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I thoroughly enjoyed the roller coaster ride with Linda until she finalizes her plan of action to disentangle herself from the situation in which she finds herself. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good laugh and a lighthearted look at big business.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A former banker finds herself working in the hospitality business. If you've ever worked in a hotel in any capacity, you know that there are in fact some "odd" goings-on...even in 5-star hotels. But Linda has managed to find herself in the creme de la creme of strange happenings. I would categorize this book in the mystery-romance-fantasy-comedy genre. What a read!!! Highly recommended for anyone who really wants to enjoy a book.

I received this book through the First Reads program, and was lucky enough to get a signed copy! Thanks.

[Tart Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really entertaining story about a dysfunctional luxury hotel in NYC that caters to celebrity clients. The main character is Linda, the assistant to the hotel manager. Linda gets caught up in all sorts of crazy and hilarious situations due to an incompetent staff and all kinds of corner-cutting. Eventually, this becomes a revenge story when Linda gets fired for getting too close to the corruption. Lots of celebrity cameos here including Liz Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Tony Bennett and Jerry Orbach (to name a few).

[Yvonne Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

A playful read about a dysfunctional, but elegant Manhattan hotel that often hosts some of the most legendary names in entertainment. "Linda" is the newly hired assistant to Mr. Ganif, the longtime manager with a long history of underhanded dealings. But when Linda stumbles upon an assortment of massive corruption, she finds herself digging in for the battle of her life. Fortunately, she's up against a hilarious group of misfits who never see it coming.

[Eleanor Jethro · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good read. Kept me going - laughing all the way. Makes me look at hotels in a different way now. We all know that a lot of this goes on, but to see it all written down in the way it was is great - would recommend this book to anyone that wants a good laugh. I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and fast-paced glimpsed into the seedy underworld behind the scenes of a "world-class" hotel. Most of the characters are irredeemable, but this is obvious from reading the cover and the reader waits each time to see what dishonest trick will be pulled on the next page.

I received this book for free from Goodreads First-Reads. Thanks.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda's life of working at a high class bank where there is a lot of wrong doing going on. Later gets hired at the Five-Star Fleecing hotel to find that wrong doing is everywhere. Although she dealt with the stress from the job, she used the things that she learned to get back at her boss, Mr. Ganiff for firing her. Truly a great read.

[Alma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this having spent most of my adult life working in the hospitality industry I recognised so many people all thru the book. Never had a boss quite as bad as this but some came very close, and yes a lot of the stuff in here actually does go on!
Great read and would definitely recommend it to others

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maura Stone makes me look at hotels in a different way now. Kept me laughing all the way.From celebrity guests, paparazzis, duplicity and crazed employees . Karma spins almost out of control. Great book for anyone who likes to read gossip papers. and traveling , an entertaining read.

[Faded Levis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book. Made me laugh at loud in numerous instances.
This is a fantastic story of comedy, mayhem, celebrity and revenge.

[Lefty Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book with some kooky characters. Seebok is hilariously incompetent.

[Maura Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voila - the recent professional reviews:


5.0 out of 5 stars A humorous delve into the underworld of class, highly recommended, April 3, 2010
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
This review is from: Five-Star FLEECING (Paperback)

Even the classiest isn't immune from the lowest common denominator. "Five-Star Fleecing" looks into the life of Linda Lane, as she embraces her new career as manager of the Supreme Superior, a five star New York City hotel. But her classy career is not what it's cracked up to be as she soon finds herself again associating with criminals. Presented as a dark comedy, "Five-Star Fleecing" is a humorous delve into the underworld of class, highly recommended.




This is a superb scathing satire of the hospitality business
***** {5 Stars out of 5 Stars}
Posted February 8, 2010, 4:50 PM EST: In 1995 after losing her legal position at a firm doing questionable practices, Linda Lane obtains a job as assistant resident manager at the Manhattan luxurious Supreme Superior Hotel. Her boss Herr Ganiff explains the rules of working at a five-star hotel and assigns her to work up a plan on how to keep their high rollers happy while also bringing in some middle income. However, Linda observes all sorts of questionable practices at the hotel owned in absentia by a Japanese trio. In fact, she sees theft, poor handling of guests and a management team that takes care of itself exclusively. As she tries to ignore what she observes, Linda thinks of her father who told her to never back down from an ethics scenario as she did as a lawyer. This is a superb scathing satire of the hospitality business at a time when Wall St. is in the news with Too Big To Fail bonuses to many of those who failed. The cast is eccentric and over the top of the Empire State Building with me-me attitudes that stun idealistic newcomer Linda Lane who cannot understand the philosophy that the guest must not get in the way of bonuses. Maura Stone provides a well written tale of avarice, American style of capitalism.

Harriet Klausner

[Lucy Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wickedly funny book with a fantastic revenge-plot ending. I picked this one up because I heard that it was loaded with some humorous celebrity stories, which I love. It certainly has that. Burt Reynolds, Tony Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor and others come and go at this luxury, but highly dysfunctional Manhattan hotel. At the center of the story is Linda, the assistant to the corrupt hotel manager, Mr. Ganiff. Linda is a new employee, trying to look the other way on all of her boss's underhanded schemes... or at least the ones she knows about. But when she gets in over her head with corruption, she is scapegoated by her crooked, celebrity-worshiping boss. Ah, but Linda is no shrinking violet. She concocts a scheme to get even with her underhanded former boss and his staff of incompetent characters. A lot to like and laugh about.

[Debra]

First book I have won... this was a Goodreads advanced copy.

[Irwin]

I just won as a goodreads giveaway! waiting to read it. Thanks.