Reprise Review: Orla's Code by Fiona Pearse

 

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Description:

“‘If you want to get ahead, get noticed,’ is Orla Hanlon’s motto. New to London and the first female programmer at CouperDaye, a global investment bank, she takes on a high-profile but controversial project.

With her new luxury apartment and a work-romance quietly on the side, Orla thinks she has everything under control.

Until a bug in her code causes chaos on the trading floor and Orla finds herself a scapegoat in a corporate game, fighting to save her new life in London.”

Author:

“Fiona Pearse was born in Dublin, Ireland and has been a software developer for 15 years. Now settled in London, she writes financial software and is working on her second novel. She is also a blogger and poet with several poems in literary journals.”

For more, visit the author’s website.

Appraisal:

As the first female computer programmer at her new employer, Orla has to deal with the obvious issue of being a novelty among her peers, along with some of the all-too-typical management issues and job challenges typically found in a software development shop. I was impressed with the author’s ability to communicate the challenges of Orla’s job without sinking into tech-talk or too much detail for the layperson.

Much of the story conflict comes from Orla’s struggle to balance her work goals, her personal life, and possibly sneak in a little sex (surely romance and a fuller relationship would be asking too much). Overall, Orla’s Code was a quick, fun read.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Adult language and some mild adult content.

Added for Reprise Review: Orla's Code by Fiona Pearse was a nominee in the Chick-Lit/Women's Fiction category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran February 22, 2014.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words