Ted

I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical about this book. A marketing guy's perspective on Google? That's crazy, who cares about that, I thought. But I had just finished a couple other popular books on Google and thought that this might round out my perspective one of the most influential and successful companies of all time.
What I didn't realize was that I would be taken on a tour of Google, from it's childhood through adolescence, as though I were riding on the shoulders of the author. I would listen, mouth agape at the stupidity of running servers without cases on metal racks then marvel at the subtle and not-so-subtle genius exhibited by Googlers. I would learn how a quick hack could lead to billions of dollars of profits but I would also discover that my suspicions about chaotic product management were in fact correct.
"I'm Feeling Lucky" goes where no other Google book dares - it explores the intimately human aspect of a company often characterized as "The Borg." It reveals that Google engineers are not just single-dimensional geeks, but are creative people who share a passion for excellence and doing the "right" thing. But more importantly, it shows us a prime example of how a group of supremely confident and intelligent people can eschew tradition and change the world.

I really enjoyed other books in the Camel Club series. Unfortunately, Hell's Corner was not up to par. While I expect thrillers to be a bit far-fetched, this one was ridiculous. It's like if you took all the cliches from other thrillers, stuck them in a blender, and put them into an overly long book.

As other reviewers noted, there are other things that make this one to avoid. The sound effects definitely detracted from the book. The first time I heard them, I laughed. The next time, I groaned. Horrible!

I didn't mind the switch between voices however. Usually men doing women's voices sound a bit ridiculous, so I prefer a female voice doing the reading. However, there were a few times that I had to listen carefully because I thought some of the female voices sounded like voice a synthesizer. That was pretty bad...

I have no idea how this book has received so many positive reviews, pulling it up to almost an average of 4. Seriously, if all the reviews were legit, there's no way that this book would get more than 3 stars, probably less.

Avoid at all costs.