Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Circumstances of Childhood by John W. Howell #Halloween #Bookreview

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Today’s book, Circumstances of Childhood, is by talented author, John Howell. John has several great books but this is still my favourite.

What Amazon says

When a former pro football star and broadcaster, now a Wall Street maven is accused of insider trading, will he be able to prove his innocence and expose those who are guilty?
Greg and his boyhood pal dreamed of big success in professional football and then later in business. Greg was the only one to live the dream. Now the founder of an investment fund Greg is faced with a routine audit finding by the SEC. The audit points to irregularities and all the tracks lead to Greg. The justice department hits him with an indictment of 23 counts of fraud, money laundering, and insider trading. His firm goes bust, and Greg is on his own.
His best friend knows he is innocent but has been ordered under penalty of eternal damnation not to help.
If you enjoy stories of riches to rags, redemption, brotherly love, and a little of the paranormal, Circumstance of Childhood will keep you riveted.

My review

I loved this book. The growth of the investment fund, SEC audit and investigation and the outcome that feature in the book are convincing. John Howell clearly has a very good knowledge base of corporate finance and its rules and regulations and the story rang true to me. The book comprises of two story lines that run parallel.

One is the tale of a successful football star who turns his hand to running and investment fund, with some brilliance but, possibly, with to much trust and a lack of understanding of some of the technicalities. I though John Howell showed a very sound knowledge of computers and electronic trading and the associated risks.

The second story line is that of enduring friendship between two boys thrown together by life’s circumstances. John was skillful in describing the personalities of the two friends and how they both relied on each other for support as they traveled their chosen path of university and football. There is an interesting twist to this friendship that results in Greg moving on to stardom on his own.

There is also a bit of a romance in the book as Greg meets and courts his eventual wife, Terry. The effect of great financial success on their relationship and children is intriguing and it leaves you wondering about the natures and intentions of some of the characters right from the beginning of their entry into Greg’s life.

A fast moving and exciting story, I rated Circumstances of Childhood five out of five stars.

Amazon US purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075SKWHCR

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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64 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: Circumstances of Childhood by John W. Howell #Halloween #Bookreview”

  6. I enjoyed this book so much. I agree that John has a good deal of knowledge about the corporate world and the story is believable, as are the characters. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this story and a huge congratulations to John!

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  14. Hi Robbie. So sorry I’m late to your post today, but I have been dealing with Twiggy’s surgery. I am so grateful to you for this lovely review, and I must say you did highlight the story in an intriguing way. I also really appreciated your words from the aspect that you are a chartered accountant and would be able to spot irregularities a mile away. So let me say thank you for the lovely review and the feature here.

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  15. My husband and I read this book as a buddy read, Robbie, and we both enjoyed it. My husband used to play football and he thought that John’s knowledge was spot on. I’m glad you had the same to say about the financial side of the plot. Congrats to John on the great review!

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  18. It makes sense when authors use their background knowledge to weave that expertise into their novels. Congratulations to John on another successful review.

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