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The F Place

How wonderful that the two primary products of The F Place, a fictitious multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company, are drugs to help people combat depression and control bipolar disorder.

How ironic that the company leaders are greedy, conniving and immoral back-stabbers, the last people you’d expect to have any interest in the wellbeing of others. 

Truth to tell — they don’t.

Welcome to the toxic culture of The F Place and the intriguing novel of the same name, co-written by Christine Strobush and Sonal Trivedi, business partners who help companies grow through transformation. The book is billed as a business thriller, and it is indeed. But it also is a study, told through storytelling, in navigating corporate landscapes, dodging landmines, examining political correctness, and finding one’s way to a successful company and satisfying career.

After experiencing rapid growth, The F Place finds itself in a downward revenue spiral. Much of its future hinges on the success of its second product, BalanceVITA, for those with bipolar disorder. The company’s top executives want to rush the product to market and, without announcing it over a loudspeaker, sidestep important safety procedures and protocols.

Leading this strategy is CEO Michael Vitali, who generally follows the counsel of his Chief People Officer Frita Fernandez, a glorified HR executive who is a power monger and anything but people-friendly. Think of the two most evil managers you’ve ever had and take away their redeeming qualities. That’s Frita.

Enter our heroine, Brianna Grimaldi, who has known Michael for years and advanced to a spot on the executive team. She sees things for what they are, trying to understand decisions and logic and rail against them when she feels it necessary, all for the greater good. This approach, while true to her beliefs and what she knows is right, is frowned upon and crushed by Michael and Frita.

As Brianna tries to manage her life and her job, she pauses to consider the reality of The F Place: “It was all disquieted and repulsive — the global pandemic, the unnecessary layoff of thousands of employees, the corporate political warfare, the betrayals, the fraud, the never-ending toxicity.”

“Is this really my life?” she asks herself.

The stakes escalate and she is left with tough choices. Her close friend Kate once again offers valuable advice: “Take a couple of days to really think about your life purpose. When you have clarity of that, your next move will become evident.”

When Brianna confronts her corporate demons, readers will ponder how they would have reacted in the same situation. 

Anyone who has ever worked in a business environment will relate to the real-life similarities of The F Place — the strategies, the challenges and the personalities. From trying to interpret a hidden agenda in every email to the idle chatter around the coffee station, The F Place will make you nod and cringe with recognition. Trying to decipher each new org chart as well as the attendees — or conspicuous absentees — at every meeting will be an adventure.

But a corporate orientation is hardly essential to enjoy this work. On the surface, readers will be treated to an exciting story. Digging a little deeper, for anyone who has ever had to find support on how to survive and grow through pain, lived in fear, uncertainty or anxiety, struggled through a toxic culture, company politics and power struggles, or sought a better work/life balance, The F Place is worthy of your time and consideration.

Genre: Business, Fiction, Potpourri, Thrillers
Jim Alkon

Jim Alkon is Editorial Director of BookTrib.com. Jim is a veteran of the business-to-business media and marketing worlds, with extensive experience in business development and content. Jim is a writer at heart – whether a book review, blog, white paper, corporate communication, marketing or sales piece, it really doesn’t matter as long as he is having fun and someone is benefitting from it.

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