Black Buck

This was an amazing story, told from the perspective of Darren Vender, aka Buck, this is about his meteoric rise from Starbucks barista to top dog in the digital startup sales world. There is a dizzying rollercoaster of events to follow as 23-year-old Buck moves from trainee to sales leader to recruiter for other young, Black individuals who want to follow in his footsteps. But the farther ahead Buck gets, the further behind he leaves his old life, friends, and family. Buck becomes the classic anti-hero and you keep wondering whether to root for him or not but, ultimately, you just want to give him a hug.

Poised as a narrative, self-help training manual, I had to keep reminding myself that this story was fictional. It was written in a way that I could “see” the events happening before my eyes. I was so caught up in the story I found myself casting the characters as if they were in a movie. There were times I laughed out loud and many times where I cried. Black Buck played with my emotions from the very first page to the very last word, and when I was done I had to let out a long, deep breath because I was spent.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to get completely enthralled in a story where you're not exactly sure who to root for but you keep waiting to see what happens next.