Sue Margolis, Original Cyn

Sue Margolis, Original Cyn - In Dublin, likable and sweet thirty-two-year-old junior copywriter Cyn Fishbein enjoys spending time with her friend, almost forty, gay, hair stylist and wannabe writer Hugh, who believes his biological clock is ticking. Cyn also likes visiting her wacky family, which she does frequently, never forgetting that as a child mom defeated cancer.

The nice Cyn learns that job rival for a promotion Chelsea Roggenfelder, daughter of an American advertising giant, is out to eliminate the competition. Chelsea absconds with Cyn's ingenious concept for a lowfat donut ad campaign. So when her work enemy is hospitalized, Cyn poses as her adversary in order to prove to the donut folks that she, not Chelsea, developed the campaign. Meanwhile, a guy named Joe joins the same therapy group that Cyn belongs to and soon they break the rules with a romance. Though the sex is great, Cyn becomes disenchanted when she learns how Joe used a phony ploy to join, which reminds her of what she did at work.

This work force political tale uses the interesting premise that inner office competition can be destructive to the participants and their business. The storyline focuses on innocent Cyn seeking to gain recognition and a modicum of respect for what she did and had stolen by the sleazy Chelsea. Cyn is delightful as she knows that two negatives don't make a positive except in Algebra, but still feels she must fight back. Though the support cast is two-dimensional, fans will appreciate this look at a lack of ethics in the work place (that seems increasingly an oxymoron).

Delta, May 2005, $12.00

ISBN: 0385337345

Harriet Klausner