Thank you for your votes and comments on Sinners and Saints so far. Yes, I completely agree that reading about the horrible things that Claire learns about her marks is uncomfortable. It upsets her too (thus the compulsive haircuts and shoe obsession). She really doesn't miss much when she zones out in the meeting. I've been in enough corporate meetings to learn that most of what's said in them could be covered with a memo - lol! It's extremely challenging writing in first person present tense. I don't switch point of view in this book, so her talking to herself is the only way I have for the readers to understand she's often as lost and confused (especially in the first few chapters) as they may feel. Glad you're forging ahead - things start making more sense from now on.