This post is inspired by Zuky and Janel!

Every book blogger will have stories of when NetGalley declined their requests for  books. It usually starts when you first join, especially if you are click happy with your mouse, like I was! After you’ve been a member for a while and your ratio improves, the declines decrease and you find your NetGalley happy spot. 🙂

Here are three books I was disappointed to have been declined in the last year since I’ve been a member.

Dracula vs Hitler by Patrick Sheane Duncan

cover98464-mediumRavaged by the Nazi Secret Service during World War II, Romanian resistance forces turn to one of their leaders, Professor Van Helsing for any way out. To fight these monstrous forces, Van Helsing raises a legendary monster from centuries of slumber… Prince Dracula himself. Once he was the ruler of Transylvania. Prince Vlad Dracul, is, above all else, a patriot. He proves more than willing to once again drive out his country’s invaders. Upshot: No one minds if he drinks all the German blood he desires. In Berlin, when Hitler hears about the many defeats his forces are suffering at the hands of an apparent true vampire, he is seduced by the possibility of becoming immortal. Thus two forces are set upon a collision course, the ultimate confrontation: Superpower against superpower

I remember being quite excited by this book when I requested it, but I’m not surprised I was declined as it’s not a genre I would normally read. I still think it looks like a fun read though.

Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran

I really enjoyed the sample for this in one of the Book Buzz samplers, and was so disappointed not to be approved. I’m still keen to read it and have just wished for it on NetGalley.

 

Lucifer’s Banker by Bradley C Birkenfeld
cover100461-mediumAs a private banker working for the largest bank in the world, UBS, Bradley Birkenfeld was an expert in Switzerland’s shell-game of offshore companies and secret numbered accounts. He wined and dined ultra wealthy clients whose millions of dollars were hidden away from business partners, spouses, and tax authorities. As his client list grew, Birkenfeld lived a life of money, fast cars, and beautiful women, but when he discovered that UBS was planning to betray him, he blew the whistle to the US Government.
​The Department of Justice scorned Birkenfeld’s unprecedented whistle-blowing and attempted to silence him with a conspiracy charge. Yet Birkenfeld would not be intimidated. He took his secrets to the US Senate, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Internal Revenue Service, where he prevailed.
His bombshell revelations helped the US Treasury recover over $15 billion (and counting) in back taxes, fines, and penalties from American tax cheats. But Birkenfeld was shocked to discover that at the same time he was cooperating with the US Government, the Department of Justice was still doggedly pursuing him. He was arrested and served thirty months in federal prison. When he emerged, the Internal Revenue Service gave him a whistle-blower award for $104 million, the largest such reward in history. A page-turning real-life thriller, Lucifer’s Banker is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the secret Swiss high-net worth banking industry and a harrowing account of our government’s justice system. Readers will follow Birkenfeld and share his outrage with the incompetence and possible corruption at the Department of Justice, and they will cheer him on as he “hammers” one of the most well-known and powerful banks in the world.
I think I was slightly relieved when I was declined this one, although it still looks interesting to me and would probably make a good film.