Imagine you’re a hardworking electronics sales rep with a loving wife who wants you to push just a little harder to recapture the ambition you had when she first met you. Fast forward ten months – and you did push a little harder – and opportunities presented themselves. You did things that were a little uncomfortable; in order to get a promotion, you wanted to prove to your boss that you were tough enough, that you had the killer instinct.
But people around you have died and now your life is in danger, it’s either push, or be pushed, kill or be killed. Do you have the Killer Instinct?
The newest offering from Joseph Finder is a study in corporate machinations and the pressures of sales work. A 30-something nice guy, Jason Steadman, meets a recently discharged Special Forces soldier, Kurt Semko. The two are complete opposites, but end up forming a friendship after Jason invites Kurt to play at his company softball game. Kurt’s exceptional pitching and batting skills help win not only the game, but also admiration from Jason and his fellow Entronics employees.
Carrying the feeling of goodwill further, Jason manages to get Kurt an interview in Entronics’ Corporate Security department. Kurt gets the job, and as a gesture of thanks, he insists to Jason “he owes him one”. Kurt begins to do small favors for him, gather “intel” on prospective clients and staff recruits. Soon, some strange and unpleasant things begin to happen to a couple of Jason’s fellow sales associates, who coincidentally are up for the same promotion as Jason.
Eventually Jason realizes that Kurt has done more than background checks, and wonders how he can extricate himself from the friendship without ruining his career, and risking his the lives of himself and his family.
For the third time in as many years, Joseph Finder has reached a well-deserved spot on The New York Times' Best Seller list. Like his previous two titles, Paranoia and Company Man, Killer Instinct, is a thriller set in the corporate world. Finder undoubtedly knows how to tell a story; he does it through a combination of good characterization, pacing and lots of research.
Because Killer Instinct is written in the first person, the protagonist, Jason Steadman, begins to reveal his own character as the story starts. In his first bit of dialogue we see he’s a bright, self-deprecating guy, “OK, so I’m an idiot.” Actually, since he has just driven his car into a ditch, we’re not sure – but we hope he’s bright. When Jason observes Kurt for the first time, not only do we learn about Kurt, but we also learn much more about Jason’s way of looking at people:
But he didn’t seem to be a cell phone kind of guy. He drove a tow truck and a motorcycle. Probably had a CB in there along with his Red Man chewing tobacco and Allman Brothers CDs. And a roll of toilet paper in the glove compartment. Kind of guy who mows the lawn and finds a car. Who thinks the last four words of the national anthem are ‘Gentlemen, start your engines’.They say that you should always trust your gut instinct, but they also say that looks are deceiving. As Jason gets to know Kurt, especially after he’s hired at Entronics, he sees that his initial assessment of the Harley jacket, mullet-styled guy is quite different from the well groomed man who works out regularly, won’t touch alcohol and knows his way around firearms.
Article comments
1 - Aaron Fleming
Sounds pretty good, I can really appreciate a good level of attention to detail, I like a novel that is clearly knowledgable on that which it talks about.
2 - Mark Saleski
woa...not a cell phone kind of guy AND finds a car after mowing the lawn.
i had no idea that somebody was writing about 'lil ole me!
3 - Mary K. Williams
It's always about you Mark. : )
(When it's not about me)
4 - Mark Saleski
that's what is says in my internet instruction manual.
(well, not the part about it being about you)
5 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
6 - Mat Brewster
My manual says its always about cheese.
Good stuff as always, Sir Mary.
7 - Mary K. Willaims
Cheese, yes...and wind. Absolutely
8 - Mary K. Williams
No, forget the wind. Ack.
I meant wine.
9 - Mary K. Williams
Natalie - Thank you!
10 - Marcie
Killer Instinct was my first Joseph Finder, and I pretty much agree with Ms. Williams assessment. I greatly enjoyed the book. One caveat, though - Mr. Finder gets the pressure and the corporate politics SO right, that it may be a bit off-putting for people who live it every day. There's a fairly long section that concentrates on pretty intently on corporate machinations -- it's necessary to set up the final third of the book, but that's so true to life I was feeling depressed and discouraged just reading it. I listened to the audio, and there's an interview at the end of the book in which Mr. Finder marvels that there aren't more books set in the business world, since that's where so many people spend their days. I'd say that's exactly why. Overall I enjoyed it, but my husband wouldn't finish it - he reads to escape that grind, not relive it.
11 - Mary K. Williams
Marcie - I know what you mean. My husband comes under the same category.
I've not read any other titles except for the two other 'corporate thrillers' (Finder hates that label - but easier to describe that way) Paranoia and Company Man were very good. Total page turners. If you look under my writer's page, you can follow links to my review of the latter. I' try to include link here, but I'd screw up the html at this point.
I will be reading his earlier works as soon as things slow down.
I recommend you do the same!
Thank you for the comments too!