It may seem like the ultimate eye-glazer to call Joseph Finder’s past three novels business thrillers. But Finder is creating a new category in the genre with plots full of menace, paranoia, terror and danger. In Finder’s hands, business thrillers are exciting and action-packed. Political thrillers and spy novels are tame compared with what goes on in cubicles.
“Killer Instinct” continues Finder’s focus on the business world as a brutal, cut-throat environment where only the strong survive.
Jason Steadman is a young sales executive who works for an electronics giant based in Boston. He’d like to move up the corporate ladder but seems to lack the killer instinct of his rivals. He’s content in his job but not happy. It’s the same way at home – he deeply loves his wife, Kate, but her constant pushing for him to do better at work and their inability to conceive a child are causing rifts in their marriage. Then a minor accident on his way to work changes Jason’s life.
Tow-truck driver Kurt Semko, just back from Iraq, turns out to have once been drafted by the major leagues. Jason’s company softball team is in need of a pitcher. Kurt wins the game, and Jason recommends him for a job in corporate security.
Kurt not only turns out to be a savvy businessman, but he’s also a grateful, loyal friend. He considers Jason to be a buddy. Soon, Jason is on the rise while his rivals start to have minor setbacks that escalate as Jason’s career blossoms. Kurt’s temper can turn at a moment’s notice – especially when his new friend Jason isn’t as grateful as Kurt wants him to be.
“Killer Instinct” moves at such a brisk pace that it zooms by. But Finder doesn’t neglect character development for a quick-moving plot. With an economy of scenes and realistic dialogue, Finder sculpts believable characters.
It would be easy to make Jason’s ambitious wife a Lady MacBeth, urging her husband to make a success of himself at any cost. But Kate is an empathetic character who adds a sense of morality to the tale. Likewise the menacing Kurt has another side to him, and the wise-cracking nice guy Jason has an edge.
“Killer Instinct” proves that Finder has the killer instinct when it comes to creating his own exciting niche.
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Killer Instinct
By Joseph Finder
St. Martin’s, 416 pages, $24.95
