Killer Instinct [Paperback]

It's a cliché to say "this is one of the most exciting books I've read in a long while." Even though it's true, that trite statement does not do this book justice. This stupendous work is much more than that.

KILLER INSTINCT has everything: love, adventure, murder, mystery, intrigue. Joseph Finder skillfully paints an accurate portrait of the contemporary corporate workplace, while deftly weaving a touching background story about the main character, Jason Steadman, and his wife. Her support of him as he struggles with normal and abnormal workplace problems--and his support of her in her efforts to conceive a child--gives the book another dimension ... a dimension that tugs at your heart-strings.

Finder introduces the reader to the high-powered business world and the inner- and inter-corporate struggles of ambitious employees aiming for the top rung on the ladder. What some of them do in the name of "power" is reprehensible, but realistic. Our hero is the ultimate "Mr. Good Guy"--brilliant, charismatic, moral, and likable--but he doesn't have the killer instinct to get him to the top. Or so everyone thinks.

Then along comes Kurt Semko--a Harley-riding, former Special Forces guy just back from Iraq--who worms his way into the corporation through Steadman and immediately goes to work on his own ulterior plans. Semko is one villain who really has the KILLER INSTINCT--enough for both him and Steadman--and sets out to prove it.

The thing that intrigues me most about this book is the penetrating way this best-selling author portrays the struggle and mind games between Steadman and Semko. He fleshes them out until they are not only believable, but are also real. I feel like I know them personally. Finder certainly seems to understand the inner workings of the human mind, both the good and evil of human nature; the depth of his psychological profiles are astonishing. His profound portrayal of the subtle way the "evil" character plays on the good-natured main character is an intellectual piece of writing. It blows me away.

Author Joseph Finder has once again proven why he's "top of the heap" at St. Martin's Press and with readers around the world. If you haven't discovered him before now, you're in for some unique, exciting reading experiences. You must read his other fantastic books, like COMPANY MAN and PARANOIA, to name a few.

Joseph Finder is the "find" of the year. And to repeat a truism someone else beat me to: JOSEPH FINDER DOES FOR THE CEO WHAT JOHN GRISHAM DID FOR ATTORNEYS. - Betty Dravis, 2006

Jason Steadman is a top sales rep selling plasma and LCD TVs and monitors for Entronics. But being top dog is easy when everybody wants what you're hawking. Jason is otherwise without ambition or "the killer instinct", and he's comfortable with that. Unfortunately, Jason's wife Kate grew up knowing a better life than the one he's providing, and she reproaches him for a lack of ambition.

One day, after steering his wheels into a ditch, Jason hitches a ride with the tow truck, the driver of which, ex-Special Forces tough Kurt Semko, spins a hard luck tale involving a raw deal and a dishonorable discharge from the Army. Feeling sorry for the guy, Steadman gets him a job with Corporate Security. Kurt is grateful to Jason, and soon proves that he'll do anything to help his benefactor nail those big accounts and claw his way up the corporate ladder. Anything.

KILLER INSTINCT is a cautionary tale about the perils surrounding the release of the (evil) genie from its bottle, or the truth of the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished." In any case, the attraction of the storyline is that Steadman is a regular, white-collar shmoe. He could be you, in fact. (Are you itching to move into the corner office, cubby?)

KILLER INSTINCT is a riveting book; it would also make an excellent movie featuring, perhaps, Cole Hauser as Jason and Tom Sizemore as Kurt (both of which starred in PAPARAZZI in the good-guy and bad-guy roles, respectively).

The suspense of the plot is of the inexorably increasing sort, with a knuckle-biting conclusion which goes to show that nice guys don't have to finish last, especially if they are clever and have Web access.