Product Details
Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct
By Joseph Finder

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Product Description

Jason Steadman is a thirty-year-old sales executive living in Boston and working for a electronics giant, a competitor to Sony and Panasonic. He's a witty, charismatic guy who's well liked at the office, but he lacks the "killer instinct" necessary to move up the corporate ladder. To the chagrin of his ambitious wife, it looks as if his career has hit a ceiling. Jason's been sidelined.
But all that will change one evening when Jason meets Kurt Semko, a former Special Forces officer just back from Iraq. Looking for a decent pitcher for the company softball team, Jason gets Kurt, who was once drafted by the majors, a job in Corporate Security. Soon, good things start to happen for Jason - and bad things start to happen to Jason's rivals. His career suddenly takes off. He's an overnight success
Only too late does Jason discover that his friend Kurt has been secretly paving his path to the top by the most "efficient" - and ruthless - means available. After all, Kurt says, "Business is war, right?"
But when Jason tries to put a stop to it, he finds that his new best friend has become the most dangerous enemy imaginable. And now it's far more than just his career that lies in the balance.
A riveting tale of ambition, intrigue, and the price of success, Killer Instinct is Joseph Finder at his best.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1169749 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-05-16
  • Released on: 2006-05-16
  • Original language: English
  • Dimensions: 9.25" h x 1.38" w x 6.13" l,
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 416 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. At the start of this masterful business thriller from bestseller Finder (Paranoia; Company Man), Jason Steadman, successful salesman at Entronics, an electronics company that's right up there with Sony and Panasonic, drives into a ditch near his office outside Boston while talking to his wife on his cellphone. Jason befriends the tow-truck driver who comes to his rescue, Kurt Semko, an ex–Special Forces soldier, and recommends him for a position at Entronics. In gratitude, Kurt begins performing fiendish little jobs for Jason that boost his sales and fortunes with the company. But Kurt eventually goes overboard, and people begin to die. The likable Jason finds himself trapped in a battle with a scary, seemingly unbeatable foe that builds to a rousing and satisfying climax. The villains may verge on the cartoonish, but readers who enjoy movies where you have to fight the urge to shout "Stop! Don't open that door!" will love this one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
No narrator portrays irony and sardonic expression more instinctively than Scott Brick. And that ability comes in handy in Joseph Finder's new corporate thriller. Jason Steadman, a mid-level electronics executive whose career has stalled, suddenly begins to rapidly advance up the corporate ladder as his rivals meet misfortune. As a gesture of gratitude, but unknown to Steadman, an ex-Special Forces member has been secretly sabotaging Steadman's competition. The disclosure results in a classic clash of wills and a surprise ending. Brick's narration is crisp and fast paced, but mellow at the same time. He has you on the edge as Steadman and his maniacal benefactor meet in the climax. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Finder writes a special brand of business-world thriller one might call Dilbert noir. His previous best-sellers, including Paranoia (2003) and Company Man (2005), spliced corporate cubicle routines with murderous plots and international intrigue. In his latest, Finder takes a man least likely to swim with the sharks--Jason Steadman, a very happy, contented salesman for an electronics giant--and places him on Fortune's wheel. The first spin of the wheel comes from Steadman's wife, a lovely Lady Macbeth type consumed with ambition for a picture-book family and a much bigger house. The next spin comes from a car accident that ends up with Steadman meeting a tow-truck driver, a special forces officer recently returned from Iraq. Steadman takes a liking to this man's man and gets him hired in his firm's corporate security department. Suddenly and inexplicably (to Steadman), his career skyrockets as his rivals experience a run of bad luck and even worse accidents. Part of the dreadful fun of this thriller is figuring out ahead of Steadman who is behind his good fortune; the rest of the suspense comes from watching Steadman seek to outwit his malevolent benefactor. Finder is a first-rate story weaver, though he sometimes lavishes too much detail on unnecessary scenes or bits of dialogue. Still, Steadman's 10-month ride from complacency to terror is filled with the requisite number of thrills and chills. Connie Fletcher
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