KILLER INSTINCT by Joseph Finder
Joseph Finder's new novel KILLER INSTINCT is a time bomb of a book, and the clock starts ticking on page one of his story. With a couple of successful novels under his belt Finder turns up the heat with this book about the competitive world of business and what people will do to succeed. We all know it is a dog eat dog world but Finder says it is also a dog kill dog world. Success is the ultimate prize and the stakes are high.
Jason Steadman seems to be a nice guy. He has a good job, a nice wife, and hopes for a family in the future. He gets along with his co-workers and is a relatively happy man. His wife Kate thinks he needs to be more aggressive but that seems out of Jason's nature at the start of this book. But then Jason meets Kurt Semko.
Semko is a former Special Forces member and is military to the max. Mustered out of the service with a Dishonorable Discharge he is just doing odd jobs to get by. When he meets Jason he impresses him with his ability to solve problems. He also has an uncanny knack of removing impediments to Jason's career. Eventually Jason gets him hired as a security officer at his company and that is where the problems really begin.
Unknown to Jason he has entered into a Faustian arrangement with Kurt. He has signed his soul away so to speak in order to become more and more successful in his company. At first it is only minor things that happen to Jason's competition, but then things ratchet up a notch and people actually start dying. Jason realizes he has created a monster. The question is can he stop him.
Finder has the brilliance to make his story start with a bang and then flash back to see how his characters arrived at this place. Once we have seen the tenuous position Jason ends up in, we go back to slowly learn about the character himself. But even as we go through the routine early days of the book, the final confrontation hangs over our heads.
As plot driven as the story is, Finder also manages to create total pictures of all his characters - major and minor. This gives the book a sense of completeness and of importance. We care about the individuals who are the lead characters and we also care about those who are supporting players.
Keeping the suspense turned up to the highest level for page after page takes a gifted writer. The time bomb approach could be a wasted effort if the pace were not so completely assured. But Finder knows his story and he knows the people in it. KILLER INSTINCT is written with confidence and care.
This was my first introduction to the Finder flavor of suspense. It definitely will not be my last. I am already anticipating his next book.
KILLER INSTINCT is published by St Martin's Press. It contains 406 pages and sells for $24.95.