Killer Instinct (Hardcover)

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