Killer Instinct

by Joseph Finder

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312347472
• ISBN13: 9780312347475
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.7" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent, exciting thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat

Jason Steadman is in his fourth year as a salesman for Entronics, a major electronics company. He was once salesman of the month but now is starting to feel burnt-out. He meets Kurt Semko, a former Navy Seal, when he accidentally drove his car off the road trying to do too many things at once. Jason invites him to drop by his company's slow-pitch game when he hears Kurt was once drafted by the majors. Jason also pushes to get Kurt hired at Entronics. His wife is pushing him to push for a long overdue promotion. Two others are up for the same promotion. Bad things or just coincidences start to happen to everyone else but Jason. As Jason succeeds on the job and gets noticed by his bosses; he tries to stop Kurt from helping him. Great characters and plot keep you riveted to the end.

Finder does it again!

Once again, Joseph Finder has found intrigue and suspense in the most unlikely of settings: midlevel business. Jason Steadman is a sales associate, neither at the top or at the bottom of his department, a guy who loves to play softball on the company team and who is generally happy with the status quo -- until that is, his wife Kate hints that he should be more ambitious. Jason, though, is down on his luck. His rival Trevor, who tops him in both sales and softball skills, is sure to get the promotion that has just opened up. When Jason drives his Audi into a ditch because he was trying to do too much at once, he meets tow-truck driver, former minor league pitcher, ex-Special Forces Kurt. They take a liking to each other on the drive to the auto body shop, so it seems only natural when Jason offers to get Kurt a better job, one in security, at his company, Entronics. Kurt never forgets a favor, but when Jason's rivals for the promotion start dropping away for mysterious reasons, Jason starts getting nervous. Is Kurt sabotaging other people's work and lives to Jason can go straight to the top? Or is all that happens mere coincidence? What is more important: ethics or pleasing his beautiful wife? When the stakes turn deadly, Jason must decide how he can both keep his new job and get rid of Kurt. The only problem is, no one gets rid of Kurt. Finder is a master at creating suspense in small, incremental moments that build toward the end. Killer Instinct is not the kind of novel that prompts the reader to read quickly just to see what happens but instead is enjoyable on every page. His characters are likeable and believable -- at least, as much as they can be in a thriller Even wife Kate comes across as a fully drawn: a woman complicated by her past and by the pressure her sister puts on her. It helps that Finder's competent prose does not distract from the plot. It is neither overblown nor mundane, sentences with just enough voice to evoke the stakes of the situation. Joseph Finder's fans will not be disappointed with this latest effort. It makes for great vacation or late night reading.

Best Business Thriller Writer Around

Poor Jason Steadman, he's trapped in a district manager sales job, being shown up by two other managers, likely not to be picked for the next promotion, and he can't seem to close deals. Plus, the poor guy is saddled with an ambitious wife and he's losing his once trim figure. What's a guy to do? Jason befriends Kurt Semik, a tow truck driver, a former Special Forces type, and persuades him to act as a ringer for the company softball team. They hit it off, and Jason helps Kurt obtain a security job in his firm. As gratitude, Kurt returns the favor by sabotaging the work of Jason's competitors, meaning Jason is suddenly on the fast track upwards. But Kurt has horns and a tail. Soon, Kurt's dirty tricks get out of hand, and Jason realizes he's got to get rid of him. But how? Jason benefited from some of those dirty tricks, and Kurt now runs security at Jason's firm. He overhears conversations, reads emails, can track Jason's whereabouts wherever he is. Kurt made Jason, and Kurt can expose him. Or what if he's a killer? There's already been one strange death at the firm. What if that was murder? Kurt's nobody to mess with. How would you like a six foot Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake in your pregnant wife's bedroom? With KILLER INSTINCT Joesph Finder has once again proved he's the master of the business thriller. Thrillers just don't get much better than this.

Has it happened to you?

Something that changes your life in an unsuspected way? And goes on changing it..reinventing you, pressuring you and yes, entrapping you? Where does it end? And...is there an end? Jason Steadman, sales manager for one of the largest electronic firms in the world..sales manager and fighting his way up the ladder at his wife's constant urging. Then it happens; an event that changes his life...for better? or worse? It didn't seem as though this was an earth-shattering experience. It was nothing but carelessness on his part caused by multi-tasking while driving his car...and he drove it right off the road. And then Jason's star is crossed with that of Kurt Semko, ex-special forces and now driving the tow truck that arrives to pull Jason into a new and frightening experience. Joe Finder manages again to give us a thrilling journey into the corporate cut-throat world as Jason finds that The ladder to the top is soon strewn with the sun-bleached bones of those who dared stand in the way. He realizes, too late, that Kurt can and will do anything...anything.. whether Jason knows or approves and for his own reasons and to his own ends not Jasons. A marvelous way with words, a skill for luring us to the the next sentence, the next page, the next chapter; Letting us feel what each character feels by manue- vering us down each hallway, into each office and into their very souls...that's Joe Finder at his finest. He only gets better! Five glowing stars for this book and this author who really knows how to weave a web and won't let you escape it 'til the last word is read. Kudos!

Finder keeps getting better and better!

The more I read some authors, the less I enjoy them . . . Joseph Finder is an exception. I enjoyed two of his earlier corporate thrillers, PARANOIA and COMPANY MAN--and recommend them both highly . . . however, KILLER INSTINCT is his best and leaves me anxiously looking forward to his next book. This latest effort is about a sales executive who is doing moderately well for an electronics giant . . . however, when he befriends a Special Forces officer just back from Iraq, his luck begins to change . . . good things start happening for him; at the same time, his rivals begin having a series of unfortunate incidents. KILLER INSTINCT had me really caring about the main characters, and I wanted to know more about them . . . it was a real page turner, right up until the very satisfying conclusion. In addition, I liked how Finder used humor throughout the book to help defuse some of the story's tension; e.g., here's how he described one meeting: I just stared at Kurt rapt. The scariest thing I ever faced in my line of work was a performance review. The author also did his research into the sales process, giving you the feeling that he knew what he was writing about--as evidenced by the following: "I'm talking abut layoffs," she said, settling into her chair. I held it for her. Not that I'm such a gentleman, but I wanted to make sure she sat so that she and Duffy couldn't make eye contact without our seeing it. A basic sales meeting trick. Duffy sat where we wanted him to as well. "You guys going to be there next year?" There were several other memorable passages; among them: * I was finally on my way out of the office around six when my phone rang. The calls that come after five are often from people trying to avoid talking to a human being. They want to get voice mail. We call this playing dodgeball. Actually, it's harder and harder to play dodgeball these days, what with cell phones and e-mail, so when someone tries it, it's pretty obvious. * "Uh, sure." Can we have a talk is up there with We've found a lump as the scariest words in the English language. * He shook his head solemnly. "As one of my vice presidents, you're going to get sick of hearing me say it, but I firmly believe you create your own luck."