Joseph Finder

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4‑Star Review: The Company Man by Joseph Finder

I just finished The Company Man by Joseph Finder — my first book by him, and honestly, it was a really good ride. Finder drops you straight into a corporate conspiracy that feels slick, tense, and just grounded enough to make you side‑eye your own workplace.

The pacing kept me hooked, the mystery unfolded in satisfying layers, and the mix of corporate politics, danger, and moral gray areas made it easy to stay invested. The show more main character has that perfect blend of “smart enough to survive” and “just messy enough to be interesting.”

It didn’t quite hit that can’t‑breathe‑must‑finish level for me, but it was absolutely a solid, engaging thriller — the kind that makes you say, “Okay Joseph Finder… I see you.”

A strong 4 stars and definitely not my last book by him. show less

In Joseph Finder's "House on Fire," private investigator Nick Heller is a former member of the United States Army's Special Forces. When Nick's buddy, Sean Lenehan, returned from multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, his job as a demolition expert left him with excruciating headaches. His doctor prescribed Oxydone, an inhalable opioid, and Sean quickly became hooked. Nick is grief-stricken when Sean's wife, Patty, calls to inform him that, after supposedly kicking the habit, Sean show more died of an overdose. Nick will never forget that when he was gravely wounded in combat and near death, Sean dragged him to safety and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Since then, Nick had remained close to Sean, Patty, and their children.

Ironically, Heller's new client is documentary filmmaker and activist Susan (Sukie) Kimball. Her billionaire father, Dr. Conrad Kimball, owns a huge pharmaceutical company, and has made a fortune marketing Oxydone, the substance that killed Sean. Dr. Kimball's detractors accuse him of encouraging and even bribing doctors to overprescribe this devastating opioid. Sukie hires Nick to find a long-buried study that proves how quickly patients become dependent on Oxydone. Her mission is to give plaintiffs legal ammunition that that could potentially bankrupt Kimball Pharma, and even land her dad in prison for covering up the truth about a dangerous product.

"House on Fire" is a fast-paced thriller with an exciting plot, crisp dialogue, hissable villains, thought-provoking and timely themes, and suspenseful action sequences. After launching his inquiry, Nick is shocked when someone he cares about is murdered. Fortunately, he has secret weapons of his own, including a highly-skilled employee, Dorothy Duval, who once worked for the NSA and is whiz at uncovering forensic data. In addition, Heller calls on buddies who have specialized gadgets that could help him obtain the information he needs. Nick falls back on his SEAL training to defend himself, and uses high-tech equipment to break into locked rooms and set up electronic surveillance. This is an entertaining tale of greed and family dysfunction in which a courageous and resourceful man risks his life to bring down corrupt and ruthless adversaries. show less

Buried Secrets is a gripping thriller novel by Joseph Finder, featuring private corporate investigator Nick Heller. The story begins with Nick returning to his hometown of Boston to set up his own agency. There he is urgently summoned by an old family friend, hedge fund titan Marshall Marcus, whose teenage daughter Alexandra has just been kidnapped. Alexandra’s abduction was a sophisticated, professional job, done with extraordinary precision, leaving no trace evidence. Alexandra, whom show more Nick has known since she was an infant, is now buried alive, held prisoner in an underground crypt, a camera trained on her, her suffering streaming live over the internet for all to see. She’s been left with a limited supply of food and water and, if her father doesn’t meet the demands of her shadowy kidnappers, she’ll die.

As Nick begins to probe, he discovers that his old friend Marshall Marcus seems to have been running a Ponzi scheme. His fund has collapsed, the FBI has arrested him, and now he’s become the most hated man in America. He has a lot of powerful enemies who may have the motivation to go after his daughter. But to find out who’s holding Alexandra Marcus hostage, Nick has to find out why. And once he does, he uncovers an astonishing conspiracy that reaches up to the highest levels of government.

The book is a page-turner, with a well-crafted plot that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Finder’s writing style is crisp and engaging, and he does an excellent job of building suspense and tension. The characters are well-drawn, and the dialogue is sharp and realistic. Buried Secrets is a must-read for fans of the thriller genre, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. show less

I have heard great things about the first Nick Heller book, Vanished, so when I got the chance to review Buried Secrets I jumped at it. I was a little unsure of whether not having read Vanished would put me at a disadvantage for enjoying Buried Secrets, but it certainly didn’t seem to. Whilst I’m sure there may have been little references that I missed but I never felt confused or as if I’d missed anything.

The plot is pretty gripping, we’re introduced to Alexa first and get to know show more her a little before she is kidnapped and buried alive. Her story is narrated in the third person, and I think this works well – reading the descriptions of both what is happening to her and what her kidnapper is doing lends itself to the narration. I found some of the passages describing her situation challenging to read, it really felt tense and claustrophobic.

Nick is introduced after Alexa is kidnapped, we get to see him dealing with a client before he gets the call about her case. I liked this, it meant I got a feel for him before he was thrown into the kidnapping case. In contrast to Alexa’s story the Nick thread is narrated in the first person. I sometimes find shifts in storytelling like this a bit clunky and awkward, but Finder pulls it off brilliantly. I think again that it works well for the type of narrative, I liked being able to follow Nick’s thoughts as he progressed through the case.

The plot is pretty involved, Nick has to uncover layer upon layer of lies and cover ups. I think Finder just about gets away with some of the more extreme plot points, though a couple did make me shake my head a little. It certainly felt like Nick had some convenient contacts and inside knowledge. That said, the reveal at the end of who was behind everything did work for me.

The need at times to suspend belief didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book at all, once I’d started reading it I found it very hard to put down and finished it in two sittings. I loved the occasional mentions of comic books, I always enjoy geeky references in the books I read. I’m certainly going to be going back and reading Vanished, and I’m sure I’ll probably give some of Joseph Finder’s other books a go too. show less