Killer Instinct

Let’s just start by saying that although I laughed at how stupid Jason is during the whole novel, I did enjoy the tale. I didn’t really root for Kurt. Not really. But it was hard not to. Especially in the beginning when one or two of his stunts were truly justified. Jason’s enemies needed to be taken down a peg or two. And Jason was so horribly, horribly dumb. Not a bad guy and I did kind of like him in a way.

No wonder he couldn’t get ahead on his own. He was outgunned and outclassed at just about every turn. He avidly listens to lame sales technique tapes and recites mantras of positive thinking to psyche himself up. He gives in easily and lets things happen to him instead of making them happen. The ability to put two and two show more together is pretty limited. He has no idea of creative thinking and has to be led. When light dawns, it’s comical. Each time Kurt pulled some shenanigans, Jason was amazed. When it got ugly, he was surprised. Not just at the tactic, but at the escalation itself and the fact that he was outwitted at every turn. Kurt thought of everything and had his moved planned well ahead. He played Jason totally and the dumbass didn’t even know it.

It was fun to watch him realize it though. It took a couple of times for him to be shown that Kurt was taping his conversations for him to remember. And each time he found out, he was amazed and outraged. What a dope. Ditto with some of the escalating tactics and violence. What else did the guy expect? For Kurt to just quietly withdraw? To stand down? To be a good boy and heel?

As if. It was also really interesting to watch Kurt ramp up. From simple almost practical joke level stuff (albeit really cruel practical jokes) to bloodshed and death. Like he was so fond of saying, ‘you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube’. But in the end, Jason learned a thing or two from Kurt and got the better of him. I won’t deconstruct it here, but there is a glaring problem with the final scene/solution. It has to do with timing and the order of events and the likelihood of Jason’s plan working at all simply by the way he went about setting Kurt up. I also didn’t believe that Kurt would leave Jason so unblemished, but I guess it would have been difficult to spend the required time on things if the evidence completely and totally pointed to Jason even after the resolution.

Still, if I were Kurt, I would have certainly planted evidence to hang Jason for my crimes. One other things bothers me, too. The fact of Kurt and Jason meeting at all. I mean how lucky is the guy to happen to meet just the patsy he needs to orchestrate corporate corruption and mayhem? And how could he know that there would be a job opening in the patsy’s company that he would have any kind of shot at getting. No, it’s too strange. Maybe it’s meant to be that way; showcasing the serendipity of it all. Kurt’s set up of Jason begins after he meets him and is purely coincidental. Kurt just exploits the situation to the maximum.

In the end it was an excellent, if preposterous, mover and a good thriller. I did hate the whole pregnant and ultra vulnerable wife angle though. But what else was Finder going to use, a dog? Have the guy be a single father like the book I’m reading now? Some things are just like writing on the wall and the presence of a preggo wife, darling child or beloved feline always means disaster for said object. I think it’s a rule. show less

ONE way or another, Dr Faustus has a lot to answer for — the pact he signed with the devil has had an enduring impact on literature.

The story of Everyman (aka Mr or Ms Average) meeting and in some way becoming beholden to an entity (often innocuous, even engaging, initially) who improves his life profoundly while at the same time staining his soul with evil is such a common literary device it is almost a cliché.

The concept of “good luck” being in finite supply, and for one person's good fortune to be balanced by another's tragedy, is also well worn. It was used to best effect in WW Jacob's short story, The Monkey's Paw.

The best example of the genre is arguably Christopher Fowler's Spanky, in which the somewhat feckless hero is show more duped and seduced by the irresistibly charming and attractive fallen angel-type spirit, known as Spanky. However, Spanky is undeniably supernatural, and obviously a fellow traveller of Faustus's Mephistopheles.

But writers such as Joseph Finder tell an entirely probable and believable story in which Mr Average, on the highway to nowhere, has his life turned around by some all-too-human Deus Ex Machina who he has not only befriended, but championed.

The thing about Mr Average (in Killer Instinct he is called Jason Steadman) is that he is entirely normal, the kind of person created by statistics.

Basically decent and well-meaning, he is somewhat lily-livered, with a conveniently flexible conscience: self-examination and introspection are not his strong points; he prefers to go with the flow, gladly accepting plaudits but tending to reject blame.

Typically, he is someone with whom readers will sympathise and to whom they will relate — but always with just an edge of superiority. Sorry for you, Steadman, you're a nice fellow but we would work a bit harder and smarter, be less naïve, and be unlikely to make your mistakes.

Steadman's generosity and good nature lead to his first few mistakes, but once he has allowed former Special Forces officer Kurt Semko into his life, his ambition allows his conscience to turn a blind eye as Semko facilitates his career advancement.

By the time Steadman realises his promotions are due to more than innate talent, hard work and good luck, it's too late — he has been dragged under and compromised by Semko, who is ruthless in upholding the obligations of friendship, but implacably deadly in enmity.

With his family, his future and his very life at stake, Steadman goes up against a clever, cold and calculating killer — who holds a grudge against him as well.

Fortunately for our hero, no matter how uneven the odds appear to be, this genre usually has some sort of escape clause.

Just as Faustus was spared eternal damnation because of his true and unselfish love for Marguerite, today's Faustian hero usually manages to escape what some might consider his just desserts. show less

This was an ok novel with a semi interesting plot but I think what ruined it mostly for me was his writing style. He really seemed to be trying to drop as many brand names as possible, and also overloading the book with way too much information, that was not central to the plot, or more likely not even central to the paragraph it was found in.
Overall, a very underwhelming attempt at what could have been a good story. I don't think I will be picking up any more of his books.

3.5 / 5

Killer Instinct se publicó en el 2006 y ganó dicho premio en el 2007. Debutó en el lugar número 13 en la lista de Bestsellers de The New York Times compitiendo con novelas como The Da Vinci Code.

Es una novela de amistades peligrosas, ambición y el precio del éxito.

Joseph Finder sabe tejer una historia intrigante de principio a fin. Desde la presentación de personajes hasta los diálogos y la sucesión de eventos que desencadenan un desenlace que te mantendrá al borde de tu asiento.

Killer Instinct es una novela memorable, tiene escenas que se traducirían perfectamente a la pantalla grande. Me sorprende que aún no exista adaptación.

Es el segundo libro de Joseph Finder que leo, -seguido de Guilty Minds- y no tengo dudas show more de que no será el último.

Tengo "Vanished", "Paranoia" y " The Fixer" en la mira. show less

The thrills in this book build slowly but then explode with a bang, just like the friendship between Jason and Kurt. Kurt helps Jason out when his car needs a tow and Jason takes note that Kurt, with his army special forces training, seems to have the kind of athletic prowess and assertive personality that Jason is lacking but could really use. Jason is a businessman for an electronics company and as he gets to know Kurt he finds that several of Kurt's special forces skills could be useful to him in the cutthroat world of business. He gets Kurt a job as a security officer at his firm and Kurt helps him out with a couple of things and at first Jason really appreciates all the help Kurt has given him. But then he becomes suspicious of show more some disturbing things going on around the office and he begins to wonder, just how 'safe' is Kurt anyway?
The way this builds to a highly dangerous situation for Jason was wonderful. The scenario of someone you take a liking to at first and invite into your life suddenly surprising you was truly chilling. Fans of thrills and chills and truly creepy bad guys should give this one a read or a listen. show less

I really enjoyed this book. The hero's mid-life crisis consists of his embracing and acting upon corporate ambition. Is this like a big corporation? The author never really says how Kurt and Jason met, other than by chance. Good suspense that kept me coming back.

This mass market thriller holds your attention. The twist is that the hero's mid-life crisis consists of his embracing and acting upon corporate ambition, rather than fleeing it. So you are taken inside the executive suite of a SONY-like company. Abetting the hero is his personal soldier of fortune, a shady, ex-Special Forces warrior who has fought bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan. He enables our hero to rise in the ranks, but there's always a price to pay, and in this case it could be the executive's life.