Another Book Review

Finder is a "Power Player"

I'll start off by saying, "Yes, I'm a Finder fan and have been since I read High Crimes." I honestly think he's one of the best thriller authors out there and the reason is simply this....Finder never disappoints his readers. In the world of mystery/thriller authors, they can all take lessons from this master of the ultimate roller coaster ride.

With that said, I'm so glad he switched his emphasis from spy novels to corporate espionage. Set amid the steel and glass towers of corporate America, Power Play introduces us to some of the workings that go on inside these buildings, where the wheelers and dealers are nothing more than pawns in a game that some might call "Risk" while others might call "Jeopardy". Finder has his cast of characters leave the comforts of their magnificent offices and travel to the exact opposite end of the spectrum as they embark on a retreat to an isolated and remote lodge. This is a world where cell phones and the Internet are taboo....but where "Deliverance" will be found at the hands of some random hunters.

But the question is....how random are they? This is the one and only mistake in this book. Right on the jacket cover it tells what happens once these executives make themselves comfortable in this lodge. I would have much preferred to have been surprised at the outcome or should I say "shocked" by the outcome because that's what I would have been had it not told me what was going to happen after they arrived. I realize that jacket covers sell books but I feel the publisher does the reader an injustice by laying it out there before one word is even read.

One thing Finder is great at is delivering an unforgettable character to his readers. They always have great names and they're always tough guys down to the core. In this offering, our hero is Jake Landry, who almost reluctantly understands the inner workings of the company almost as much as he does the engineering of the airplanes they build. At Hammond Aerospace, other employees might consider him an underling yet CEO Cheryl Tobin invites him to participate in this corporate weekend raising the eyebrows of the other executives at the top of the ladder. It's here where the men will be separated from the boys. Little do they know how happy they'll be that Landry is with them when the hunters arrive and the mayhem ensues.

One thing is for sure -- I'll never tire of anything Joe Finder puts his pen to. He's in a class all his own and it's so well deserved. Like his main characters, he's surely one of the good guys in this world of "authordom".....a definite "Power Player."