Company Man

A Novel

By: Joseph Finder

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Joseph Finder's New York Times best seller Paranoia was hailed by critics as "jet-propelled," the "Page Turner of the Year," and "the archetype of the thriller in its contemporary form."

Now Finder returns with Company Man - a heart-stopping thriller about ambition, betrayal, and the price of secrets.

Nick Conover, the son of a factory worker, is the CEO of a major corporation in a company town. Nick, once the most admired man in Fenwick, Michigan, is now, having presided over massive layoffs, the most despised. A single parent since the recent death of his wife, he's struggling to insulate his 10-year-old daughter and angry 16-year-old son from the town's hostility.

When his family is threatened by a nameless stalker, events spin quickly out of control and Nick is faced with a dead body and damning circumstances. To protect his family, he must cover up the homicide with the help of his old friend and corporate security director.

Now Audrey Rhimes, a police investigator with an agenda of her own, is determined to connect Nick to the homicide. In the meantime, Nick begins to unravel a web of intrigue within his own corporation, involving his closest colleagues, that threatens to gut the company and bring him down with it. With everything he spent his life working for hanging in the balance, Nick Conover discovers that life at the top is just one small step away from a long plunge to the bottom.

©2005 Joseph Finder (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"A frightfully good suspense thriller." (Booklist)
"Mr. Finder's Company Man confirms what his Paranoia made clear: he has unusually keen instincts for back-stabbing in the business world. And somehow or other, exotica about the workings of a company that manufactures office furniture become unnaturally interesting here." (The New York Times)

Disappointing

I’m not the most cleaver reader. I usually can’t predict the plot of a thriller and love twists and turns. This was the worst thriller I have ever read. It was like watching a bad made-for-TV movie during a writer’s strike. After all of the main characters were reveled I had the rest of the book plotted out to the end. I thought there would be something to impress me in the end, but it was so predictable that I was completely let down.

Couldn't listen to it!

I found this to be one of the worst books that I have gotten from Audible. I really enjoyed the first two books from Joseph Finder, but this one NOT at all.

Flatlined!!!

I loved Joseph Finders last book and really looked forward to this one! (I managed to save a book credit for three whole weeks until the release date finally arrived.) I got through the first four and a half hours before finally raising the white flag and blowing 'the last post.' This book just seemed to 'idle along' until finally my interest ultimately 'flatlined.' I briefly adopted the idea of hiring my own 'sleuth' to track down the nail biting suspense I'd heard so much about but then I do hate throwing good money after bad!

Ridiculous

It is unfortunate this one turned out so bad, because Finder is such a good writer!!

All of the basic foundation story points of this book are simply ridiculous.

The "intelligent" characters do every possible DUMB thing you can think of - simply create a story.... and I don't me dumb, I mean DUMBER THAN DUMB.

If you can TOTALLY suspend reality, you may enjoy it because Finder is a good writer. All Finder stories require a little bit of reality suspension, but this one requires you to sever the brain stem.

To heap on the misery, the narrator, Scott Brick, BUTCHERS another one. I simply don't understand why this guy is a popular reader!

Scott Brick butchers every witty line in any book he narrates - by saying it angrily. He is overdramatic and sounds like a cheesy B-Actor!!

Overall: Story, Believability, and Narration = TERRIBLE // Writing style = good // Ability to weave some entertainment out of a mess is the only reason I bumped it up to 2 stars

Here is how I rank the Finder books I have listened to:

Killer Instinct - His best, 5 stars highly recommended

Power Play - A few ridiculous points in the story board, but an entertaining story and listen overall, 4 stars

Paranoia - Ridiculous, but has far more redeeming qualities and effective suspense than Company Man, 3 stars

Unbelievably terrible

I very rarely do not finish an audiobook, but I quit at the halfway point of this awful novel. I like the narrator, Scott Brick, thus, I completely fault the novel itself.

The dialog, plot, and awkwardly forced expositions lead one to wonder whether the author lives in the real world. Every passage rang so hollowly, so unbelievably, that it was not possible to suspend disbelief and just try to get through the story for the sake of passing the time.

I have been disappointed in a few audiobooks I have downloaded from Audible. However, none of them comes close to disappointment that was "Company Man."

Save yourself. Download something from Nelson DeMille, James Lee Burke, Caleb Carr, Robert B. Parker, Michael Connelly . . . pretty much you name it. Just don't waste your money or a book credit on "Company Man."

Big disappointment

Zzzzzz....not much story drawn out waaaaay too long. Especially as plot twists (the few that were there) pretty predictable. Finder's other novels are much better.

not my company man....

Unnecessarily long and winding with an unrealistic plot and characters sketched out as stereotypes. Disappointing, to say the least.

My advice : stay away , there are much better thriller books out there!

Liked Paranoia, ...but this was awful

I really liked Paranoia and looked forward to another book by Finder. This, however proved to be an anticlimax. The plot is simplistic-- like the author have read a bunch of mediocre books and cut and pasted the story together. The characters are unbelievably bland and full of cliches. Every thought or action is drawn out and overdone. It seems like things are described at least three times- when they actually happen, when someone finds out what happened, and when he or she tells another character about what they found out. The 'twists' are transparent and predictable, you can not believe that the people did not see them coming. The strong language would not have bothered me had there been some purpose behind the words, but of course there was none.
All in all a bad investment. I went to the bookstore and checked out the end (no suprises) and saved myself the agony of having to listen to the entire book.

Way Overrated!!

I bought Paranoia and loved it and that book I highly recommend. This effort is nowhere close to that audiobook. Predictable yet improabable plot and boring to boot.

Foolish, amatuerish...not up to my expectations!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Absolutely not...predictable and completely unbelievable actions for the CEO of a major corporation.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Scott Brick?

Scott Brick did a good job...considering what he had to work with. He's a good "reader."

Any additional comments?

I've listened to all of Joseph Finders books available on Audible...thank goodness this was the last one I listened to or I would have thought his books not worth my time. The actions of the main character were foolish and unbelievable...and not in a GOOD way.