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)

Boring, terminally boring

I LOVED Paranoia--and a number of other Finder novels I have read. Company Man, on the other hand, is definitely NOT Paranoia.

While the character development is fair enough, the plot isn't sufficiently compelling for a 6 hour audiobook, much less a 12 hour one. In fact, the plot was dreadfully predictable from the very outset. Not one of Finder's better novels by any means.

ANOTHER GOOD ONE

A very good, entertaining read/listen... I enjoyed it very much, but the ending was a bit pradictable. I like all this writers book, and especially I enjoy his narrator, Scott Brick. This one I found to be not quite as good as "KILLER INSTINCT", which I enjoyed ALL the way till the end and wanted more ...

Absolutely worth it!
entertainment rating = 8/10,
intelligence rating = 7/10,
artistic rating = 5/10

Great Entertainment

I am amazed by the number of bad reviews on this book. I have 2 hr to go on this one and it is one of the best listens to date for me. If you liked Paranoia, you can't help but like this one. I was immediatly engaged and stayed that way through the entire book.
Highly recommended!!!

Enjoying another Joseph Finder Book

If you could sum up Company Man in three words, what would they be?

Worth listening to.

What other book might you compare Company Man to and why?

I can't think of any particulaar book to compare this book to, but I have purchased other thrillers that did not hold my attention as much as this one.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

I like the way Scott Brick speaks. He sounds more like he is actually performing a role, than simply reading a book like the some other narrators.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The main character draws sympathy throughout the book, but the mostly when he deals with raising his two children as a single dad.

Any additional comments?

I've listened to four of Joseph Finder's books, and I've enjoyed them all. I will most likely purchase another one.

Unique With Characters You Can Identify With

It is a great thriller involving a man I am sure most of us know. Well worth a credit. Finder is a great author.

Loved Paranoia... this is not of same cloth

I really enjoyed Paranoia, but this book is WAY too predictable and improbable. It was entertaining nonetheless, but a little long in places. Scott Brick is, as always, an excellent reader, but there are far better books available. I would recommend Nelson DeMille, Lincoln Child, Douglas Preston, Harlan Coben, and other authors as well as Paranoia by Joseph Finder before choosing Company Man.

Lots of 'Duh' Moments in Too Long a Tale

Taut and thrilling aren't words I'd use to describe Company Man, although Scott Brick's always entertaining narration can keep me going to the end through virtually anything. Mainly, I was often dumbstruck by how clueless Nick Conover, the main character was. I often found myself commenting out loud, 'Oh, come on, you can't be that stupid.' Nick's stupidity, was of course, necessary to keep the plot moving, but wasn't particularly believeable.

Overall, I found the characters in this one flat, and one dimensional. Its main virtue was length ---- its a time-filler, to be sure, and got me all the way from New York to Florida driving on one book.

this book was predictable. kand ends too neatly.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

yes more corporate intriugue. i think bad guys are more interesting. too bad it was not based on a mean selfis ceo.

If you’ve listened to books by Joseph Finder before, how does this one compare?

i have not. i thought it would be like a john grisham's novels but based on corporate life not a lawyer's life.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

good job by brick. he read very well

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no it would be a typical lifetime type melodrama.

Definitely entertaining

I just read Paranoia and was ready for another story that grabbed me and I wasn't disappointed. I think it may be a bit better than Paranoia. It probably isn't great literature, but one doesn't really care. It is good story telling and it is paced well. Scott Brick is an invisible narrator, meaning he conveys the book and the characters so well, I'm not aware of him at all. I'd like to dive into another Joseph Finder book immediately!

One of Finder's best

Together with High Crimes, I believe this is one of the best Finder's novels. There are very interesting aspects of the corporate world, the castle doctrine and "stand your ground" rules that compose the threads of this amazing history.