POWER PLAY
Joseph Finder
St. Martin's Press
Thriller
ISBN-10: 0312347480
ISBN-13: 9780312347482

• About the Book
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- August 24, 2007

POWER PLAY is somewhat of a different book for New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder. While some of his previous novels have taken place on a global playing field, almost all of POWER PLAY is set in a hunting lodge. The relatively small canvas on which this masterpiece is painted simply means that he wrings more thrills per square foot than any book released this year.

Setting notwithstanding, Finder’s trademark elements --- strong plotting, memorable characterization and exquisitely paced prose --- remain in place. And let’s not forget his penchant for taking unusual and obscure topics, explaining them coherently and integrating them into the bedrock of his storyline. Anyone who reads a Finder novel is more intelligent for the experience, and POWER PLAY is no exception. Prepare yourself to be educated about aircraft construction and financial institutions’ account security procedures --- and to want to learn more about these subjects upon completion of the book.

POWER PLAY centers on Hammond Aerospace Corporation, which isn’t as huge as Lockheed or Boeing but is still a player in the game. One of Hammond’s most significant game pieces is The SkyCruiser, and the company is on the verge of taking it to bigger and better places --- if nothing goes wrong. Its top officers take an offsite leadership retreat at a remote lodge on an island off of British Columbia for some team building and brainstorming. However, things go drastically wrong all too quickly when a mysterious gang of well-trained and extremely well-informed commandos takes the leadership team hostage. The price of freedom is the transfer of half a billion dollars from the Hammond corporate accounts into a secret offshore account. It appears that the executives are going to have to pony up, but then there’s the X-factor to consider: Jake Landry.

Landry is a junior executive with Hammond, and his presence at the retreat is happenstance. He is merely a substitute for his own superior and barely worthy of notice from the other heavy hitters --- at least initially. But Landry grew up hard and has a background that is, to put it mildly, a bit more equipped for handling the type of situation that the staff is now facing. Before the long night at the hunting lodge is over, the commando team will have to determine who is the captor and who is the captive. The answers will not come easily.

Finder always creates memorable characters, but he has outdone himself with Landry. A bit of a wise guy who is comfortable in his own skin, Landry is infused with a street sense that serves him well in dealing with both the shark-like executives from Hammond and the truly dangerous human carnivores who have invaded the retreat. Finder’s combination of plot and characterization gives POWER PLAY a readability quotient to the degree that it almost seems as if putting the book down at any point before finishing it is akin to a criminal act. This is a fabulous offering from an author who, unbelievably enough, may have his best work yet ahead of him.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.

Back to top.