The Job

Note: I made some Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books out to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews. Your "helpful" vote is greatly appreciated. Thanks A very short review is not necessarily a bad review. You don't want to re-tell the whole story. I try for the hook that will make a person want to read this book. In my opinion, you should read long reviews after you read the novel. Read a short review first. I don't want to give too much away, but when things go down hill for an major sales executive at computer magazine, things really go down hill--like a roller-coaster ride. Having read "The Big Picture," I'm beginning to wonder if Douglas Kennedy can write a bad novel. Both novels are up-in-the-night stories. I would start with "The Big Picture." Kennedy is a great discovery in the genera of crime fiction. Highly recommended. The Big Picture

It is always a pleasure to read a novel that is crafted so well, where the author's skill at story telling is so blatantly evident, that it literally immerses the reader into its world and will not let go until the last page is turned. The Job is an excellent tale about a Ned Allen, a magazine advertising salesman who loves the thrill of the deal, closing the sale is his ultimate adrenalin rush, and he's good at it. He's living the Manhattan dream: high fliers, exclusive restaurants, a downtown apartment and a beautiful wife. Ned is also a nice guy, generally an ethical man, which is a dangerous thing to be in a world of the "cut throat" deal. One could say that life is a series of choices, and the choice we make determine who we are in the end. Ned wants to do the right thing, he cares about his employees, but sometimes the pressures of the deal, and the stress of the moment can push one to make decisions that can turn one's life upside down. Ned is confronted with an ethical dilemma - he makes a decision, moving into that ethical `grey' area, that sets off a chain of circumstances which changes his ideal Manhattan life into a nightmare. Kennedy ensures we have great sympathy for Ned Allen. The mistakes he makes, his dubious ethical choices, most would agree are minor compared to some of the stories we hear about in the world of big business and high finance. But for some people it doesn't take much to topple our house of cards on simply a whim or seemingly insignificant choice. While some get away with murder or move through life stepping on people on a daily basis without a second thought of consequences, some of us can make one little mistake, and the world changes forever. Ned is that type of person that must follow his own values or pay the price. And, unfortunately, he pays the price. The job is a convincing piece of story telling, compelling in its content, a compulsive experience that wouldn't let go until it was finally finished in the dark early morning hours. A perfect weekend read that has prompted me to seek out further novels by Douglas Kennedy. A great performance.

"The Job" of course echoes John Grisham's "The Firm", as earlier reviewers have correctly pointed out, but I found Mr. Kennedy's book to be a shade darker and more sinister than the Grisham novel, and it is also a notch above Grisham's prose quality-wise.The main character, Ned Allen, comes across as very human and believable, even though the over-the-top ending spoiled a lot of that credibility for me. Ned stumbles through the twists and turns of the book, barely reacting to all the massive blows aimed at him (which does make the character so sympathetic), and suddenly, in the bleakest of moments, he comes up with the grand scheme and brings down a whole network of big-money thugs? Hmmm...Otherwise, "The Job" is a very exciting read, a novel that for once really deserves the phrase "hard to put down".

The book's pleasure is in that everything portrayed, good and bad,is depicted in such extremes. The authors depiction of the advertising sales world, and the job hunting world were very good. While I'm not trying to claim this book for great literature it is a fast, entertaining read, where the salesman gets to be a good guy (sort of). My only complaint is that the blurb on the back of the book I felt revealed too much story line.

Formulaic? Yes. Reminiscent of John Grisham? Sure. A real page turner? You betcha!!! "THE JOB", Douglas Kennedy's follow up to his terrific debut novel "THE BIG PICTURE", is a rollicking good read, and like his first book, deals with the Hitchcockian dilemma of a good man tripped up by fate. Ned Allen, an ad salesman for a successful computer magazine, seems to have it all---a beautiful wife, a Manhattan apartment. Then his company is sold, and he's fired. On the verge of losing everything, he takes what seems to be a job too good to be true, and discovers he has become a pawn in a dangerous game. Kennedy has an easy way with narrative, and sharp, witty dialogue that keeps you obsessively turning pages. His two books prove he's great at what he does, and I eagerly await his next book!!!