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Overview
Bob King is a self-made billionaire who parlayed a rusty backhoe into the 27th spot on Forbes list. Now, his corporation is a multi-billion dollar construction company that instills greed and competition among friends, including his son Scott and his two best friends, Thane and Ben. But instead of handing over the companys crown, Bob reveals a massive public offering that will make him CEO for life. Thanes wife, Jessica, is furious and goads him into a conspiracy to kill Bob. When the board of directors makes Thane CEO, Ben investigates the truthand Thane realizes that he can only be safe if his old friend is also dead.Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Self-made billionaire Bob King can't fathom the meaning of the word "retirement." Though a trio of heir apparents are waiting hopefully in the wings, he devises a plan to make himself CEO for life. In this case, a very short life: For one of his associates, Bob's latest selfish act seals his doom. But this "remedial murder" is only the first step of treachery....Kirkus Reviews
An ambitious soccer mom drives her husband to murder. When Jessica Coder was a child, her mother held Jessica's hand to a red-hot stove burner. Years later, Jessica lost her first child when her husband Thane's business associate, James King, refused help that could have saved the boy's life. Now Jessica seeks revenge. She prods her sappy husband to shaft King in a business deal that will make them rich enough to turn their upstate New York home into a palace and send them jetting all over the world. So what if Thane has to consort with the Mafia, deceive the FBI and murder three men? He suffers an occasional crisis of conscience, even spotting King's (read Banquo's) ghost a couple of times. But his wife's passionate whispers keep him going. "You eat or you get eaten," Thane admits to a prison psychiatrist in one of several scenes that dminish the suspense factor by revealing early on that Thane and Jessica are doomed. Alas, convicted killer Thane gives readers little to pull for, as does wife Jessica, a ludicrous and nearly laughable Lady Macbeth from Skineatles who pops pills, hides from mirrors and comes on to a repellant Mafioso. Green (Exact Revenge, 2005) thus leaves himself with only the chase to engage readers. Jessica's scheme, intricate enough, gives Thane the daunting task of pitting the FBI against the mob against King's business enterprise, which is involved in building a New Jersey shopping center to rival the Mall of America. All of this plays out in some fairly supple action scenes. Nevertheless, the book possesses a been-there escaped-that quality, as when Thane, headed home in his truck during a lightning storm, floors it to ditch some FBI agents. This pot never quiteboils.Book Details
Published
April 12, 2006
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN
9780759515284