POWER PLAY is the explosive new novel from Joseph Finder, the CEO of the corporate thriller - reminiscent of the film DIE HARD, this novel is a breathless, near real-time action, high-stakes adventure that you won't want to stop reading.
Jake Landry is a junior executive at the Hammond Aerospace corporation - a steady, modest and taciturn man with a gift for keeping his head down, Jake also has a turbulent past that he would rather forget.
Ordered to fill in for his boss at the annual company retreat, Jake is out of his element, surrounded by the arrogant, swaggering men who run the company and his only distraction is the CEO's special assistant - his ex-girlfriend.
Then a group of local hunters crash the opening-night festivities. Soon the executives of the billion-dollar company are cut off from the rest of the world, trapped by men who have guns and a cunning plan to steal a vast fortune.
But the hostage-takers aren't who they appear to be, and neither is Jake Landry.
The only question is who is going to win the power play?
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'I've been a Joseph Finder fan for years, but Power Play takes his writing to a whole new level: great characters, a roller-coaster plot, and a hero you'll cheer for. I dare you to read the first page. You won't be able to stop'
- Tess Gerritsen
'If you haven't discovered Joseph Finder yet, you don't know what you're missing -- terrific writing, brilliant plotting, and suspense at its finest. Power Play moves like a bullet out of a gun'.
- Lee Child
'Power Play grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Joseph Finder is one of the best thriller writers around, and Power Play is his best yet'
- Harlan Coben
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POWER PLAY: The Origins of the Story
Each one of my novels has begun with the question, “What if?”
PARANOIA, for example, started with the idea, What if a corporation decided to use Cold War-style espionage tactics against a competitor? With KILLER INSTINCT, the question was, What if someone took those “business is war” slogans a little too seriously?
POWER PLAY, my eighth novel, started with the question, What if an entire corporate leadership structure were taken hostage?
It’s never happened -- but it could. I started talking to corporate security specialists. I started talking to people who know about something called kidnap & ransom (K&R) insurance. I started to imagine how this might happen, how it would play out, who would be involved and who would have the resources to cope with this kind of crisis
I had been a big fan of the TV series “24,” and was fascinated by the idea of an intense story unfolding over a very short period of time. I also wanted to explore the small-group dynamic of a “boys’ club” sort of environment. How would the macho posturing of a high-level boardroom transfer to a situation of true physical danger?
The executives in POWER PLAY run a global aerospace company, which was important even though we don’t spend much time within the corporation itself. I needed to set this story in a business that was global in scope, that dealt in mind-boggling sums of money, and that was still dominated by men. Aerospace gave me all of that, with the bonus of having products that are inherently fascinating. Who doesn’t love planes? They still seem like magic to me.
On my office wall is a sign that reads, “Surprise, reverse, or reveal.” So having set up this basic situation, I had to add elements that would surprise the reader, increase the conflict, create the thrills. It’s a group of high-level business executives? Get them out of the office and into the wild. It’s a male-dominated environment? Bring in a female CEO. They’re used to playing by the rules? Throw in a protagonist who doesn’t know what the rules are.
POWER PLAY is set at an off-site corporate retreat in a remote wilderness lodge. Jake Landry, a junior-level manager with a checkered past, winds up at the retreat as a last-minute replacement, and he’s way out of his league – the only other person he knows there is his ex-girlfriend, who happens to be executive assistant to the CEO. When men with guns invade the meeting and take the group hostage, Jake is the only one with the guts and the training to try to get a handle on the situation.
It’s non-stop action that takes place within a very short period of time. The stakes are high, the danger is real. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it
