Customer Reviews

The Answer Man

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2 star:		(1)
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Roy Johansen's "The Answer Man" is a story that grabs your attention and holds you captive until the very end! The characters are well thought-out and deveolped, with very interesting backgrounds. Just when you think you know where the plot will take you next, BAM!, Mr. Johansen takes you in a totally different direction! I love that in a story! I want to read more, especially about Hound Dog's interesting hobby. Maybe a sequel???

I've been reading all of this year's Anthony and Shamus Award nominees, and "The Answer Man" is one of my most pleasant discoveries in the bunch. There's suspense, humor and clever plot twists, plus some very involving moments concerning a man's efforts to beat a polygraph. The characters were people I enjoyed spending time with, which is one of my main requirements for a good novel. Highly recommended!

THE ANSWER MAN is a lie detector operator who administers the test and interprets the results. Ken Parker hates his job because he knows his findings can ruin lives. Being broke with high medical bills caused by his brother's illness leaves Ken with no choice, but to continue with his present job. When a defense attorney offers Ken $50,000 to teach her client how to cheat on the test, he accepts.

Vickers Industry accuses their former employee Ms. Saboni of embezzling $12 million from the firm. He swears he never took any money and Ken insures she "passes" the test. However, he only collects $10,000 and decides to collect the rest plus interest from the missing money. Ken soon finds himself in an avaricious world where one misstep could lead to death.

THE ANSWER MAN carefully scrutinizes corporate espionage and its impact on a wide range of individuals, which provides readers a lucid look into white-collar crime. The engaging Ken is a decent person, struggling between personal ethics and pending bankruptcy. The audience will want more appearances from this likable antihero.

Harriet Klausner

In his debut novel, "The Answer Man", Roy Johansen packs a double punch with very likeable characters and an intriguing, fast-paced story line. Set in Atlanta, the book offers Atlantans and non-Atlantans an interesting peek into the South's emerging international city.

The anti-hero here is one Ken Parker. Down on his luck and drowning in debt, he is faced with the ethical dilemma of using his knowledge as a polygraph examiner to help a suspected embezzler,Burton Sabini, "beat the machine". Parker's participation lands him in the middle of mayhem, money, murder and Myth Daniels. The book has an intricate story line, engaging characters and for Native Atlantans, the "hometown" references add a very personal touch.

A must read for all thriller fans!

I suppose that a cool, rational look at the plot "The Answer Man" would show that it all very, very unlikely -- but who reads suspense thrillers for cool, rational analysis? This is definitely a book that keeps you turning the pages and which provides plenty of surprises. Almost nobody does what you expect him or her to do, and a lesson quickly learned is to trust no one. In fact, any character in this book must live by the rule that a little paranoia is a good thing, and a lot of paranoia is even better.

Roy Johansen's mystery/thriller THE ANSWER MAN is a feast of quirky characters careening through the life of Ken Parker, a lie detector operator who is unwittingly drawn into a criminal conspiracy involving industrial espionage, embezzlement, and murder. Parker, called an "answer man" in the parlance of the lie detector trade, performs a death-defying tight wire act, balancing precariously between shady characters who are attempting to kill him and Atlanta police detectives who are trying to pin two seemingly unrelated murders on Parker. The novel is peopled with deftly drawn characters as diverse as Hound Dog, a "scanner geek" who nightly zips about town on a Harley, photographing grisly crime scenes, or Myth Daniels, the goddess-like attorney, who alternately seduces Parker and involves him in a scheme to assist her client in beating a lie detector test. The breathless cadence of events, combined with multiple plot twists, ethical questions, and the charm of the Atlanta setting, make THE ANSWER MAN engaging reading on a variety of levels. Johansen's career as an Edgar-awardwinning screenwriter has equipped him to produce vivid prose which enables the reader to "see" scene, character, and action, rather than merely read text. THE ANSWER MAN firmly establishes Roy Johansen as an author with a successful future in the world of suspense novelists.

This is a thriller based on a protagonist who works as a polygraph technician. I listened to this on audio - the narrator, George Wilson (good ol' Mr. Wilson?) got me through it, but I have to say the book itself is unremarkable in the extreme. I see some characters that have been fleshed to about the one paragraph level; a plot-line of unlikely events, and a very unsatisfying finale bundled together with the thinnest of prose string. The characters never came to life for me, and thus I never really cared about them. The most inventive and likeable character was a side-line, and most of the others were cookie-cut from your standard, run-of-the-mill thriller. (Does that make this "Run-of-the-Thrill" read? (heh))The jaded, slightly overweight PI, the greedy out-of-control businessman, ex wife, attractive power-hungry lawyer - and you know what? None of them stayed in character well enough to build any sort of rapport with the reader. They don't react like real people, the actions of police, characters, FBI, and even the criminals seem to build one way, then lunge in all sorts of others haphazardly. No resolution for the protagonist...not really. Other reviewers tout this as cinematic, but I dont' see that at all. Many of the action scenes are implausible and don't even work when thought out carefully - this would make a lousy movie as written. I doubt I'll pick up another Johansen novel unless there is absolutely nothing else available.

I couldn't put this fascinating thriller down -- it has an amazing premise, a likable hero, ingenious plotting, and breathtaking suspense. The scenes in which a man is taught to beat the polygraph are among the best and most riveting passages I've read in years. I loved almost all of the characters in this book (even the supporting ones), and I hope Johansen manages to bring them all back for a sequel. This is a great suspense novel!

I have to admit I was originally drawn to this book by the Atlanta setting. But by the end of the first chapter, I was hooked! This book has it all: engaging characters (my favorite is a scanner geek named "Hot Dog"), an intricate plot and a unique hook into the detective genre (a polygraph examiner). Mr. Johansen has fashioned an ingenious freshman effort, which leaves the reader begging for its follow-up.

I have to admit I was originally drawn to this book by the Atlanta setting. But by the end of the first chapter, I was hooked! This book has it all: engaging characters (my favorite is a scanner geek named "Hot Dog"), an intricate plot and a unique hook into the detective genre (a polygraph examiner). Mr. Johansen has fashioned an ingenious freshman effort, which leaves the reader begging for its follow-up.