Customer Reviews

The Boss: A Novel

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Stan Pottinger never disappoints. His books are infused with a realism that makes them larger than fiction, a rare quality that belies the fact that THE BOSS, his latest novel, is only his fourth. In many ways it is also his best.

THE BOSS is set within the oil industry, arguably the most important element of our modern world. Spin Patterson runs Gulf-Tex Oil, a company that he inherited from his father-in-law and has transformed into a major oil industry player with a combination of brains, cunning and unscrupulousness. Max McLennon, a second-generation employee at Gulf-Tex, is Patterson's protégé and almost his greatest admirer. McLennon is staking everything and everyone on the development of Black Eyes, a tool that has the potential to transform the world by giving oil companies the ability to detect oil far below the earth's surface rather than engaging in the costly and often futile practice of drilling where they think oil may be had.

Patterson is a high roller with nerves of steel and a ruthless drive who will roll over anything or anyone that gets in his way. McLennon is the opposite of Patterson, an upright individual who can sympathize with the working man but who has the tendency to freeze under pressure. The presence of Tacoma Reed, the intelligent and exotic legal for Gulf-Tex, complicates matters for both men, as Patterson attempts to beat the odds and revitalize Gulf-Tex from a major setback --- even as his actions may result in the sacrifice of everything and everyone he holds dear.

Meanwhile, McLennon is given the opportunity to make things right for the people Patterson has damaged. It soon becomes clear though that he is playing a high-stakes game for which he is outclassed. Help arrives at the last moment from two unexpected sources, but it may be too late --- even as THE BOSS races toward an exciting and explosive conclusion.

Pottinger could have phoned in a tale of greed and corruption that would have played well with the masses and conformed to the popular, if simplistic, worldview of the oil industry. Instead, he has chosen at least in part to put a human face on a difficult enterprise. Yes, there are billions of dollars to be made in the oil industry, but there are also billions upon billions of dollars to be lost. The process of finding oil is extremely difficult; extracting it is all the more so. It is a dangerous and dirty business, the essence of which Pottinger captures well on all levels, explaining complicated concepts in an understandable manner without dumbing them down. I submit that one will not be able to read THE BOSS without thinking of the book the next time one fills up the tank.

Pottinger also does a magnificent job with characterization here. Patterson and McLennon are excellent protagonists. Though flawed in different ways, they are believable, each having detracting and sympathetic traits that ultimately result in a highly ironic ending for both.

THE BOSS is as readable a work as any that you'll encounter this year.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The Boss is a great fast paced novel and with short chapters and great characters you'll finish it in no time at all. In The Boss as a child Max McLennon watches a terrible accident which takes the life of his father on a Gulf-Tex oil rig. Luckily his father's friend Spin took him under his wing and has raised Max as his son. Max is now Spin's right-hand man and is in Max's eyes the best employer anyone could ever have. The image of Spin as the perfect boss and man starts to be eroded when Max finds out Spin has cheated on his wife with Tacoma the woman Max has been in love with since his first year at university. But this is only the first of many secrets Max will discover about his idol while at the same time Gulf-Tex's revolutionary new technology is turning out to be not what it was promised to be and the company's oil reserves have been dramatically overstated.

This thriller of outwitting, survival and taking risks is a must read. If you like this kind of novel also check out The Money Makers by Harry Bingham. Stan Pottinger's novel The Last Nazi is also a great read as well.

In Houston, not even forty years old, Jack "Spin" Patterson has worked his way up the ladder of success leaving behind many a corpse as he reaches the acme of Gulf-Tex Oil, the company he inherited from his late father-in-law. This expert at exploiting others is affluent with money, power, and women. Spin also has a past that now that he is part of the Texas in crowd her prefers hidden. However, his empire teeters when his wife Audrey has had it with his neglect at his best or scorn as his norm; she not only plans to divorce him, but threatens his seat as THE BOSS.

Oil runs in Max McLennon's veins though he knows the down side as his father died by a rig and his brother is disfigured. He worships his hero Spin until he begins to observe the dark side that would allow Gulf-Tex Oil employees and stockholders to lose everything just because his former idol has become too big for his britches as he refuses to negotiate with Audrey. Max decides to spin a different ending for the amoral Patterson because now he knows Jack.

Readers will see the obvious connections to the TV show Dallas as THE BOSS is a spicy Texas thriller that in some ways satires the Hagman drama by lampooning the "bigness" belief of elite natives. Spin steals the show with his supersize ego that enables him not only to step on people including his wife and to a lesser degree his mistress Tacoma Reed, but also allows him to believe he never makes mistakes as he is above human frailty. Max becomes his adversary as the statue falls from pedestal. Stanley Pottinger provides a fascinating look at the biggest of the big Texans.

Harriet Klausner

I had not come across this author before, so I was intrigued when a friend who has put me onto other good reads suggested this one. His advice was excellent and I expect that I will now have to go back and read some of Pottinger's other efforts as well.

This novel has most of the ingredients for a good pot boiler,i.e., big oil, big money, scheming, sex, intrigue, ironic twists, sex (did I already mention that?) and revenge. Lots of revenge.

The characters live Texas large and the story rolls along at a fasten your seatbelt pace, all of which makes for a fine winter read if you are watching the snow pile up outside your windows or a good beach read if you have had the good sense to spend some time in a warmer climate.

This one is fun.

I have never been disappointed with any of Stan Pottinger's previous novels. You always get a good, engrossing story. This is one of those.

The protagonists seemed real as they wound there way through this suspenseful and entertaining novel. I very much look forward to his next novel.

Max McLennon is part of billionaire Spin Patterson's inner circle. The oil business is in Max's blood, and he has stood by Spin throughout the development of a promising new technology. "Black Eyes" will change the world--if Spin's teams can get it to work.

Tragedy strikes just before the demonstration critical to Black Eyes' success. The lead genius on the project dies at sea, and the prototype goes down with him. Now Spin's corporation is certain to fold, which will destroy the hundreds of employees depending on its success for their survival.

Max's loyalties are torn between Spin, the woman both men love, and the everyday people who made the corporation work. Nothing is what it seems to be, and Max will be forced to make horrendous decisions that could cost lives.

Pottinger offers another suspenseful adventure in the tradition of cautionary tales. Larger than life characters pepper the pages with unexpected twists that keep readers guessing. Pottinger's diligent research adds credibility to an intoxicating plot, immersing the reader in the big-business world of oil exploration.

Suspense fans will find a great deal to enjoy about this novel. Be sure to set aside a few hours of free time, because once you start reading, you won't want to stop. Long live THE BOSS!

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer

11/20/2006

4½-BOOKS for WUAT; 5-Stars on Amazon