Customer Reviews

Commercial Break

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Keith Harmeyer and I went to high school together, but he was a theater guy and I was a wrestler. Funny thing: we both wound up in advertising, where I learned how to be theatrical and he learned how to wrestle. His novel is based loosely on his experiences in the grizzly adman world. The hero is a guy who's disgusted with the banality and meaninglessness of the ad biz, but has been there too long to abandon it. I can identify with that, as can most advets, but the book will appeal to anyone who ever wanted to escape from a soul-deadening job.

BUT YOU MUST ACT NOW! THIS OFFER WILL NOT LAST LONG AND SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED. AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE SYSTEM IS STANDING BY TO TAKE YOUR ORDER. BE THE FIRST PERSON ON YOUR BLOCK TO OWN KEITH HARMEYER'S COMMERCIAL BREAK. IT WILL BRIGHTEN YOUR TEETH AND IMPROVE YOUR SEXUAL PERFORMANCE. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED OR YOU CAN GIVE THE BOOK TO SOMEONE ELSE.

I finished "Commercial Break" last night and loved every minute of it! Loved Keith's breezy and clear writing style, humor, fun characters, engaging and exciting plot and the subject matter in general. I didn't see some of the plot twists coming, and as some of the other reviewers said, as clichéd as it sounds, it really IS a page turner that you can't put down. It's a quick read, and was truly the most enjoyable book I've read in a very long time.

"Commercial Break", like a great ad spot, gets you hooked from the very beginning, with no lulls in the action, and I so thoroughly enjoyed letting the story unfold as Keith wrote it, I wasn't even tempted to take a peek at the ending. :-D

Keith, what a wonderful gift for writing you have! I hope this is just the first of many more books to come--you definitely have a new fan here!

An incredibly witty and exciting read.... Great characters and relationship dynamics between them. I couldn't put the book down! Thanks for a smart and refreshing book... Awaiting a sequel!

"Page turner" is such a cliché, but it's absolutely an appropriate description in this case. On the surface it might sound like too much inside baseball with regard to the ad industry, but it's definitely not as the author keeps the perfect balance of local ad biz color and good old cinematic noir storytelling. The story clips along with humor and mystery and enough characters that are just crazy enough to be true. It really is a perfect read for the beach which is exactly where I started and finished it.

A funny, sardonic romp through the wilds of the advertising world. I couldn't put it down toward the end. Very satisfying! Would love to see it on film.

Commercial Break is an entertaining and fast paced read. The two main characters, best friends and business partners, are well drawn and likeable. Adam is a dissatisfied ad exec, going through a midlife crisis, who wants out of the business and out of his marriage. He is willing to resort to grand larceny and fraud to have a second chance at his dream life, to escape to a tropical paradise and write a novel. Carlo, the loveable Italian art director, enjoys his life and his job, but has commitment issues, and is willing to be Adam's partner in crime. Their friendship is well drawn and touching. There is an interesting cast of kooky, supporting players that make for some funny and surprising plot twists. Set in New York City, it gives us a look into what goes on behind the scenes in an ad agency while making an expensive commercial, and what can go wrong when the ad men are trying to steal millions from their clients. Very enjoyable. It would make a great movie.

Once I started reading I could not put the book down. The characters were diverse, interesting and well developed. Although the main characters devise an unorthodox and unethical scheme, I found myself hoping they would somehow prevail. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. Would like to see more by this author.

Great characters. A suspenseful plot (I had no idea how it would end till the final pages). A flawed protagonist I could really feel for. A "buddy" friendship that brought tears to my eyes. And some of the funniest moments I've ever read in a novel. Very simply put, Commercial Break is one terrific book. Read it!

Hi, I'm Keith Harmeyer. I've been an avid reader of caper writers, like Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, for many years. Their masterful combining of page-turner suspense and side-splitting humor, of sympathetic-but-flawed protagonists and often over-the-top antagonists and supporting characters have provided hundreds, if not thousands of hours of entertainment for me.

My hope is that COMMERCIAL BREAK does the same for you. The story was inspired by my more than 25 years experience in advertising and marketing communications. If you have ever watched an episode of Mad Men, you know how exciting and absurd that world can be. It's home to some of the greatest minds and most manipulative con men in history, and Adam Glassman, the protagonist of COMMERCIAL BREAK, is one of them.

I do hope you'll enjoy the book. If you do, or even if you don't, please let me know.

Best,
Keith Harmeyer

This is a must read for anybody. Even with no background in the advertising industry, I had no problem following the characters and plot lines. The gyrations that Adam & Carlo have to go through to carry out their plan is part hilarious, part nail biting and never boring or predictable. I hope we see more of these two great characters in future novels.