Customer Reviews

Evil, Inc.

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

 

 

EVIL INC. is a decent corporate thriller that reads like a combination of Joseph Finder and James Patterson. Author Glenn Kaplan is clearly having some fun here, satirizing the excesses of amoral CEOs, and how far they're willing to go to advance their careers.

If you like your plots realistic and your characters three dimensional, you will probably be disappointed by EVIL INC, which is filled with cartoonish characters and unbelievable concidences. However, if you enjoy thrillers that brim with dark humor and satire, this novel may be worth a try. I thought it was a fun read overall, and found this book more enjoyable than the last couple of James Patterson novels I've read.

If you enjoyed EVIL INC, I heartily recommend the work of Joseph Finder, who is the master of this type of book.

Evil Inc has an interesting plot, albeit not a very realistic one. The book is fiction though so that's not a huge factor but what the book really misses is characters you care about. I really couldn't have cared less about Ken Olsen, even less so for his ungrateful for her life of luxury annoying meddling in his career wife Sandy, who gets her comeuppance (unfortunately so does their innocent baby). The villains, major and minor were a bit too cartoonish for my liking and like Olsen I didn't feel any emotion, hatred, hoping they'll get what they deserve or anything else. Evil Inc also misses that can't put down factor, that the leading novels in this genre have.

If you love the business thriller genre you have to check out Harry Bingham's masterpiece The Money Makers. Being Alexander by Nancy Sparling, The Boss by Stan Pottinger, CEO by Peter Ralph (not on Amazon at time of review) and Company Man as well as a lot of other work by Joseph Finder are absolute must reads. If you've ever thought about sending your resume in to a job advertisement in the paper, read Donald E Westlake's classic The Ax first!

For pure fun entertainment in the corporate world give Syrup or Company: A Novel by Max Barry a look as well as The beauty of truth by Bruno Bouchet.

All the above are better than Evil Inc. But if you're really interested in what the basic plot of this novel is - Ken Olsen becomes the youngest person to be promoted to a high paying position in Ayvil Plastics. The man responsible for him being there, Pennigton is also young and ruthless and the two of them are much hated by their long time company serving colleagues and managers. There are many who will do whatever it takes to embarrass and bring them both down. Soon a ruthless plan is put into play that is more evil than anyone could have ever imagined. Ayvil Plastics loses pretty much every employee's life in an act of pure evil. Ken loses more than just colleagues as his wife and kid were in the building's daycare centre at the time. It soon becomes apparent that Ken transferred money to certain people while in charge, only Ken knows he didn't. Ken could just go quietly and restart his life elsewhere, but he has no intention of doing this, Ayvil Inc has just given him in his severance package, the financial resources to spend his time finding out who killed his family and colleagues and he intends to do just that!

This book won't get any awards, or ever be used as a model for good writing, but it sure is fun! Like Joseph Finder's recent slate of bestsellers, Evil Inc. is set in the business world. The chapters are short, the dialogue is kitschy, the danger is minimal, but the book is lots of fun. You'll rip through the brief chapters and be glad you wasted a few hours with this ludicrous yet entertaining book.

Glenn Kaplan, a former ad agency creative director who has worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies, turns his eye to illicit backroom dealings in his second novel. There's a lot of hype surrounding this book, with blurbs from New York Times #1 best-selling authors such as Janet Evanovich and James Patterson. It's also no secret that Kaplan is in charge of branding and advertising as the creative director of Barnes & Noble. So he's a smart, well-connected guy--but can he write?

Yes. The book delivers as an imaginative thriller that's just a tad bit implausible. But that's the point of the corporate thriller genre--the best corporate thrillers are usually non-fiction exposes, so Kaplan has to up the ante to stay one step "ahead of the headlines," as Patterson praises--or, as Kaplan said in a Q&A, "Reality consistently trumps fiction."

The book's pace drags when the action slows (one page consists entirely of a character trying to get through to a cellphone--it rings, it goes to voicemail, he tries it again, it goes to voicemail, etc etc.). The writing itself could be a bit tighter as well--adverbs are used quite liberally, but that's more a convention of modern mysteries and popular fiction rather than an affliction pertaining solely to "Evil Inc."

For fans of the web comic of the same name, please note that this book is unrelated to the comic series that was nominated for the 2007 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in the category of Outstanding Superhero / Action Comic.

This was the first corporate thriller/book I've read in a long time. It did not disappoint and kept me hooked until after midnight when the last page was read.

Premise is: Nice guy gets sucked up into powerful position and money, but it is a facade. He is really the scapegoat for higher powers. Guy's beautiful wife and adorable daughter die in an explosion that kills 1,000 people at his place of business.

The rest of the book is about how he goes after the people responsible with some very interesting characters assembled. Seemingly nice types but with hearts of stone who take down anyone in their path to wealth and power.

Short chapters, murder, conspiracy, excitement, people you love and people you love to hate. All this makes for a trip through the boardrooms that is exciting and fun. Everyone gets what they deserve -- good and bad -- I liked it.

Glenn Kaplan's Evil Inc. clearly takes a lot from the work of James Patterson. Quick chapters, cliffhangers etc. Sadly, it also brings the silliness and clunky writing from Patterson's style as well.

Evil Inc. is a mystery/revenge plotter featuring an entertainingly evil trio of bad guys. Out to stop them is Ken Olson, he of a dead wife and kid and Phil, his brother in law. Apparently our duo of boardroom bad guys were able to ascend the ranks of the business world by killing and shaming their competition. No one seems to notice this until the very end.

The writing is a bit clunky and relies on bows that are too neat and coincidence. Lots of people get "high-fives" at the ends of chapters and several sex scenes sound like the fantasies of fifteen year old boys, with a style of writing to match. One piece of anatomy is referred to as "her messy oblivion" for example. On the coincidence side, it is lucky that a prostitute that met the bad guy happens to be at a hotel at the moment Phil is, and also happens to be a former bank worker with several inside people! How nice!

Faults aside, it is a quick read and entertaining as long as you don't think about it too hard. You know how it will play out long before the end, but cest la vie, there are worse ways to spend a plane ride.

Ken Olson is riding a career with Ayvil Plastics. Tom Pennington a rising star at the company has promoted Ken to a divisional director at the Dayton division. A South African mercenary named Peter Houghton goes
to the Dayton company and sets off an explosion and kills 1,000 people. Among those killed are Olson's wife and daughter who are at the company datcare center.The blame for the sabotage falls upon the CEO Arch Paulson. he commits
suicide and Tom Pennington becomes the new CEO. He promptly changes the
name of the company to Humanifit and become a rising star in the world of business. Ken Olson if fired from the company on false charges. He believes that the late CEO Arch Paulson was falsely accused. He begins an
investigation trying to dodge the likes of Tom Pennington, board member
Justin Hildreth, and the evil mercenary Peter Houghton(Grant DeWaal).This
group comes at him through every facet of his life. He is always in danger. This turns into an exciting turn of events. This is a very good book that you should read.Don't miss it.

This is the first time I've read a corporate thriller, but if Evil Inc. is any indication of the genre, it won't be the last. The story itself is deftly plotted and nicely paced, the characters are well drawn and believeable. In an era marked by ever more lavish executive compensation, and entrenched corruption, a world where bald lies masquerade as truth in a quest for power, Evil Inc. is all too plausble. Read about it in fictional form before you read about it on the front page of the Wall Street journal.

I rec'd the book via someone just left it on a park bench and I picked it up. So it came to me free and that's good because I am glad I didn't pay for it, it wasn't all that good. I just don't understand what happened to some of the characters, like his girl roommate and who she was working for. I assume she died, and Ken wasn't even remorseful that she died and where she was. I also want to know was Ted Decker a bad guy or a good guy. So I didn't think it got wrapped up as well as it should have been. I don't think his wife was ungrateful at all for the lavish lifestyle he presented. She wanted him out of it and he wouldn't listen. I just wanted some closure with some of the characters.

For people who think that behind the civilized veneer of big business lies a world of cutthroat competition, this book is a great read--a fast-paced thriller that also raises questions about just how far executives will go to get to the corner suite. I recommend it highly.