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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
UGH!, April 22, 2006
What happened to Tim Green? I use to love all of his book until the last one and, of course, this one.
I agree with another reviewer who said that they could not like any of the lead characters in this story. I kept wanting to like the main lead, but he was written in such a nonchalant, I don't give a damn attitude, that I just could not get there. I actually did not care what happened to him and his precious wife.
The story was boring and kept being entertwined between the past and the present in which our main character is talking to a shrink.
Also, I realize this is a thriller, but the gruesome descriptions of killing of animals was not really necessary.
Overall, this book was a little gross and a lot boring.
On the positive side, I just took a look at the photo of the author and he is "hot". So, I should have just looked at the picture and insted of read the book.
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17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'm wondering if some of the other reviewers read the same book I did, April 10, 2006
First of all, contrary to the Editorial Review and the other member's review mentioning character names, there's no character in the book (at least my copy) named Bob King. The father who built the business over which the characters struggle is James King, and his son is Scott King. Not a single Bob in sight anywhere.
That having been cleared up, I was pretty disappointed in this book. I've enjoyed Green's work in the past, but this was a failure, primarily in one area.
Yes, the plot worked. Yes, Green has an accomplished style, and is very craftsman-like in his delivery.
The problem is I hated the lead character, Thane Coder. An earlier reviewer likened this novel to Macbeth, and there are similarities, though not to the same extent as Green's last book (Exact Revenge) was an update of The Count of Monte Cristo. But we do have a lead character (Coder) who is weak, bullying, self-involved, greedy, obsessed, with no sense of personal values, who allows others to easily manipulate him into committing multiple murders. Just the kind of guy you want to have over for dinner. And his wife is orders of magnitude worse than he is.
And these are the lead characters of the piece!
Which is exactly why I didn't like this book. For a book to be enjoyable to me, I must be able to like, or at least understand, the protagonist on some level. I despised Coder, and thought he got off way too easy in the end - in my opinion, he should have been flayed, hung, and shot.
Well, there you have it. Caveat emptor.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exquisitely written and suspenseful loose modernization of Macbeth, May 11, 2006
I sacrificed --- quite willingly --- a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon on the altar of KINGDOM COME, Tim Green's latest and perhaps penultimate novel. Green has always been a competent and constantly improving wordsmith, but nothing he has done before has foreshadowed the addictive readability of this work.
The plot is a loose modernization of MACBETH, a fact that Green reveals early on with an introductory quote from that work as well as the name of his primary character. Thane Coder has a life that many, if not most, would envy. He has a fabulous job working for King Corp, a giant real estate entity that has become one of the richest, most powerful companies in the United States under the strong hand of founder James King. Coder also has Jessica, his beautiful, seductive wife, and a salary that can provide him with everything he wants. He lives in a dream come true for someone who came from less-than-humble beginnings.
As he freely confesses, however, this is not enough. When King announces that he's taking the company public and promoting his son Scott ahead of Coder, Coder refuses to accept the news. Putting himself in the pocket of a powerful and corrupt construction union, Coder --- with Jessica's careful plotting and subtle encouragement --- murders James and frames Scott for the deed. Things begin unraveling almost immediately, and not always in the way one might expect. Coder and Jessica give themselves over to an opulence and indulgence that quickly corrupts them from within and without. Killing becomes easier, and as both of them play the FBI and the union against each other, it slowly becomes clear that they are headed down an inevitable path of ruin.
Green's pacing is exquisite, particularly in the latter half of the novel, wherein the pending doom is held at bay even as it dips and swirls in and out of the story. Green also infuses the climax with a fine and just symmetry that is not revealed until the very end, thus leaving the reader satisfied at precisely the right moment.
Whether you are a longtime reader of Green's work or have never read him before, KINGDOM COME is an imperative addition to your must-read list. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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