Customer Reviews

Kingdom Come

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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

I enjoyed all of Tim Green's previous books and eagerly looked forward to reading another good book. Unfortunately, I was very let down. The book was tortuous to read and painful to finish. The plot was fair, the actions predetermined and the characters thin. Even worse was the narrative style (which needed a good editing) resulting in a boring book which was easily set down.

In his previous novel, Exact Revenge, NFLer-turned-lawyer-turned-writer Tim Green re-outfitted The Count of Monte Cristo in modern dress. Now he has turned his sights on Macbeth, raising the compelling question: is nothing in the common domain safe from his marauding?

There is a justifying twist. Kingdom Come unfolds as a series of flashbacks told by its protagonist to a prison psychiatrist. At last we can understand the psychopathology of a weak-willed husband (a yuppie developer) who kills his powerful boss in order to advance the ambitions of his material-girl wife.

I cannot say that the ages have waited for this treatment. Nor did I much enjoy the side touches, for example a chorus of female FBI agents (called "witches" because Lady Heroine doesn't like to use the b-word) for whom toil and trouble means two years in a federal pen for tax evasion.

This book is a shameless and vapid appropriation of a literary classic, and I would not encourage anyone to read it. Shakespeare it certainly aint. Isn't it about time someone did a really good job of updating The Inferno? Ready to take it on, Mr. Green?

When James King decides to take his company public there are a few people who want to be the CEO who's going to make like 20 million bucks. His son Scott and his loyal employees and best friends Thane and Ben. However Thane has an ambitious, stop-at-nothing-to-get-to-the-top wife named Jessica. Jessica talks Thane into killing James in such a way as to make it look like son Scott did the horrible deed. However, she conspires with evil union boss Johnny G. who is going to want more and more. Then there is Thane's best pal Ben who begins to suspect all is not kosher in Denmark in this MacBeth like story that will have your fingers ripping through the pages.

True, there is nobody really worth liking in this finely crafted story. After all, our hero here lets his wife run roughshod over him and he is a murderer, still Mr. Green has crafted a story full of twists and intrigue that will keep you up, burning the midnight oil. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Normally, when I find a book to be as bad as this one was, I put it down. But somehow I kept holding onto the hope that there'd be a twist in the novel that would make my time worth spending. That twist never came. From the outset we know who the bad guy is and what he did. The rest of the novel is just him trying to explain why he perpetrated his misdeeds.

Gluttony and greed.

Save yourself the time and money, and go read something else.

I am a Tim Green avid reader...up to this point. I found Kingdom Come a total disappointment. From page one I disliked the book and could find not a single character likable. I found it hard to read and certainly not enjoyable. If I had read Kingdom Come as his first novel would not have read a second.

I have read all of Tim Green's books, and I must say that this is his best work. The lead character, Thane Coder is ambitious and will do anything, even kill to get what he wants. The real evil lies with his overly manipulative wife, Jessica who is addicted to pain killers and expensive clothes. This is a tale of friend betraying friend for money and power. This book does have some paralles to Macbeth and in this writers opinion, makes the book more interesting. I read this book in 1 day - had trouble putting it down. Another good book by Tim Green!!!

No I didn't care that much for this novel. Unlikable characters and a disturbing read. I usually expect more from Tim Green and I hope he makes up for it in his next novel.
Pay heed to rave reviews. Because if this is the only book a reviewer has read, it generally means they know the author.