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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Finely Honed Examination of Maelstrom of the 60s, January 26, 2005
Jack Payne understands the dollar, has professional experience in dealing with it, in understanding the mythology of it, has observed the volcanic eruption of obsession with it. This kind of insider's knowledge, when coupled with the ability to write terse imagery and pull exaggerated characters out of a seemingly endless barrage of imagination, places Payne in a fully loaded position to deliver a gripping and harshly brutal novel out of that peculiar period of time from 1966 to 1968 that changed our world indelibly.
SIX HOURS PAST THURSDAY pummels us along the journey of the transformation of a character - Steve Draves - whose double life (the 1966 standard of married man with kids and wife enjoying a successful climb up the ladder of success versus the deceptive lothario who would cheat anyone at anything if he ended up on top) leads him to the Don Juanian end. This story makes big time crime understandable, adultery seem mild, greed and lust seem almost passé, and the insatiable desires of a man obsessed with his own delusions feel like someone we know.
Payne writes very well. His use of blending sentence fragments and extended flow of thought adds to the pounding rhythm of a story that the fact that we don't like the main character an incidental finding in the manner in which this story seduces and unfolds at breakneck speed.
Many of his secondary characters are well fleshed out and identifiable as they intersect in Draves self-forged path toward destruction. But the more important aspect of what Payne has done in writing this novel is make us all take a closer look at what was happening in our lives, and what has happened TO our lives, since that fission that occurred between 1966 and 1968. And that is an aspect of any book, let alone a first novel, that signals the arrival of a writer of distinction. One hopes that next time around the main character, here the 'Don Juan' of the bedroom and the moneybags, will be more a character about whom we can feel some empathy. But then that may be another of Payne's intended points..... Grady Harp, January 2005
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Machiavelli of Underhanded Business , January 17, 2005
There's something about a conman. From the charming but conniving Starbuck in N. Richard Nash's classic play `The Rainmaker,' to Milo Minderbinder, the larcenous Army Mess Officer in Joseph Heller's `Catch 22,' there's just something about a smooth-talking swindler.
Jack Payne's new novel, Six Hours Past Thursday, brings a new face to the pantheon of tricksters. Move over Henry Gondorff, here comes Steve Draves. Steve has it all: a beautiful wife, wonderful children, a fat bank account, and the sort of best friend that he can trust with his life. What more could a man want? In Steve's case - everything. More money, more booze, and every attractive woman who crosses his path. Steve is the master of the tricky deal, and a maestro of the doublecross. It's amazing to watch him work, as he skims, squeezes and strong arms his way to a fortune, all without ever quite breaking the law. Everything is going great until the mob gets involved...
Jack Payne brings a lifetime of exceptional business acumen to this novel, and his insider knowledge comes through in the details of every shady deal. His writing is smooth, engaging, and deceptively powerful. But you won't recognize the true nature of Jack Payne's skill until you realize that you love Steve Draves, even as you're compiling your list of reasons to despise him.
Jeff Edwards, author of "Torpedo: A Surface Warfare Thriller"
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"You Almost Come to Love This Bastard...", January 26, 2005
"Six Hours Past Thursday," by Jack Payne, USA, Impact Books J+J, 2004 - ISBN 1-59113-503-8 - pbk, 304 pp., is an intense and troubling revelation of an imperious, conniving, flauting but outwardly successful business broker, Steve Draves, who wants it all and who risks being out on a limb and at risk of cutting too many of the wrong branches. Unbeknownst to his wife Betty, he secretly amasses a small fortune he boastfully reveals to his best but inept straggler friend Mark.
Though "happily" married with children, Steve has one too many addictions: he (1) is a fantasizing philanderer with a proclivity for Junoesque bosomy women he meets in bars or the workplace, (2) becomes regularly immersed in Martinis, (3) has inventive machiavellian hustler skills and (4) is overly narcissistic.
As is true with most addicts and addictions, "just one or two more and it's quits," Steve manages to jump most of the hurdles and run most of the bases -- but he is stopped short at home plate. And, as in Nature, there can be that eerie calm before the storms.
Payne's novel is itself addicting. It provides an interesting itinerary of places, a litany of characters and revealing of some tragic consequences of the imperfections of the human condition. Steve is somebody you would like to hate but you also almost come to love this bastard whose Ego got laid by his Id. The story line is not one to be easily forgotten. The author is very well-published but this is his 1st novel which comes off well -- I found but 4 minor mispellings. The price is right. We don't learn the meaning of the title until the last chapter...do read this book!
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