Kill Your Boss by Shane Kuhn
Aug. 18th, 2014 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
If you’re reading this, you’re a new employee at Human Resources, Inc.
Congratulations. And condolences. At the very least, you’re embarking on a career that you will never be able to describe as dull. You’ll go to interesting places. You’ll meet unique and stimulating people from all walks of life. And kill them. You will make a lot of money, but that will mean nothing to you after the first job.
Assassination, no matter how easy it looks in the movies, is the most difficult, stressful and lonely profession on the planet.
Even when you’re disguised as an intern.
25-year-old John Lago is a hit man who’s worked for Human Resources, Inc. since he was 10 years old. The company specialises in eliminating ultra-difficult targets – those who surround themselves with security and layers of protection by placing assassins as interns in the target’s organisation. John’s one of the best operatives the company’s ever had but he’s getting too old to pretend to be an intern and plans to retire with his money and start a new – non-violent - life. There’s just got one last target to take care of first …
Shane Kuhn’s debut novel is a slick and fast-paced comedy thriller with some great lines that kept me turning the pages. I loved Lago’s wry, first person narration and enjoyed the structure of the novel (which is largely presented as a manifesto written by Lago summarising advice for new employees of Human Resources, Inc. together with information from an FBI investigation). I also enjoyed the exchanges between Lago and his boss, Bob, which has a strained fatherly vibe to it. However, the book’s ironic attitude to Hollywood cliché is undermined by Kuhn’s reliance on the same (most notably in a ninja infiltration scene but also in the portrayal of mafiosos), a key twist is far too obvious and its execution sloppily handled and while I loved the ballsy Alice (a fellow intern at the law firm John’s targeting and who he gradually falls in love with), in the final quarter she’s reduced to a two-dimensional harpy whose motivation I didn’t buy into. Despite those reservations, it’s a breezy, entertaining read and I would definitely check out Kuhn’s next book.
My favourite scenes in the book are split between the FBI transcripts of John’s developing relationship with Alice (which are packed with movie references and have some real zingers) and his passive-aggressive exchanges with his boss - ex-solder Bob, who fancies himself as a father figure but is frustrated by John’s smart mouth and bad attitude. I also liked John’s anecdotes about prior missions and the way he creatively found ways to achieve his brief. However, the last quarter of the book is a real disappointment. Packed with clichés, it undoes some good characterisation and leaves a key strand plot strand hanging in favour of hokey sentimentality. Ultimately, though the light tone and one-liners carried me through and I wait for Kuhn’s next book with interest.
The Verdict:
Shane Kuhn’s debut novel is a slick and fast-paced comedy thriller with some great lines that kept me turning the pages. I loved Lago’s wry, first person narration and enjoyed the structure of the novel (which is largely presented as a manifesto written by Lago summarising advice for new employees of Human Resources, Inc. together with information from an FBI investigation). I also enjoyed the exchanges between Lago and his boss, Bob, which has a strained fatherly vibe to it. However, the book’s ironic attitude to Hollywood cliché is undermined by Kuhn’s reliance on the same (most notably in a ninja infiltration scene but also in the portrayal of mafiosos), a key twist is far too obvious and its execution sloppily handled and while I loved the ballsy Alice (a fellow intern at the law firm John’s targeting and who he gradually falls in love with), in the final quarter she’s reduced to a two-dimensional harpy whose motivation I didn’t buy into. Despite those reservations, it’s a breezy, entertaining read and I would definitely check out Kuhn’s next book.
Congratulations. And condolences. At the very least, you’re embarking on a career that you will never be able to describe as dull. You’ll go to interesting places. You’ll meet unique and stimulating people from all walks of life. And kill them. You will make a lot of money, but that will mean nothing to you after the first job.
Assassination, no matter how easy it looks in the movies, is the most difficult, stressful and lonely profession on the planet.
Even when you’re disguised as an intern.
25-year-old John Lago is a hit man who’s worked for Human Resources, Inc. since he was 10 years old. The company specialises in eliminating ultra-difficult targets – those who surround themselves with security and layers of protection by placing assassins as interns in the target’s organisation. John’s one of the best operatives the company’s ever had but he’s getting too old to pretend to be an intern and plans to retire with his money and start a new – non-violent - life. There’s just got one last target to take care of first …
Shane Kuhn’s debut novel is a slick and fast-paced comedy thriller with some great lines that kept me turning the pages. I loved Lago’s wry, first person narration and enjoyed the structure of the novel (which is largely presented as a manifesto written by Lago summarising advice for new employees of Human Resources, Inc. together with information from an FBI investigation). I also enjoyed the exchanges between Lago and his boss, Bob, which has a strained fatherly vibe to it. However, the book’s ironic attitude to Hollywood cliché is undermined by Kuhn’s reliance on the same (most notably in a ninja infiltration scene but also in the portrayal of mafiosos), a key twist is far too obvious and its execution sloppily handled and while I loved the ballsy Alice (a fellow intern at the law firm John’s targeting and who he gradually falls in love with), in the final quarter she’s reduced to a two-dimensional harpy whose motivation I didn’t buy into. Despite those reservations, it’s a breezy, entertaining read and I would definitely check out Kuhn’s next book.
My favourite scenes in the book are split between the FBI transcripts of John’s developing relationship with Alice (which are packed with movie references and have some real zingers) and his passive-aggressive exchanges with his boss - ex-solder Bob, who fancies himself as a father figure but is frustrated by John’s smart mouth and bad attitude. I also liked John’s anecdotes about prior missions and the way he creatively found ways to achieve his brief. However, the last quarter of the book is a real disappointment. Packed with clichés, it undoes some good characterisation and leaves a key strand plot strand hanging in favour of hokey sentimentality. Ultimately, though the light tone and one-liners carried me through and I wait for Kuhn’s next book with interest.
The Verdict:
Shane Kuhn’s debut novel is a slick and fast-paced comedy thriller with some great lines that kept me turning the pages. I loved Lago’s wry, first person narration and enjoyed the structure of the novel (which is largely presented as a manifesto written by Lago summarising advice for new employees of Human Resources, Inc. together with information from an FBI investigation). I also enjoyed the exchanges between Lago and his boss, Bob, which has a strained fatherly vibe to it. However, the book’s ironic attitude to Hollywood cliché is undermined by Kuhn’s reliance on the same (most notably in a ninja infiltration scene but also in the portrayal of mafiosos), a key twist is far too obvious and its execution sloppily handled and while I loved the ballsy Alice (a fellow intern at the law firm John’s targeting and who he gradually falls in love with), in the final quarter she’s reduced to a two-dimensional harpy whose motivation I didn’t buy into. Despite those reservations, it’s a breezy, entertaining read and I would definitely check out Kuhn’s next book.
