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The Company Man (Paperback)
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Short Description for The Company ManFrom the acclaimed author of MR SHIVERS comes a gripping tale of murder and intrigue in an America that never was.
Full description- Publisher: Orbit
- Published: 07 April 2011
- Format: Paperback 480 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Science Fiction
- ISBN 13: 9781841497921 ISBN 10: 1841497924
- Sales rank: 53,339
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Reviews for The Company Man
- Top review
Excellent Conspirational Noir Sci-fi
This is the second novel by Robert Jackson Bennett. His first, the excellent Mr. Shivers, was a dark supernatural horror/fantasy hybrid played out against the backdrop of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. For his sophmore, Bennett has ventured into science fiction territory and created a steam punkish, noir mystery set a decade earlier than his previous.
The story begins with Hayes, an idiosyncratic investigator for the McNaughton Corporation brought in by his friend inspector Garvey to assist with an inquiry into a recently discovered body found floating in the city canal. In a city where a new body is hardly a discovery, something doesn't seem quite right here and Garvey is determined to find out the truth behind the man's demise. Was this man a company man? Did he work for the mighty McNaughton? As Garvey together with Hayes make their enquiries, the reader is slowly introduced into the nature of the city of Evesden. We learn of its spectacular rise on an unprecedented scale to become a technological marvel, and an economic powerhouse fuelled by the discoveries of the enigmatic company at its heart.
I loved the setting for this book: the rapidly developed city of Evesden, with its irregular and confusing layout. The shanty towns down by the canal, the looming skyscrapers in the business district; the airships navigating overhead, and the whispering voices in the catacombs beneath.
Then there is the hardboiled presentation of the characters, combining into something which reads like an anti-corporate version of a Raymond Chandler novel or the musical Chicago (minus the songs) collided with Jules Verne.
Conspiracy is everywhere in Evesden and I relished the sense of corruption and collusion as it unfurled, drawing the reader ever deeper into the intriguing mystery surrounding the McNaughton Corporation. What is the source of the amazing technology they have developed? What are they now working on in secret? What lies deep in the catacombs and tunnels beneath Evesden? Why do people employed by the company keep dying in unusual circumstance...?
The action itself unfolds slowly at first, with the narrative building towards a number of key set-pieces throughout. Such as the one mentioned in the book blurb, which doesn't actually happen until about 100 pages in. Initially, perhaps due to this slow build and also because of Bennett's pragmatic writing style, I found it a little difficult to empathise emotionally with the characters. In particular, the belligerent and wayward Hayes is a difficult character to like. Crucially as the story developed, I found this less of an issue and I became more and more connected to the characters. By the second half of the novel I was thoroughly invested in them. In particular I was drawn to detective Garvey's unflinching sense of duty and honour - something which Bennett uses to great emotional effect later in the novel - but I also warmed to Hayes, and to Samantha, the sidekick appointed to Hayes by the corporation to help keep him focused on their work.
Bennett is an interesting and imaginative writer. It's very early days in his career, but it doesn't take too much to imagine him developing into a writer along the lines of Neil Gaiman or China Miéville. Based on his first two novels, he clearly has wide ranging literary interests across the speculative fiction genres and outside them. As such it is difficult to pin his work down. His first novel was largely considered to be a horror title, and whilst he certainly has a healthy dose of horror DNA in his writing genes, it's clear his work will not be confined to any one genre label. In The Company Man, Bennett has fashioned a tense mystery that could appeal equally to fans of Horror, Crime, Thrillers and Science Fiction.
As The Company Man reaches it's final quarter and ultimately the mystery begins to clear, all the disparate elements combine to reveal a novel with a grand and slightly melancholy vision. Unlike some reviewers whose reviews I have read, I was not particularly surprised to learn the origin of McNaughton's tech. The conclusion to this book was in some ways what I expected, but the deeper explanation, the why rather than the where, is what lifted the ending for me. This whole picture combines to reveal a novel with a fine coherent vision. The Company Man further highlights Bennett's gift for redefining the mythic canon of US history into beguiling contemporary fables. If like me you never trust those damn corporations anyway, and you love original speculative fiction, I think you'll love The Company Man. I know I did. by Jason Baki
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