Name: Hostile Takeover
ISBN: 9781476796185

Shane Kuhn

"At the end of [Kuhn's previous book], John tracks down his nemesis Alice--but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the placement agency that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR's former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom. But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern"--Amazon.com.

A John Lago Thriller

Hostile Takeover

Lustiges und wirklich brutales Buch! Eben erst realisiert, dass es vor dem Buch noch eins gibt, bin schon excited. Aber der Hauptcharakter John ist so richtig smash.

Leon

Colleen

When I read The Intern's Handbook, I thought it was going to be a standalone. I actually liked that it was a standalone with a kind of messy ending ("messy" meaning in this case that things weren't tied up perfectly). I really should have known better. This isn't the sort of book that they let be. No, it's the sort of book that they drag on and squeeze the money out of (Janet Evanovich style). So it should not have surprised me that within a year and half of the first book coming out, the author has already published a prequel and sequel and sold the film rights. Still, I shrugged and gave this sequel a try. 

It runs in the same vein as its predecessor. There were certain things were slightly better, some things that were missing, and some things stayed the same but should have been improved upon. I'll start with the nice stuff.

I liked that they got rid of the FBI report files as a means of giving information. In real life, files and transcripts are boring, and they are pretty boring in fiction as well. Instead, you in-person FBI interviews. Ok, that is still a gimmicky was of relaying information, but at least it was slightly more interesting. 

It's a short book and fairly fast-paced. It's the sort of no-brainer action book you read when you want something to entertain you but don't want to be bogged down by things like character development or expressive writing.

Oops. Looks like I am out of nice things to say about this book. Now I'm going to have to be blunt (and possibly harsh).

I didn't read the author's bio the last time. Having finished this book and read the blurb about the author in the back, it has become apparent that Kuhn works in and around the film industry. And it is evident in these books. They are written more like screenplays than full novels. To be more specific, they are written like screenplays for generic, no-brainer action movies. I remember thinking as I read the first book that is was just screaming to be made into a movie. And to be fair, I could see it transitioning to the screen fairly well. Hopefully the rough edges would get smoothed out and the result would be worth watching. I think Kuhn should have just written this as a screenplay to begin with. The first book had shaky legs but managed to stand. But with its even wobblier successor leaning on it, they both fall down. 

From the first few pages, I startled to get the nagging feeling I get when books are inconsistent with each other. I am a huge stickler for continuity. So when it became clear that Kuhn switched up some details regarding what had happened in the first book, it irked me. You really couldn't work with what you already published (such a short time ago)? You couldn't make sure your details lined up with something you wrote one year ago??

You are also immediately put into a common film/movie gimmick: starting the character out in a stressful situation and then flash back to everything that lead up to that point. You flash forward a couple of times to remind you what is coming. Overall, the non-chronological skipping around didn't bother me as much as it does in some books. Probably because I accepted early on that this was written with the gleaming hope of skipping its way to the big screen like its predecessor is now doing. 

There is no character development in either book. John Lago is for all intents and purposes the same person coming out of the second book as he was going into the first book. Certainly some circumstances have changed, but there just wasn't any development. Adding a sidekick does not equal personal growth.

There is no originality in this book. The Intern's Handbook at least had the quirky angle of assassins undercover as interns. But that angle is gone in the sequel, and all that is left is a generic action book that rips off numerous movies. I am not exaggerating about ripping off movies! The main character flat out says that he always uses movies as inspirations for his kills. This was in the first book as well, but I feel like it got a lot worse in this book. He will spend a page or so recapping what happened in a movie (such as Scareface) and then tell you exactly how he is going to rip it off in his current situation. And half the time, the idea never gets executed. For example, he would tell you how he was going to use such and such movie and then realize some reason why it wouldn't work and move onto the next movie. So you wasted two pages reading a movie synopsis that has absolutely nothing to do with the feeble plot. 

As with the first book, Hostile Takeover had over-abundance of pop-culture references not just movie references (or plagiarism), but also tons of brand name dropping. And Kuhn seemed determined to prove that he spent many hours doing Google searches for every weapon ever made. I guess that was supposed to be impressive. But I would have gladly traded most of that for a little more plot or character development. 

Unfortunately this sequel lost almost all of the snarkiness which was the highlight of the first book. This one barely managed to register on the sarcasm radar. Lago spent more time trying to play head-games. The publisher seems determined to compare this series with the Darkly Dreaming Dexter series. While they both attempted to be snarky, quirky looks inside the mind of a sociopath, Dexter succeeded far better at that goal. The main reason for this is that John Lago is simply not a sociopath. Oh, he does bad things for sure. He kills people, and his moral compass is smashed to bits. But he does not meet the definition of a sociopath. Despite being an assassin, he actually does have a conscience (which is what keeps getting him in trouble). But he lacks that macabre humor that Dexter features. 

The book spends about a third of the time recapping what has already happened and restomping on ground covered by the first book. Another large portion is spent talking about various movies or relating past experiences that overall have nothing to do with the main story. So only about one-third of the book covers the actual plot. 

"One-third?" you say. "Isn't the entire book only 246 pages??" 
"Why, yes! It most certainly is only 246 pages from cover to cover!" I reply
"And the author really couldn't manage to scrounge up enough original material to fill a novella?!"
"No. Obviously not."

It was entertaining enough, but so generic, so lacking in content or writing skill, and such an obvious, grabbing attempt to bust out a cross-media hit that I won't give it above two stars. The first book had enough going for it that I gave it three stars. But overall, Hostile Takeover took a step in the wrong direction. Possibly off a cliff. Hopefully without a parachute.

Hostile Takeover A John Lago Thriller

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