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The Company Man
The year is 1919.
The McNaughton Corporation is the pinnacle of American industry. They built the guns that won the Great War before it even began. They built the airships that tie the world together. And, above all, they built Evesden-a shining metropolis, the best that the world has to offer.
But something is rotten at the heart of the city. Deep underground, a trolley car pulls into a station with eleven dead bodies inside. Four minutes before, the victims were seen boarding at the previous station. Eleven men butchered by hand in the blink of an eye. All are dead. And all are union.
Now, one man, Cyril Hayes, must fix this. There is a dark secret behind the inventions of McNaughton and with a war brewing between the executives and the workers, the truth must be discovered before the whole city burns. Caught between the union and the company, between the police and the victims, Hayes must uncover the mystery before it kills him.
The McNaughton Corporation is the pinnacle of American industry. They built the guns that won the Great War before it even began. They built the airships that tie the world together. And, above all, they built Evesden-a shining metropolis, the best that the world has to offer.
But something is rotten at the heart of the city. Deep underground, a trolley car pulls into a station with eleven dead bodies inside. Four minutes before, the victims were seen boarding at the previous station. Eleven men butchered by hand in the blink of an eye. All are dead. And all are union.
Now, one man, Cyril Hayes, must fix this. There is a dark secret behind the inventions of McNaughton and with a war brewing between the executives and the workers, the truth must be discovered before the whole city burns. Caught between the union and the company, between the police and the victims, Hayes must uncover the mystery before it kills him.
464 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2009
94 people are currently reading
1703 people want to read
About the author
Robert Jackson Bennett
28 books21.7k followersRobert Jackson Bennett is a two-time award winner of the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel, an Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original, and is also the 2010 recipient of the Sydney J Bounds Award for Best Newcomer, and a Philip K Dick Award Citation of Excellence. City of Stairs was shortlisted for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award. City of Blades was a finalist for the 2015 World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. His eighth novel, FOUNDRYSIDE, will be available in the US on 8/21 of 2018 and the UK on 8/23.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
February 13, 2025
It's funny how things come together sometimes, isn't it? I was keeping an eye out for Bennett's newest book when I discovered his sophomore book, a noir-magical realism kind of thing. I'd also been reading Lost New York and browsing my way through NYC Public Library's online photo collection, enjoying the feel of times gone past in the big city.
When I picked up The Company Man, I was more than primed to imagine Bennett's story set in the 1919, in an alternate timeline where the city Evesden, in Washington State, becomes one of the greatest cities in America through the miraculous inventions of the McNaughton Corporation.
How had they done it? How had McNaughton made the city and remade the world itself, and in only a handful of years? How had this tiny corner of the Western shore become the center of the globe overnight?
Hayes is one of the security men of the great corporation, who uses a kind of patterning sixth sense to troubleshoot issues for the company. Unfortunately, Hayes has a bit of a drinking problem. And an opium pipe problem. The last job he did ended up in a publicity disaster, so his only way back into good graces is to take on a job looking for union men within the company, indirectly supervised and aided by Samantha. Garvey is a NYC Evesden detective who cares too much as he tries to solve various murders.
"It had been a long time since he’d ever looked at anything as sadly as Samantha did now. He could not remember the last time he’d matched her sorrow, or her horror. He often forgot how young she was."
In many ways, it feels similar to The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. Both take a city setting that feels almost familiar, then give it fantastic elements that allow the authors to explore different ideas in the setting of progress. In Bennett's case, ideas about economics, and in Whitehead's, ideas about race. It also feels a little similar to A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, although far more interesting. Bennett's writing is evocative, and his description of the city makes it come alive, albeit in a somewhat dismal way. I can see the inkling of the writer who would go on to create the Divine Cities trilogy I loved so much.
"Deep in the twisting bowels of Dockland the city did not sleep. As the distant spotlights flickered on the markets stirred and came to life, gathering in dimly lit rooms and doorways and alley entrances. Smoke tumbled across the tent covers and turned the voices of the barkers and the tradesmen into coarse growls, barely human over the din and clatter of trade... Hayes moved among them all like a ghost, weaving through the weak points of the crowds. He was riding a mean drunk and he had forgotten his coat somewhere and his scarf was stuffed down the front of his shirt, which was only half-buttoned. He tried to keep his senses about him."
As always, I enjoy Bennett's writing, the description and the flow. I think it's less polished than his work in the Divine Cities, but the evocative imagery is there.
The balance between human characters, the McNaughton Corp as a character and the city as a character is perhaps somewhat off, particularly as it is hard to identify with a corporation or a city. Perhaps the largest issue is pacing. Like American Elsewhere, this has a slow build, almost a prequel to the meat of the story that introduces characters and city. The trolley murders, mentioned on the jacket as if they are the driver of the story, don't happen until a hundred pages in, give or take. I think he builds the story somewhat slowly, but well.
"As the cold grew the grates on the street belched roiling clouds of steam, like enormous furnaces below the city were working to the point of destruction."
Unfortunately, the story goes a bit off the rails at the end. But maybe it doesn't; according to other reviews, "it picked up a lot." Oh sure, it does do that. I likely would have forgiven it, but Bennett becomes extremely heavy-handed with the moralizing in a bit of eye-rolling dialogue. In many ways, I think the structure of the book feels similar to American Elsewhere, with a completely different setting (modern southwest versus 1920s steampunk), so for those who had patience with that would likely enjoy this. On the whole, though, I'd say it's impressive for a sophomore book.
"It is the nature of life to overreach,” said the voice sadly. “To spread out and multiply and grow until it can grow no further. And then, starving, it will devour itself.”
Three and a half stars, rounding up because it really was a more enjoyable read than my average three star.
Re-read 2025. Sadly prescient.
When I picked up The Company Man, I was more than primed to imagine Bennett's story set in the 1919, in an alternate timeline where the city Evesden, in Washington State, becomes one of the greatest cities in America through the miraculous inventions of the McNaughton Corporation.
How had they done it? How had McNaughton made the city and remade the world itself, and in only a handful of years? How had this tiny corner of the Western shore become the center of the globe overnight?
Hayes is one of the security men of the great corporation, who uses a kind of patterning sixth sense to troubleshoot issues for the company. Unfortunately, Hayes has a bit of a drinking problem. And an opium pipe problem. The last job he did ended up in a publicity disaster, so his only way back into good graces is to take on a job looking for union men within the company, indirectly supervised and aided by Samantha. Garvey is a NYC Evesden detective who cares too much as he tries to solve various murders.
"It had been a long time since he’d ever looked at anything as sadly as Samantha did now. He could not remember the last time he’d matched her sorrow, or her horror. He often forgot how young she was."
In many ways, it feels similar to The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. Both take a city setting that feels almost familiar, then give it fantastic elements that allow the authors to explore different ideas in the setting of progress. In Bennett's case, ideas about economics, and in Whitehead's, ideas about race. It also feels a little similar to A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, although far more interesting. Bennett's writing is evocative, and his description of the city makes it come alive, albeit in a somewhat dismal way. I can see the inkling of the writer who would go on to create the Divine Cities trilogy I loved so much.
"Deep in the twisting bowels of Dockland the city did not sleep. As the distant spotlights flickered on the markets stirred and came to life, gathering in dimly lit rooms and doorways and alley entrances. Smoke tumbled across the tent covers and turned the voices of the barkers and the tradesmen into coarse growls, barely human over the din and clatter of trade... Hayes moved among them all like a ghost, weaving through the weak points of the crowds. He was riding a mean drunk and he had forgotten his coat somewhere and his scarf was stuffed down the front of his shirt, which was only half-buttoned. He tried to keep his senses about him."
As always, I enjoy Bennett's writing, the description and the flow. I think it's less polished than his work in the Divine Cities, but the evocative imagery is there.
The balance between human characters, the McNaughton Corp as a character and the city as a character is perhaps somewhat off, particularly as it is hard to identify with a corporation or a city. Perhaps the largest issue is pacing. Like American Elsewhere, this has a slow build, almost a prequel to the meat of the story that introduces characters and city. The trolley murders, mentioned on the jacket as if they are the driver of the story, don't happen until a hundred pages in, give or take. I think he builds the story somewhat slowly, but well.
"As the cold grew the grates on the street belched roiling clouds of steam, like enormous furnaces below the city were working to the point of destruction."
Unfortunately, the story goes a bit off the rails at the end. But maybe it doesn't; according to other reviews, "it picked up a lot." Oh sure, it does do that. I likely would have forgiven it, but Bennett becomes extremely heavy-handed with the moralizing in a bit of eye-rolling dialogue. In many ways, I think the structure of the book feels similar to American Elsewhere, with a completely different setting (modern southwest versus 1920s steampunk), so for those who had patience with that would likely enjoy this. On the whole, though, I'd say it's impressive for a sophomore book.
"It is the nature of life to overreach,” said the voice sadly. “To spread out and multiply and grow until it can grow no further. And then, starving, it will devour itself.”
Three and a half stars, rounding up because it really was a more enjoyable read than my average three star.
Re-read 2025. Sadly prescient.
February 6, 2013
I'm not sure who gave me this book, but the premise seemed intriguing. A mystery that promises a bit of steampunk atmosphere set in an alternate America of 1919 where the McNaughton Corporation has become so powerful as almost be their own nation.
Without giving away the plot, what I liked about the book were the characters - Hayes, Gavey and Samantha. They were interesting, quirky and unpredictable. While the dialog was weak in points, the development of the primary relationships and the secondary characters was very solid. What was happening to Hayes? Was Sam as good as she appeared? Yeah, the characters were sweet.
I liked the setting - the fictitious Evesden on the coast of Washington State. In many ways, the author made the town yet another character in the book - dark and dying. The descriptions were vivid, and I felt myself pulled into the town and the mysterious McNaughton Corp.
And the book had some good twists - especially the identity of the killer and the unexpected deaths.
What kept me from giving the book 5-stars?
The pacing was a bit uneven, and I found myself having to work a bit too much during the discovery phases of the book - especially the retelling of the gun smuggling on the coast. I might have eliminated Spinsie, for instance, and more quickly revealed his information via "discovered documents" or another plot device.
My biggest complaint was that the "big reveal" at the end was just one long soliloquy that revealed everything - all details exposed, story over - in one undramatic swoop. No danger, no suspense. It is almost like the author decided it was time to end the book, and put everything into that one chapter. For a book that teased wonderfully around the edges, I would have loved to more slowly discover the answers without relying on spoon feeding by the omniscient narrator-like construct.
That said, the book is an enjoyable read. If you like alternate futures and a good mystery, then I recommend The Company Man.
Without giving away the plot, what I liked about the book were the characters - Hayes, Gavey and Samantha. They were interesting, quirky and unpredictable. While the dialog was weak in points, the development of the primary relationships and the secondary characters was very solid. What was happening to Hayes? Was Sam as good as she appeared? Yeah, the characters were sweet.
I liked the setting - the fictitious Evesden on the coast of Washington State. In many ways, the author made the town yet another character in the book - dark and dying. The descriptions were vivid, and I felt myself pulled into the town and the mysterious McNaughton Corp.
And the book had some good twists - especially the identity of the killer and the unexpected deaths.
What kept me from giving the book 5-stars?
The pacing was a bit uneven, and I found myself having to work a bit too much during the discovery phases of the book - especially the retelling of the gun smuggling on the coast. I might have eliminated Spinsie, for instance, and more quickly revealed his information via "discovered documents" or another plot device.
My biggest complaint was that the "big reveal" at the end was just one long soliloquy that revealed everything - all details exposed, story over - in one undramatic swoop. No danger, no suspense. It is almost like the author decided it was time to end the book, and put everything into that one chapter. For a book that teased wonderfully around the edges, I would have loved to more slowly discover the answers without relying on spoon feeding by the omniscient narrator-like construct.
That said, the book is an enjoyable read. If you like alternate futures and a good mystery, then I recommend The Company Man.
October 29, 2014
I've been talking about this book a lot, because the premise is so utterly up my alley and I pretty much stan RJB's concepts. So, in a nutshell: In an alternate-universe dieselpunk 1919, a staggeringly powerful corporation named McNoughton has achieved prominence due to their world-changing inventions. They send their 'company man' -- Cyril Hayes, special agent, investigator, problem-solver, fixer, and psychic empath -- to investigate a slew of union murders, lest the company/union tensions bubble over and take the city with it. The events unfurl in the Pacific Northwest, in a fictional city named Evesden in Washington state.
The first thing to come to mind is that the atmosphere and setting is incredibly evocative and painted in great detail: the financially polarised sections of the city, the lavish sweeping rich districts versus the grim and gritty Shanties, the incredibly colourful and vibrant corners of the city and the treats it has to offer, from sewers to skyscrapers to trolleys to waterside markets to airship docks, and the shadow of McNoughton over it all. Evesden is a fantastic setting, 'urban fantasy' sorta by way of Miéville (but far less wordy -- Bennett's prose is streamlined and utilitarian). Which is the kind of thing I love, when a city becomes a living breathing entity. (And in this novel, perhaps more literally than most.)
Character-wise, the novel is populated with a huge sprawl of fun minor characters, which is an improvement on the smaller scale of Bennett's debut (I love ensemble casts, what can I say). Hayes has an upstanding and dutiful partner in the form of Garvey, the police detective, and a plucky and meticulous female assistant named Samantha -- both of whom I loved, and they all made for a compelling and likeable trio unravelling the mystery at the heart of the novel. Hayes is broken and dysfunctional and sour, and I love him -- he fits right alongside other hardbitten noir heroes, barely cobbled together with alcohol and opiates, except that he's also... well... psychic.
I saw the overarching twist coming -- I have to say that I preferred the noir-esque first 2/3 of the book, consisting of pounding the pavement, chasing leads and shaking up clues, so it dragged a bit for me in the final act, but I still thought the twist was brilliantly foreshadowed and built up just enough.
I don't want to say much else for fear of spoiling it, so in short, The Company Man is a tantalising mystery set in an incredibly rich AU setting. I loved mentally gambolling about in Evesden, and could even see myself craving another novel (or a few short stories) set here; the worldbuilding was prime.
Though lastly, I'm bemused by the plethora of people using the term 'steampunk' to describe this book. Dieselpunk, guys, start using it!
The first thing to come to mind is that the atmosphere and setting is incredibly evocative and painted in great detail: the financially polarised sections of the city, the lavish sweeping rich districts versus the grim and gritty Shanties, the incredibly colourful and vibrant corners of the city and the treats it has to offer, from sewers to skyscrapers to trolleys to waterside markets to airship docks, and the shadow of McNoughton over it all. Evesden is a fantastic setting, 'urban fantasy' sorta by way of Miéville (but far less wordy -- Bennett's prose is streamlined and utilitarian). Which is the kind of thing I love, when a city becomes a living breathing entity. (And in this novel, perhaps more literally than most.)
Character-wise, the novel is populated with a huge sprawl of fun minor characters, which is an improvement on the smaller scale of Bennett's debut (I love ensemble casts, what can I say). Hayes has an upstanding and dutiful partner in the form of Garvey, the police detective, and a plucky and meticulous female assistant named Samantha -- both of whom I loved, and they all made for a compelling and likeable trio unravelling the mystery at the heart of the novel. Hayes is broken and dysfunctional and sour, and I love him -- he fits right alongside other hardbitten noir heroes, barely cobbled together with alcohol and opiates, except that he's also... well... psychic.
I saw the overarching twist coming -- I have to say that I preferred the noir-esque first 2/3 of the book, consisting of pounding the pavement, chasing leads and shaking up clues, so it dragged a bit for me in the final act, but I still thought the twist was brilliantly foreshadowed and built up just enough.
I don't want to say much else for fear of spoiling it, so in short, The Company Man is a tantalising mystery set in an incredibly rich AU setting. I loved mentally gambolling about in Evesden, and could even see myself craving another novel (or a few short stories) set here; the worldbuilding was prime.
Though lastly, I'm bemused by the plethora of people using the term 'steampunk' to describe this book. Dieselpunk, guys, start using it!
September 29, 2023
The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett is probably actually closer to a 3.5 than a 4 for me but I rounded up. Even though this might be my least favorite of this author, I still enjoy having any chance to read his work because his style really jumps off the page. I love his blend of old-school noir and steampunk. I need to get caught up on all of Bennett's work.
July 20, 2017
I continue to be very hot and cold with Robert Jackson Bennett. In The Company Man, a sort of techno-futuristic mystery of sorts, I just wish the first 4/5ths of the book were as good as the last 1/5th. Instead, we get a lot of meandery worldbuilding with a drip-drip-drip of real detail until things really come together in the final scenes and begin to make sense. Ultimately, I did not love this, and much of it was a bit of a slog as opposed to an enjoyable experience - I just want to read American Elsewhere again.
August 6, 2013
I'm surprised by the lower ratings this novel is getting. I thought it was unique, well-written, had great characters, and a very interesting plot. I've enjoyed everything Bennett has written and look forward to more in the future.
March 14, 2013
Robert Jackson Bennett, takes us to a 1920s world, where the one company controls everything, and the thoughts of a workers turn unionization to help protect their rights but this company will to anything to make sure this does not happen.
It is nearing the end of 1919, the world is controlled by the ever present McNaughton company. McNaughton is responsible for every big and desirable invention that has happened in the last 25 or more years, but at what cost? They have created the beautiful city of Evesden, but lurking beneath the streets is something dark and sinister as a trolley cart pulls into a station with 11butchered union men on board. The people are crying out for justice, that McNaughton is the cause but the police are powerless to persecute a company that has become a world super power. One man is assigned to the job of hunting down the union leaders and seeing them brought before the McNaughton company, but Cyril Hayes is not known for being a team player or caring which tactics get the job done. He has worked for McNaughton for years because they have helped fuel his addictions, but the mystery behind the McNaughton's inventions, the unions and deaths, is the most powerful addiction that Hayes has.
I actually did not realize that this book had a steam punk and sci-fi feel to it as nothing is mentioned about it in the premise of the book. I thought it was a mystery/thriller book that was based in the 1920s, people wanting to unionize and the companies doing what they could to prevent it. This is not to say that the sci-fi aspect is in your face all the time, it is more subtle and not a constant aspect other than Hayes abilities. This book is really about the Company vs. the Unions, and the battles that ensued as each side tries to promote their beliefs and survive.True the main character Hayes has the ability to mimic people and read people minds and emotions if he is in contact with them for long enough but I did not think Bennett would take the sci-fi aspect as far as he did. I really liked Hayes "powers" within this book, at first I was not sure if he did have powers, I thought he was the master of manipulation and a chameleon which would have been powers in their own right, but add in alight mind reading ability and Hayes becomes a very qualified investigator and interrogator.
Bennett does a great job of building and describing this 1920s world, it was described in such a way that I would picture the city in only blue, white, gray and black shades a very bleak and powerful picture. The people and the world are desperate. There a huge discrepancy between the rich and the poor and the McNaughton company who monopolize it all. The city, the people and the world, are all controlled by the McNaughton corporation in some sense, everyone relies on their inventions, discoveries and wealth, that people believe that they are unable to live without McNaughton. From the overall desperation of the people living in the Shanty area of town, to Hayes addictions to get some peace to Sam attempting to prove her worth and Garvey attempting to find some justice in the world. The book does have an overall depressing feeling about it, but there is hope in what the main characters investigation will present, one that is hopefully a better future. Bennett`s talent lies in his ability to create a world that you truly believe it was real and that his novel was the way things actually did happen in the past.
This book is full on conspiracy and the main characters do not know who they can trust, even each other. Garvey is a police officer whole is loyal to policing and believes not only the city as it once was, but in right and wrong. He is stressed and over whelmed by the amount of death that has occurred within his city (I believe the total stated is well over 400) but he feels helpless to prevent the act as well as solve the multiple homicides that reach his desk. He is searching for a way to make the city what it once was, could the answer lay within the unions, company or with Hayes in his backward (and often illegal way) of doing things. Then there is Sam, the one who is there to control Hayes, but no one can really do that. Sam is powerless most of the time as Hayes is just content to let Sam do all the research while he gallivants around town following the hunches that he gets. I actually questioned the introduction of Sam as a character, her main purpose is to do research however, I feel that this research could have been achieved by have Garvey completing more police work and becoming more of a main character. Perhaps Bennett did not wish to make the book into a police investigation one.
Hayes is the anti hero in this book. He is working for the McNaughton company, and he only does it because it helps him focus and keep the voices out of his head. He also has a major drinking and drug problem, he likes to chase the dragon throughout the book, thinking that it helps him with the voices and the cases. Hayes appears to be loyal to the company but you are never really sure, one thing you are sure of is that he is loyal to himself, first and always. Hayes knows that the drinking and drugs are slowly killing him, but you can feel his pain and his need to escape reality for just a short time. I like when Bennett divulged a little bit of Hayes past and how he came to be working for McNaughton. I also likes how Hayes need for the hunt into mysteries was also an addiction to him and made me think of police officers that become so obsessed with cases that they are unable to see anything else. This is a characterization that is not explored often enough in crime type novels. I understand that Hayes is not a police officer, but an investigator of sort.
The story leaves a little bit to be desired, it was a little slow at points and I found myself not with the huge need to continue reading the book at that moment, I was able to put it down and return to it at a later date. I think everyone wants to read a book that you cannot just walk away from, and for me this book lacked that aspect. I wish that Bennett would have ventured deeper into the hate that the unions had with the McNaughton company. I found that Bennett restricted Hayes and Sam too much through the McNaughton Corporation (though this may have been deliberate on his part to just show the control of the company, but I found this aspect did hurt the story). I also wonder if Bennett was trying to get his own point of view about technology and global warming across within the book (you will have to read the book to understand what I mean by this point, or maybe you will get an entirely different idea altogether).
All in all, a pretty good read and I think it would be a good book if someone is wanting to try out the steam punk genre or a book that has just a touch of sci-fi in it. I have actually heard that his debut novel Mr. Shivers is fantastic (sorry no review of this book quite yet). I find that Bennett`s eye for detail, world building and Hayes overall "powers" has left me intrigued and asking for more, so I think I will be picking up Mr. Shivers (or his next book) sometime soon.
Enjoy!!!
It is nearing the end of 1919, the world is controlled by the ever present McNaughton company. McNaughton is responsible for every big and desirable invention that has happened in the last 25 or more years, but at what cost? They have created the beautiful city of Evesden, but lurking beneath the streets is something dark and sinister as a trolley cart pulls into a station with 11butchered union men on board. The people are crying out for justice, that McNaughton is the cause but the police are powerless to persecute a company that has become a world super power. One man is assigned to the job of hunting down the union leaders and seeing them brought before the McNaughton company, but Cyril Hayes is not known for being a team player or caring which tactics get the job done. He has worked for McNaughton for years because they have helped fuel his addictions, but the mystery behind the McNaughton's inventions, the unions and deaths, is the most powerful addiction that Hayes has.
I actually did not realize that this book had a steam punk and sci-fi feel to it as nothing is mentioned about it in the premise of the book. I thought it was a mystery/thriller book that was based in the 1920s, people wanting to unionize and the companies doing what they could to prevent it. This is not to say that the sci-fi aspect is in your face all the time, it is more subtle and not a constant aspect other than Hayes abilities. This book is really about the Company vs. the Unions, and the battles that ensued as each side tries to promote their beliefs and survive.True the main character Hayes has the ability to mimic people and read people minds and emotions if he is in contact with them for long enough but I did not think Bennett would take the sci-fi aspect as far as he did. I really liked Hayes "powers" within this book, at first I was not sure if he did have powers, I thought he was the master of manipulation and a chameleon which would have been powers in their own right, but add in alight mind reading ability and Hayes becomes a very qualified investigator and interrogator.
Bennett does a great job of building and describing this 1920s world, it was described in such a way that I would picture the city in only blue, white, gray and black shades a very bleak and powerful picture. The people and the world are desperate. There a huge discrepancy between the rich and the poor and the McNaughton company who monopolize it all. The city, the people and the world, are all controlled by the McNaughton corporation in some sense, everyone relies on their inventions, discoveries and wealth, that people believe that they are unable to live without McNaughton. From the overall desperation of the people living in the Shanty area of town, to Hayes addictions to get some peace to Sam attempting to prove her worth and Garvey attempting to find some justice in the world. The book does have an overall depressing feeling about it, but there is hope in what the main characters investigation will present, one that is hopefully a better future. Bennett`s talent lies in his ability to create a world that you truly believe it was real and that his novel was the way things actually did happen in the past.
This book is full on conspiracy and the main characters do not know who they can trust, even each other. Garvey is a police officer whole is loyal to policing and believes not only the city as it once was, but in right and wrong. He is stressed and over whelmed by the amount of death that has occurred within his city (I believe the total stated is well over 400) but he feels helpless to prevent the act as well as solve the multiple homicides that reach his desk. He is searching for a way to make the city what it once was, could the answer lay within the unions, company or with Hayes in his backward (and often illegal way) of doing things. Then there is Sam, the one who is there to control Hayes, but no one can really do that. Sam is powerless most of the time as Hayes is just content to let Sam do all the research while he gallivants around town following the hunches that he gets. I actually questioned the introduction of Sam as a character, her main purpose is to do research however, I feel that this research could have been achieved by have Garvey completing more police work and becoming more of a main character. Perhaps Bennett did not wish to make the book into a police investigation one.
Hayes is the anti hero in this book. He is working for the McNaughton company, and he only does it because it helps him focus and keep the voices out of his head. He also has a major drinking and drug problem, he likes to chase the dragon throughout the book, thinking that it helps him with the voices and the cases. Hayes appears to be loyal to the company but you are never really sure, one thing you are sure of is that he is loyal to himself, first and always. Hayes knows that the drinking and drugs are slowly killing him, but you can feel his pain and his need to escape reality for just a short time. I like when Bennett divulged a little bit of Hayes past and how he came to be working for McNaughton. I also likes how Hayes need for the hunt into mysteries was also an addiction to him and made me think of police officers that become so obsessed with cases that they are unable to see anything else. This is a characterization that is not explored often enough in crime type novels. I understand that Hayes is not a police officer, but an investigator of sort.
The story leaves a little bit to be desired, it was a little slow at points and I found myself not with the huge need to continue reading the book at that moment, I was able to put it down and return to it at a later date. I think everyone wants to read a book that you cannot just walk away from, and for me this book lacked that aspect. I wish that Bennett would have ventured deeper into the hate that the unions had with the McNaughton company. I found that Bennett restricted Hayes and Sam too much through the McNaughton Corporation (though this may have been deliberate on his part to just show the control of the company, but I found this aspect did hurt the story). I also wonder if Bennett was trying to get his own point of view about technology and global warming across within the book (you will have to read the book to understand what I mean by this point, or maybe you will get an entirely different idea altogether).
All in all, a pretty good read and I think it would be a good book if someone is wanting to try out the steam punk genre or a book that has just a touch of sci-fi in it. I have actually heard that his debut novel Mr. Shivers is fantastic (sorry no review of this book quite yet). I find that Bennett`s eye for detail, world building and Hayes overall "powers" has left me intrigued and asking for more, so I think I will be picking up Mr. Shivers (or his next book) sometime soon.
Enjoy!!!
April 20, 2011
Here’s a pleasant surprise: a detective style film noir, set in the late 1910’s but in an alternate world. A world of gangsters and the Union, in the fictional American city of Evesden, with worn-down detectives and corrupt business. And airships!
In this post-Great War world we have gruff detective Donald Garvey and his slim blonde colleague, Cyril Hayes, who works for The McNaughton Corporation, the Microsoft of its age. Hayes is a washed out alcoholic who deals with the Corporation’s dirty business quietly. Recently he’s been on the skids, and after a botched job is now being supervised very closely by Samantha Fairbanks, up-and-coming company employee. He has to keep his secret talent, that he can sense what others are thinking, very carefully hidden.
There’s someone or something out there killing Union factory workers, and Hayes needs to find out who. Not only because his employees want to know, but also because somebody doesn’t want him to find out. His life is at stake, the death count’s rising – and it could be Hayes next.
Considering that this is only Robert’s second novel, after Mr Shivers (2009), this for me was an impressively assured novel. Its tone and style echoed the opulence and decay of early twentieth century urban America, with all, both the best and worst, it has to offer.
It is a clever little novel which makes you feel immersed into a world of commercial skulduggery, union strikes, corrupt management and mob unrest. Reminiscient of Metropolis , it highlights not only the opportunities that technological development can offer but also shows the dark underbelly of such urban living. It is clear that there is a price to pay for such development. Progress, yes: but at what cost?
The book does slow down in the middle, but the final dénouement that elevates the tale to one worthy of the genre is very well done There is a deus ex machina moment that made me think for a while afterwards, ‘What happens next?’ . The book finishes clearly at an appropriate point but one that left me pondering more.
In summary, I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. Nice worldbuilding, great sense of atmosphere, nice tension on the whole. After being a little disappointed by Mr Shivers , this was a definite step in the right direction. More, please!
In this post-Great War world we have gruff detective Donald Garvey and his slim blonde colleague, Cyril Hayes, who works for The McNaughton Corporation, the Microsoft of its age. Hayes is a washed out alcoholic who deals with the Corporation’s dirty business quietly. Recently he’s been on the skids, and after a botched job is now being supervised very closely by Samantha Fairbanks, up-and-coming company employee. He has to keep his secret talent, that he can sense what others are thinking, very carefully hidden.
There’s someone or something out there killing Union factory workers, and Hayes needs to find out who. Not only because his employees want to know, but also because somebody doesn’t want him to find out. His life is at stake, the death count’s rising – and it could be Hayes next.
Considering that this is only Robert’s second novel, after Mr Shivers (2009), this for me was an impressively assured novel. Its tone and style echoed the opulence and decay of early twentieth century urban America, with all, both the best and worst, it has to offer.
It is a clever little novel which makes you feel immersed into a world of commercial skulduggery, union strikes, corrupt management and mob unrest. Reminiscient of Metropolis , it highlights not only the opportunities that technological development can offer but also shows the dark underbelly of such urban living. It is clear that there is a price to pay for such development. Progress, yes: but at what cost?
The book does slow down in the middle, but the final dénouement that elevates the tale to one worthy of the genre is very well done There is a deus ex machina moment that made me think for a while afterwards, ‘What happens next?’ . The book finishes clearly at an appropriate point but one that left me pondering more.
In summary, I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. Nice worldbuilding, great sense of atmosphere, nice tension on the whole. After being a little disappointed by Mr Shivers , this was a definite step in the right direction. More, please!
March 12, 2012
This book vaguely floats through a number of genres--is it a mystery? noire? steampunk? sci-fi?--without fully committing to one, which makes for a spastic storyline that cannot stay in place long enough to engage me in the storyline. The charcacters are pretty one dimensional, as is the fictional mega-city of Evesden, Washington. The ending was the worst kind of cop out, resorting to unsatisfying cliche, and of course, an opening for a sequel. I won't read it, because I'm not entirely certain what happened in this one.
October 30, 2019
This book was like reading a film noir, which was very enjoyable. Read this for book club, not something I would have picked out on my own most likely. I did get a little lost in the plot at some points during this book and there were parts that felt a bit unnecessary. I think this could have easily been shorter. I kind of wanted to know more about the unions and their goals and what they were doing to achieve them, etc, as opposed to just knowing that there were unions and they were fighting with the big evil corporation. The ending was....meh. It is definitely a genre blender, and that is cool but also made the ending a bit strange.
March 22, 2021
After discovering and loving The Divine Cities, I've been working my way through Bennett's other books. This one is pretty good but definitely not quite up to the caliber of his later works. I don't mind a genre-bender, but this book takes it to an extreme. It slides through noir, steampunk, mystery, and scifi without seeming to know quite where to land. I personally didn't really like the scifi components and didn't think they quite fit in with the rest of the story. It makes it so there's a lot going on here and Bennett doesn't 100% manage to balance it all.
The book also ends with a twist that I personally dislike-- .
I guess in the end the book turns out to not really be about the unions or the murders at all and more about the way that the city is failing (which those things are evidence for), but we spend a lot of time on them for something that turns out to not be super relevant in the long run. This is a pretty long book and it got slow in the middle, so I think we could have stood to have spent less time on those parts.
But on the plus side I liked the characters and I loved the setting and the worldbuilding. Bennett makes the city come alive, and it's easy to feel for his characters. Before the end goes all in with didacticism, the themes are well done and he has some interesting things to say about progress and capitalism/economics. I also enjoyed the places where his alternate world differs from and overlaps with our world, and thought those were well done. It's believably the past, despite the technology having jumped well forward, which I think could be difficult to do. Falters a little on the execution (and I don't like the ending) but the bones are strong.
The book also ends with a twist that I personally dislike-- .
I guess in the end the book turns out to not really be about the unions or the murders at all and more about the way that the city is failing (which those things are evidence for), but we spend a lot of time on them for something that turns out to not be super relevant in the long run. This is a pretty long book and it got slow in the middle, so I think we could have stood to have spent less time on those parts.
But on the plus side I liked the characters and I loved the setting and the worldbuilding. Bennett makes the city come alive, and it's easy to feel for his characters. Before the end goes all in with didacticism, the themes are well done and he has some interesting things to say about progress and capitalism/economics. I also enjoyed the places where his alternate world differs from and overlaps with our world, and thought those were well done. It's believably the past, despite the technology having jumped well forward, which I think could be difficult to do. Falters a little on the execution (and I don't like the ending) but the bones are strong.
June 24, 2021
This isn't my favourite from Jackson Bennett, but it has all the things I like from him. There's a recognizable world, with something seething and rotten lurking just below the surface. There are a few mostly good, but kinda weird people doing their best to figure it out. And more than one person colluding with the rottenness for their own gain. The alternate history bits were well done, and I thought Jackson Bennett got the uncanny elements just right. I would this under horror and gothic, but it's not gory or nightmare inducing. It's more chilling and shivery and cerebral. If you like that kind of thing, this is worth picking up.
October 12, 2019
3.5 stars. I felt the union theme was strangely done. The story is very engaging and I really enjoyed it, but when I got towards the end and it suddenly turned into scifi I felt that transition didn't really make sense and it honestly made me angry reading it. I get that the whole point was to set up a premise for a second book, but I didn't completely buy it. I am looking forward to discussing at book club, because there were definitely some really interesting themes to talk about!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2018
Maybe the best writer I have ever read. Just has something I have never found anywhere else.
August 12, 2019
The ending was a bit weak, but the rest of the book was excellent.
October 12, 2019
I don't really know how to feel about this book. I know I shouldn't judge an author's early books based on their later works, but since I've read RBJ's more recent books (and absolutely loved them, for the most part), it's difficult as a reader not to compare them in my mind. I find this book a little lacking when I make that comparison, although I can see the seeds of The Divinve Cities and Foundryside here.
Some parts were really interesting and cool, other parts didn't make a lot of sense within the context of the story. I felt like RJB set out to write a noir steampunk-esque mystery and then it sort of evolved into a scifi novel and he just sort of went along with it. I don't think I understood the alien technology scifi story too well, as it mostly got shoehorned into the end with little explanation. I genuinely liked the world of this book, but it would have been better if the scifi aspects had a more obvious role from the beginning of the story, rather than suddenly popping up partway through.
Something else I struggled with was the pacing. Perhaps I could have done without a few of the side plots. Sometimes a side plot might be good, but if it's detracting from the pace of the story and distracting from the main plot then it probably needs to go. One example would be the union side plot. I thought the fight between McNaughton and the union men could have been really interesting if it was fleshed out properly, but after focusing on it in the first half of the book, that plot got dropped into the background and faded away.
I liked Hayes as a character. He wasn't a hero, wasn't even necessarily a good person, but he was an interesting point of view character. I wish we got to know a little more about who he was before the events of this book. Samantha was a fine character, but she lacked the complexities of RBJ's more recent female characters (again, the comparison isn't doing this book any favors). In this book she felt like "the female character!", as opposed to Shara, Sancia, Mulaghesh and all the other awesome female characters I love from his more recent books, who are able to carry their own stories and are more centered in the plot.
This is a long and rambling review. I'm looking forward to hearing more of other people's thoughts at book club!
Some parts were really interesting and cool, other parts didn't make a lot of sense within the context of the story. I felt like RJB set out to write a noir steampunk-esque mystery and then it sort of evolved into a scifi novel and he just sort of went along with it. I don't think I understood the alien technology scifi story too well, as it mostly got shoehorned into the end with little explanation. I genuinely liked the world of this book, but it would have been better if the scifi aspects had a more obvious role from the beginning of the story, rather than suddenly popping up partway through.
Something else I struggled with was the pacing. Perhaps I could have done without a few of the side plots. Sometimes a side plot might be good, but if it's detracting from the pace of the story and distracting from the main plot then it probably needs to go. One example would be the union side plot. I thought the fight between McNaughton and the union men could have been really interesting if it was fleshed out properly, but after focusing on it in the first half of the book, that plot got dropped into the background and faded away.
I liked Hayes as a character. He wasn't a hero, wasn't even necessarily a good person, but he was an interesting point of view character. I wish we got to know a little more about who he was before the events of this book. Samantha was a fine character, but she lacked the complexities of RBJ's more recent female characters (again, the comparison isn't doing this book any favors). In this book she felt like "the female character!", as opposed to Shara, Sancia, Mulaghesh and all the other awesome female characters I love from his more recent books, who are able to carry their own stories and are more centered in the plot.
This is a long and rambling review. I'm looking forward to hearing more of other people's thoughts at book club!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2011
I wanted to read this book because it covers the same time period I'm writing in, and I wanted to see what the author had done with it. It didn't take long for me to realize that the world Robert Bennett is writing about bears little resemblance to the America of 1919 that I know.
And having read this entire book, I still don't know what to think about it. There were so many cool things that I liked, so many little twists and turns. The world felt right, cohesive, and the characters fit well within that world. The technology, while a step left of reality in some ways, also felt right. There was a whole lot to like about this book.
All of which leads me to realize that I think, mostly, about this book on a technical level, as in how well the author did what he set out to do. Bennett portrayed a bleak world where the haves are so far above the people dwelling in the Shanties--the workers--that they might as well not be on the same planet.
And that bleakness seeps into everything, colors relationships, friendships and how the characters ultimately view each other and their lives. People do what they have to do to survive, even if survival means staying numb or turning a blind eye to the misery surrounding you. It's a pretty hopeless place--unless you're part of the upper echelon of the Company.
In many ways it's a reflection of the world we live in today. That reflection of class distinctions, wealth and the power it brings, isn't very flattering. That it's done so well makes it even less so.
Yet Bennett ends this book on a note of hope and change. He deserves major kudos for pulling that off. That hope and change come at a cost, but nothing is free, not even in fiction.
It was a well written book that kept me engaged from start to finish. If I had one wish, I'd have wished for a bit more emotion from the characters, a bit more warmth. But people dwelling in a cold, unfeeling world can probably be forgiven for lacking warm fuzzies.
And having read this entire book, I still don't know what to think about it. There were so many cool things that I liked, so many little twists and turns. The world felt right, cohesive, and the characters fit well within that world. The technology, while a step left of reality in some ways, also felt right. There was a whole lot to like about this book.
All of which leads me to realize that I think, mostly, about this book on a technical level, as in how well the author did what he set out to do. Bennett portrayed a bleak world where the haves are so far above the people dwelling in the Shanties--the workers--that they might as well not be on the same planet.
And that bleakness seeps into everything, colors relationships, friendships and how the characters ultimately view each other and their lives. People do what they have to do to survive, even if survival means staying numb or turning a blind eye to the misery surrounding you. It's a pretty hopeless place--unless you're part of the upper echelon of the Company.
In many ways it's a reflection of the world we live in today. That reflection of class distinctions, wealth and the power it brings, isn't very flattering. That it's done so well makes it even less so.
Yet Bennett ends this book on a note of hope and change. He deserves major kudos for pulling that off. That hope and change come at a cost, but nothing is free, not even in fiction.
It was a well written book that kept me engaged from start to finish. If I had one wish, I'd have wished for a bit more emotion from the characters, a bit more warmth. But people dwelling in a cold, unfeeling world can probably be forgiven for lacking warm fuzzies.
April 1, 2023
i'm a little sutprised by the reviews that complain this story can't decide what genre it's in, as if syncretism or genre mashing in itself were some sort of fault? i guess if you are particularly unfond of works like Cowboy Bebop (etc) then give this a miss?
to me it seems pretty much a straight-forward detective noir story set in a city whose remarkable technologies are central to the murder investigations as well as the world and the overall plot. i think ultimately i'd call it sci-fi over steampunk, one reason being the tech isn't all based on steam power; but yes we do get many hallmarks of steampunk: airships, lots of gears and clockwork, machinists and steel workers and giant metal men. and, of course, a dark world-weary outlook formed by the overworked, underpaid urban reality that meshes nicely with detective noir. set in 1919 (with some convincing alternate history) it has a very american 1920s feel.
the actual detective in this story is one of three main characters, but not the main protagonist. a policeman born in the city, who loves the city in a very sam vimes kind of way. then there is a woman brought in from half the world away to assist/handle the protagonist. and the protagonist himself, whom we might characterize as a former confidence man now working for The Company. only, he's just a little "off'.
The Company might be thought of as a character as well, except maybe it's more of a world. the world. as the sole fount of all this remarkable technology, The Company essentially operates as the dominant world power, and it means to keep things that way. even if that means keeping even its own leadership in the dark. even if some secrets don't want to be kept.
ultimately i liked this story but i felt the ending lacked something. it made sense and everything, but? 3 stars, probably 3.5 or 4 with a stronger ending.
to me it seems pretty much a straight-forward detective noir story set in a city whose remarkable technologies are central to the murder investigations as well as the world and the overall plot. i think ultimately i'd call it sci-fi over steampunk, one reason being the tech isn't all based on steam power; but yes we do get many hallmarks of steampunk: airships, lots of gears and clockwork, machinists and steel workers and giant metal men. and, of course, a dark world-weary outlook formed by the overworked, underpaid urban reality that meshes nicely with detective noir. set in 1919 (with some convincing alternate history) it has a very american 1920s feel.
the actual detective in this story is one of three main characters, but not the main protagonist. a policeman born in the city, who loves the city in a very sam vimes kind of way. then there is a woman brought in from half the world away to assist/handle the protagonist. and the protagonist himself, whom we might characterize as a former confidence man now working for The Company. only, he's just a little "off'.
The Company might be thought of as a character as well, except maybe it's more of a world. the world. as the sole fount of all this remarkable technology, The Company essentially operates as the dominant world power, and it means to keep things that way. even if that means keeping even its own leadership in the dark. even if some secrets don't want to be kept.
ultimately i liked this story but i felt the ending lacked something. it made sense and everything, but? 3 stars, probably 3.5 or 4 with a stronger ending.
August 1, 2012
The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit) begins in 1919 as a trolley car filled with eleven factory workers dead inside of it, rolls into a station. All were alive when they entered the trolley and all were union workers. The eponymous investigator works for the McNaughton Corporation, the powerful and mysterious entity running the United States from the capitol city of Evesden, located in a Pacific Northwest very different from the one we know. An engaging, noirish mystery, the book deservedly won the mystery and suspense field’s Edgar Award in the original paperback category.
June 8, 2012
The Company Man is a solid book set in an amazingly vivid world with a complex, thought provoking plot and it’s yet another book by Bennett that refuses to fit into any one genre labeled box. Bennett is an author to watch.
Read my full review here:
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2012/06/...
Read my full review here:
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2012/06/...
started_finish_later
March 22, 2013another well reviewed book that has a combination of so-so content as interest goes and unremarkable style to grab me
April 20, 2012
I like cross-genre books, but I couldn't finish this, as I found the style awkward and off-putting.
July 21, 2014
Not as good as The Troupe and American Elsewhere, but still a quite interesting reading.
June 23, 2017
Tedious and dry.
September 2, 2025
This book didn't sit on my TBR very long. I don't know how Mr. Bennett's books have stayed out of my 'you might like' lists for so long based on what I regularly read, but none of them popped up until recently. I think I had completed Jeff Wheeler's 'Harbinger' series and was searching for similar and Foundryside popped up, leading me to do a search of all his books of which some ended up on my TBR. I was excited to dig into them.
I'm not sure why I started with Company Man, I think I saw it won some awards and away I went.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did, it was a little disappointing for me. I think maybe I built it up a little too much ahead of time in my head - this is probably a 2.5 star rounded up.
I listened to the audiobook while running and the narrator did a wonderful job.
The world building I thought was excellent - this started out feeling a little different than most fantasy type books if that's the category you can put this in? It started off feeling a little bit like 20's Chicago mob mixed in with the Wizard of Oz. From there it kind of turns into a police style procedural where the assembled crew of characters is trying to solve a mystery. I don't know if it was the narrator or just the writing style and language used, but it felt at times like trying to read an older book like the Great Gatsby where the language used just feels like it was written a long time ago. If that was the intended effect he pulls it off quite well.
Overall, I just think I didn't feel myself get invested into any of the characters very much. Hayes was an interesting character, but I guess I just didn't feel very attached. The other two 'main' characters felt more like background characters to me.
The investigation portion of the book, which was most of it just felt slow paced the whole way. It seems like this could have been wrapped up in 350 pages or so.
I think I will still give Foundryside a go...it sounds like it's pretty different from this one and maybe more my style and he's obviously a very good writer. This one just didn't work for me.
I'm not sure why I started with Company Man, I think I saw it won some awards and away I went.
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did, it was a little disappointing for me. I think maybe I built it up a little too much ahead of time in my head - this is probably a 2.5 star rounded up.
I listened to the audiobook while running and the narrator did a wonderful job.
The world building I thought was excellent - this started out feeling a little different than most fantasy type books if that's the category you can put this in? It started off feeling a little bit like 20's Chicago mob mixed in with the Wizard of Oz. From there it kind of turns into a police style procedural where the assembled crew of characters is trying to solve a mystery. I don't know if it was the narrator or just the writing style and language used, but it felt at times like trying to read an older book like the Great Gatsby where the language used just feels like it was written a long time ago. If that was the intended effect he pulls it off quite well.
Overall, I just think I didn't feel myself get invested into any of the characters very much. Hayes was an interesting character, but I guess I just didn't feel very attached. The other two 'main' characters felt more like background characters to me.
The investigation portion of the book, which was most of it just felt slow paced the whole way. It seems like this could have been wrapped up in 350 pages or so.
I think I will still give Foundryside a go...it sounds like it's pretty different from this one and maybe more my style and he's obviously a very good writer. This one just didn't work for me.
October 6, 2025
I have to admit that this is my first foray into Steampunk. It's not the first time I have heard about it, the first time that I have read about the genre or the early movers and shakers in the genre, i.e., Cal State Fullerton alumni K.W. Jeter, James Blaylock and Tim Powers.
But actually reading one? This was the first one.
The Company Man, written by Robert Jackson Bennett, begins pretty much as expected. Turn-of-the-century era community (in this case the city of Evesden on the shore of Washington State's Puget Sound) that owes its existence to the creation of McNaughton Company that has just about grown to overwhelming proportions because of the miraculous technology they weld. But not everything is great, there are indeed massive ills, not least that the workers are underpaid and live in a massive polluted slum.
In its midst, there are strange disappearances and deaths, driving the company to turn to Cyril Hayes, who has done things that make them so suspicious of that he is hired with conditions that include secretary/minder/spy Samantha Fairbanks. Pivotal to the story is a trolley car accident where eleven union men butchered.
Written as just that, its a pretty good story.
But now the things that bugged me. This story needed considerable editing - the beginning lasted far too long and felt endless before the story actually gets going. Equally, the ending also went on far too long. There were at least three points where the story could have ended, instead it kept going and going and going.
The middle was the very good story where the writing shined, the alternative time period with fantastical machinery was amazing, the characters strongly and believably written. For that I was ready to give this 4 - 4.5 stars. Instead, I downgraded because it just too too long to get to the meat of the story, and then again to slog to the final ending, which would have had greater meaning if some of it was left to the imagination of the reader.
But actually reading one? This was the first one.
The Company Man, written by Robert Jackson Bennett, begins pretty much as expected. Turn-of-the-century era community (in this case the city of Evesden on the shore of Washington State's Puget Sound) that owes its existence to the creation of McNaughton Company that has just about grown to overwhelming proportions because of the miraculous technology they weld. But not everything is great, there are indeed massive ills, not least that the workers are underpaid and live in a massive polluted slum.
In its midst, there are strange disappearances and deaths, driving the company to turn to Cyril Hayes, who has done things that make them so suspicious of that he is hired with conditions that include secretary/minder/spy Samantha Fairbanks. Pivotal to the story is a trolley car accident where eleven union men butchered.
Written as just that, its a pretty good story.
But now the things that bugged me. This story needed considerable editing - the beginning lasted far too long and felt endless before the story actually gets going. Equally, the ending also went on far too long. There were at least three points where the story could have ended, instead it kept going and going and going.
The middle was the very good story where the writing shined, the alternative time period with fantastical machinery was amazing, the characters strongly and believably written. For that I was ready to give this 4 - 4.5 stars. Instead, I downgraded because it just too too long to get to the meat of the story, and then again to slog to the final ending, which would have had greater meaning if some of it was left to the imagination of the reader.
October 28, 2019
3.5 stars -- a gritty neo-noir-ish steampunk-esque (kind of? not really? did they have subways in our 1919? update: I just looked it up and they did) mystery in a city ruled by a corporation. All the adjectives in that summary might give you a hint that this is a bit of a genre-bending tale and pretty hard to pin down. On the one hand, it's like every book where a giant corporation might have shady intentions, and on another hand, it's like a Dashiell Hammett book set in an alternate 1919. At the heart of this story is an off-the-book investigator, Hayes, who works for the big company, and he's assigned to check out a bunch of mysterious union-related matters. Hayes has a special ability that helps him with that.
Enough about the plot -- I have to say this is my least favorite RJB book to date, although I have ABSOLUTELY loved The Divine Cities series and can't wait to see what he follows up Foundryside with, the bar was SKY HIGH. Can I fault The Company Man for failing to clear it?
Mostly I was disappointed in the ONE female character that occurred in this book. Otherwise the mystery was fine, although not easy for readers to figure out. Some of the personal relationships also weren't that fleshed out, so sometimes people's motivations were difficult to parse.
I'd recommend this to people who want an alternate-historical-mystery story with a damaged anti-hero as the main investigator, who won't mind the stereotypical female assistant and some twists at the end that are pretty sudden and not too well-explained. It's not bad, but I'd point them to other RJB works way more readily.
Enough about the plot -- I have to say this is my least favorite RJB book to date, although I have ABSOLUTELY loved The Divine Cities series and can't wait to see what he follows up Foundryside with, the bar was SKY HIGH. Can I fault The Company Man for failing to clear it?
Mostly I was disappointed in the ONE female character that occurred in this book. Otherwise the mystery was fine, although not easy for readers to figure out. Some of the personal relationships also weren't that fleshed out, so sometimes people's motivations were difficult to parse.
I'd recommend this to people who want an alternate-historical-mystery story with a damaged anti-hero as the main investigator, who won't mind the stereotypical female assistant and some twists at the end that are pretty sudden and not too well-explained. It's not bad, but I'd point them to other RJB works way more readily.
May 28, 2021
Very interesting from start to ... almost finish. The story follows two tracks. It starts with a single murder that may be connected to a horrific mass murder. The victims in both cases are workers who support forming a union at McNaughton Corporation, the largest and richest corporation in the world, the leader in advanced technology that all sprang - so they say - from the inspired mind of a humble fisherman living in a cave some distance from Seattle. McNaughton has in its employ an investigator of unique skills, an odd form of empathy that enables him to know the feelings and certain thoughts of any person he stays in direct contact with for more than a few minutes. While the first track of the story is about the murders and the attempts at unionizing, the second track of the novel is the nature of the investigator's gift, how it affects him, and what happens when his investigation brings him into contact with something that is desperately trying to contact him.
The worldbuilding is good, I liked the characters, and I liked Robert Jackson Bennett's writing. The end does and does not fit the rest of the book. It probably made great sense to the author. It's not that it didn't make sense to me, it's that it was really amorphous and I had no idea what the protagonist was going to do with the knowledge he'd been given. "Woo" content is high. That shouldn't dissuade anyone from reading the novel. The bulk of the book is excellent storytelling.
The worldbuilding is good, I liked the characters, and I liked Robert Jackson Bennett's writing. The end does and does not fit the rest of the book. It probably made great sense to the author. It's not that it didn't make sense to me, it's that it was really amorphous and I had no idea what the protagonist was going to do with the knowledge he'd been given. "Woo" content is high. That shouldn't dissuade anyone from reading the novel. The bulk of the book is excellent storytelling.
August 1, 2020
The Company Man is my second Robert Jackson Bennett novel. Both extremely different. The Company Man is an alternate history/world/Steampunk/Alien first encounter novel taking place in 1919/20 in a Washington state that is quite different than the one we call ours. History was changed when a small time prospector/homesteader showed a traveling man a few of the gadgets he'd made, one of which was a much more modern pump than normal. The traveling man, named McNaughton took the Prospector's "gadgets" and started a corporation that within a very short time was the premier corporation in the world. In fact the corporation was almost as powerful as a country. The inventions and products had changed the world, stopped what would have been the Great War and gave the world airships, much like the zeppelins.
At first the novel gets off to a slow steady dripping of information as Bennett begins to shape his world and introduce the characters, it probably took a quarter of the novel to get into the meat, but once there, I just had to keep going to find out what was behind this, in many ways, messed up, yet intriguing world. It was a journey well spent and Robert Jackson Bennett is fast becoming a favorite author of mine.
At first the novel gets off to a slow steady dripping of information as Bennett begins to shape his world and introduce the characters, it probably took a quarter of the novel to get into the meat, but once there, I just had to keep going to find out what was behind this, in many ways, messed up, yet intriguing world. It was a journey well spent and Robert Jackson Bennett is fast becoming a favorite author of mine.
April 1, 2019
A novel based in an alternative reality, a city called Evesden, an industrial power located in the Pacific Northwest. The novel's denouement veers into Sci-Fi, after masking itself as an old fashioned, hard boiled crime noir. The Sci-Fi turn does not do the first two thirds of the novel justice, and is a bit of a let down. I would have liked to read more about the founding and rise of the city of Evesden, which compares to Chabon's Sitka, Alaska in Yiddish Policemen's Union. However, a more apt comparison would be to Gotham City- a genuine city with science fiction elements. The hero faces a decision whether to save Evesden or let it die. The author provides little motivation for either option.
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