Spin

by Jim Lindheim

Veteran corporate crisis counselor Jonathan Keaton is one of the most respected spin doctors in the world. His vast experience, outsized personality, and wily cynicism have made him the go-to guy for companies in trouble.But when the narcissistic founder and CEO of a large corporation is accused of sexual assault, Jonathan finds himself drawn into an assignment that his conscience warns him to avoid. It's November 2017, and the #MeToo Movement is gaining traction. When his client refuses to settle and insists that he is innocent -- envisioning himself as the man to stop false, unfair accusations against powerful figures -- Jonathan's usual bag of tricks fails to stop an escalating flow of events. A quicksand of sexual harassment, bribery, financial fraud, and a potential palace revolt soon engulfs him.With a lively, spirited voice, this timely and compelling novel of corporate intrigue will draw you into the private world of a spin doctor who himself is spinning out of control.

282 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2018

About the author

Jim Lindheim, former Chairman of Burson-Marsteller, one of the world's largest public relations firms, was on the firing line of corporate crises for nearly thirty years. He dealt with product recalls, environmental controversies, product safety issues, consumer boycotts, class action lawsuits, and many other corporate challenges.

Among his scores of clients were corporations like Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, Johnson & Johnson, Altria, DuPont, Tetra Pak and Shell Oil as well as industry associations for airlines, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, packaging and nuclear power. When Coca-Cola had its disastrous introduction of New Coke, he was there to help fix the situation. Also when Perrier recalled its bottled water. He helped Philip Morris fight the "tobacco wars" and then helped them reorient their strategies and change their business practices.

As the head of Burson-Marsteller's Public Affairs practice, Lindheim codified Best Practices in Crisis Communications and in Crisis Preparedness and was a widely respected lecturer and writer on those topics. A winner of several public relations industry awards, he was a consultant to the staffs of both the White House and Prince Charles. And, when corporations started to work on Corporate Social Responsibility, Lindheim became a leading expert for companies such as Kraft, Miller Beer, Diageo and others.

Since retiring in 2007, Jim has been active on non-profit boards and served a term as Town Council Member in Castle Valley, Utah. He has been writing short stories and 10-minute plays. The latter have been performed in Utah, Colorado, Washington State, California and Kansas. SPIN is his first published novel.

Reviews

[Peter Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spin is definitely a fun read. Lindheim has created realistic protagonist, an eccentric, experienced overweight spin doctor who has managed one too many crises and believes he sold his soul years ago. Jaded is an understatement when describing this guy. The author clearly knows a lot about the field of crisis management in large corporations in the twenty-first century, and he takes us on an entertaining tour of this domain, introducing an entirely believable set of characters, all the way from the narcissistic CEO to the cowardly board of directors to the hapless underlings whose main goal is self-preservation. All this is done with a wry, self-deprecating sense of humour which permeates the whole story. If there is a down side, it is that the machinations and manipulations may make the reader a little jaded himself by the time it’s all over.

[Kirk Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, entertaining and only slightly exaggerated tale of corporate crisis management. Jim Lindheim is a gifted storyteller, and I hope he continues to spin more tales of the gray areas of the executive suite.