
The Company Man
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Richard Poe
About this listen
A trolley car pulls into the station with eleven dead bodies inside. Four minutes before, the inhabitants were seen boarding at the previous station. All are dead. And all of them are union. The year is 1919.
The McNaughton Corporation is the pinnacle of American industry. They built airships that cross the seas. Guns that won the Great War. And above all, the city of Evesden. But something is rotten at the heart of Evesden. Caught between the union and the company, between the police and the victims, Hayes must find the truth behind the city before it kills him.
©2010 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
-
American Elsewhere
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....
-
-
You are entering the twighlight zone
- By Lisa on 07-29-13
-
The Troupe
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Robert Jackson Bennett has won widespread critical acclaim for his unique brand of darkly inventive fiction. In The Troupe, 16-year-old George Carole joins vaudeville in search of Heironomo Silenus, the man he believes to be his father. But what he discovers casts a dark pall over his world: Silenus' troupe hides a dangerous secret - one that invites death to all in its vicinity.
-
-
Not worth the effort!
- By Howard on 08-12-13
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Foundryside
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic - the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience - have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine.
-
-
Parts & Sums
- By CaffineFreeJAVA on 05-07-19
-
City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
-
-
Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
-
A Memory Called Empire
- Teixcalaan, Book 1
- By: Arkady Martine
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident - or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion.
-
-
Story is great, weird editing, not great narration
- By Nadia on 06-10-19
By: Arkady Martine
-
American Elsewhere
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....
-
-
You are entering the twighlight zone
- By Lisa on 07-29-13
-
The Troupe
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Robert Jackson Bennett has won widespread critical acclaim for his unique brand of darkly inventive fiction. In The Troupe, 16-year-old George Carole joins vaudeville in search of Heironomo Silenus, the man he believes to be his father. But what he discovers casts a dark pall over his world: Silenus' troupe hides a dangerous secret - one that invites death to all in its vicinity.
-
-
Not worth the effort!
- By Howard on 08-12-13
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Foundryside
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic - the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience - have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine.
-
-
Parts & Sums
- By CaffineFreeJAVA on 05-07-19
-
City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
-
-
Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
-
A Memory Called Empire
- Teixcalaan, Book 1
- By: Arkady Martine
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident - or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion.
-
-
Story is great, weird editing, not great narration
- By Nadia on 06-10-19
By: Arkady Martine
-
Mr. Shivers
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Jackson Bennett makes a stunning debut with this deliciously dark tale sure to hold readers in its menacing thrall. The grinding poverty brought on by the Great Depression is nowhere more apparent than in the untold thousands looking for work along America’s railroad system. But one man haunting the rail camps has been moved by an entirely different brand of desperation: revenge.
-
-
From the Cormac McCarthy Playbook
- By J. Cons on 08-09-10
-
How to Sell a Haunted House
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Jay Aaseng, Mikhaila Aaseng
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success.
-
-
Nope, nope, nope.
- By Karen Johnson on 01-24-23
By: Grady Hendrix
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
I'm listening with a permanent smile on my face
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 03-15-22
By: John Scalzi
-
Library at Mount Char
- By: Scott Hawkins
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. After all, she was a normal American herself once. That was a long time ago, of course - before the time she calls "adoption day", when she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.
-
-
Not Your Local Library
- By Lorfet on 04-05-16
By: Scott Hawkins
-
Differently Morphous
- By: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Narrated by: Yahtzee Croshaw
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret. After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.
-
-
Not for everybody
- By R. MCRACKAN on 09-24-18
By: Yahtzee Croshaw
-
Full Throttle
- Stories
- By: Joe Hill
- Narrated by: Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in 13 relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including “In The Tall Grass”, one of two stories cowritten with Stephen King, basis for the terrifying feature film from Netflix.
-
-
A Strong Collection
- By Celeste on 11-05-19
By: Joe Hill
-
Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
-
-
The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
By: R. F. Kuang
-
Eversion
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Harry Myers
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
-
-
An entirely new level of science fiction
- By Possum Bean on 01-08-23
-
The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.
-
-
I don't understand the hype
- By Joe on 04-13-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
-
Lock In (Narrated by Amber Benson)
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Amber Benson
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever, and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.
-
-
Love Amber's Narration
- By Anthony on 09-11-14
By: John Scalzi
-
Gideon the Ninth
- By: Tamsyn Muir
- Narrated by: Moira Quirk
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap out of the audio, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse.
-
-
Fun. Not art, very gory, but 100% fun.
- By Sarah K. on 10-27-19
By: Tamsyn Muir
-
14
- By: Peter Clines
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s.
-
-
Super solid listen!!
- By Magpie on 06-24-12
By: Peter Clines
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
American Elsewhere
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....
-
-
You are entering the twighlight zone
- By Lisa on 07-29-13
-
The Troupe
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Robert Jackson Bennett has won widespread critical acclaim for his unique brand of darkly inventive fiction. In The Troupe, 16-year-old George Carole joins vaudeville in search of Heironomo Silenus, the man he believes to be his father. But what he discovers casts a dark pall over his world: Silenus' troupe hides a dangerous secret - one that invites death to all in its vicinity.
-
-
Not worth the effort!
- By Howard on 08-12-13
-
Vigilance
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States. 2030. John McDean executive produces "Vigilance", a reality game show designed to make sure American citizens stay alert to foreign and domestic threats. Shooters are introduced into a "game environment", and the survivors get a cash prize. The TV audience is not the only one that's watching though, and McDean soon finds out what it's like to be on the other side of the camera.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Brian on 03-30-19
-
Foundryside
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic - the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience - have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine.
-
-
Parts & Sums
- By CaffineFreeJAVA on 05-07-19
-
City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
-
-
Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
-
Mr. Shivers
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Jackson Bennett makes a stunning debut with this deliciously dark tale sure to hold readers in its menacing thrall. The grinding poverty brought on by the Great Depression is nowhere more apparent than in the untold thousands looking for work along America’s railroad system. But one man haunting the rail camps has been moved by an entirely different brand of desperation: revenge.
-
-
From the Cormac McCarthy Playbook
- By J. Cons on 08-09-10
-
American Elsewhere
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....
-
-
You are entering the twighlight zone
- By Lisa on 07-29-13
-
The Troupe
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Robert Jackson Bennett has won widespread critical acclaim for his unique brand of darkly inventive fiction. In The Troupe, 16-year-old George Carole joins vaudeville in search of Heironomo Silenus, the man he believes to be his father. But what he discovers casts a dark pall over his world: Silenus' troupe hides a dangerous secret - one that invites death to all in its vicinity.
-
-
Not worth the effort!
- By Howard on 08-12-13
-
Vigilance
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States. 2030. John McDean executive produces "Vigilance", a reality game show designed to make sure American citizens stay alert to foreign and domestic threats. Shooters are introduced into a "game environment", and the survivors get a cash prize. The TV audience is not the only one that's watching though, and McDean soon finds out what it's like to be on the other side of the camera.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Brian on 03-30-19
-
Foundryside
- A Novel
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic - the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience - have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine.
-
-
Parts & Sums
- By CaffineFreeJAVA on 05-07-19
-
City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
-
-
Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
-
Mr. Shivers
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Jackson Bennett makes a stunning debut with this deliciously dark tale sure to hold readers in its menacing thrall. The grinding poverty brought on by the Great Depression is nowhere more apparent than in the untold thousands looking for work along America’s railroad system. But one man haunting the rail camps has been moved by an entirely different brand of desperation: revenge.
-
-
From the Cormac McCarthy Playbook
- By J. Cons on 08-09-10
What listeners say about The Company Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dave
- 12-05-12
Steampunk Noir - Puts the Punk Back in Steampunk
There’s an argument these days that the “punk” in steampunk is really superfluous – that generally, the genre isn’t punk at all. It's not attempting to rebel against anything. Instead, we get comfortable (often fun) stories dressed up in Victorian clothes. As Cherie Priest succinctly put it, “Steampunk is fun with hats.”
For those of us looking for steampunk with a little more edge and cynicism, steampunk that doesn’t just glorify the fashions or monarchies of the past, we have Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Company Man. Granted, its set a bit later than steampunk usually is, but its façade contains that shiny, retro golden age of science fiction - only with sensibilities and characters that would be at home in Gibson’s Neuromancer.
In the early 1900s, the city of Evesden, Washington has almost become a small country. Thanks to the McNaughton Corporation, electrical cars zip across the street, airships line the sky, and World War I was averted (or at least, with little American casualties and involvement). Of course, other world powers are eager to see what makes McNaughton's inventions tick, and so company security agents are hired with the explicit purpose of keeping the company’s assets and investments secrets, at home and abroad. But when a trolley car pulls into the station filled with dead union workers, the tensions between the union and the company bosses becomes more fraught and dangerous than ever.
Cyril Hayes, the titular company man, hears voices in his head. He’s not quite telepathic, in that people’s minds are not an open book to him, but given the right proximity, he’s granted certain insights into their thoughts. As a result, he doesn't like other people in general, and avoids crowds. Due to some sabotage, McNaughton assigns Samantha Fairbanks to keep Hayes off the booze and drugs that help him get by, and assist him in a number of investigations. As the mysteries pile up, we follow Hayes and Fairbanks through the slums of this supposedly golden city, down into the mysterious, vast tunnels that connect to underground factories, and possibly elsewhere, in a timely noir of corporations and the working man.
In the end, The Company Man really earned my admiration, which was difficult, because it took me a lot longer to get invested in the story and characters than I would’ve liked (at least 3 hours). Hayes is not the most sympathetic character (which is definitely not a crime in my book), but initially I didn't find him all that interesting. That the mysteries he’s investigating at the beginning – a murder and possible union saboteurs – seemed to drag on without much tension probably didn't help. But around the time the grisly trolley car is discovered, it became incredibly compelling. Bennett kept me guessing like a happy X-Files fan about who was conspiring with who, and even what the conspiracy was. Best of all, the revelation of what happened on that macabre trolley ride surprised me, and I found the humanity Bennett gave those events and characters, as well as the closing of the story, genuinely moving.
Richard Poe gives the book a solid, straightforward narration. There’s not a lot of theatrics here, and I think given the tone of the story, it works well. Though it's took me a little while to get into, I think The Company Man is a book that's going to linger with me for some time.
Originally posted at the AudioBookaneers
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ben Wood
- 03-31-15
Great read!
I liked T Ryder Smith better as narrator for Mr. Shivers, but this was a really solid story. Robert Jackson Bennett is making some waves in the genre.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wade Lancaster
- 11-19-19
Creepy and Suspenseful
This is one of his weaker books and it’s still worth reading. The characters and plot are fully developed. Narration and production values are also strong. I’ve enjoyed many of Bennett’s books and I intend on eventually reading all of his novels. He’s a great writer with very unique ideas.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G. Parlee
- 10-29-24
Thoroughly Enjoyed.
I have read/listened to another book by this author and thoroughly enjoyed it, this was not a let down. I will certainly be looking into more of his work. Fun story, excellently narrated. The reader was very well suited to the story I thought. Although I did sort of see the ending coming it was very well executed, and was satisfying. The setting and atmosphere were particularly well put together.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew
- 09-10-13
Deus Ex Machina
SPOILER WARNING
.
.
.
.
.
We start with a murder. Our titular character is a drug addict psychic corporate security guy, paired with a worse-for-wear boyscout detective. The psychic gets a handler, due to being about as professional as most black ops corporate security drug addicts, introducing our innocent character and love interest for the detective. The murder leads to a burgeoning conflict between the Company and the Union…which is obviously just a cover for something. You’d like to think it was related to the Big Mystery, but it’s not.
Things fall apart in the second half.
The Union/Company struggle that’s built up evaporates completely as a manufactured crisis…if even that. Company invents Union. Company wants to embarrass Union and have reason to crack down. Company arms Union with super secret sci-fi guns…rather than just some Enfields and grenades. If you think any of this is important, you’re wrong. It barely even matters to the resolution of the book. Just remember, technological advancement is bad, because of the natural tendency of people to commit convoluted suicide.
Conspirators brought to justice? Nope. Murderer brought to justice? Sad case of exposure carelessly designed alien technology. Sentient machines, the one that couldn’t keep it power under control, mind-warped a kid into a time-displaced psychotic, and was the technological linchpin for the evil company…it’s here to save humanity. Our story is completed with a machine imparting unspecified alien savior wisdom, which will save some small fragment of humanity...in some other story.
The story is just messy. I feel like the author got trapped trying to preach a sermon about the evils of modern society, but didn’t like the idea of going back to horse and buggy, so…alien wisdom! Since the author doesn't appear to have a thesis on what such humanity saving wisdom would be, we don't even get to see a vision of this future. I’d have given this one star, but it really is good prose. The author may be better served by pairing with someone who’s good at plots and cohesive story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bull
- 10-20-12
Mediocre Science Fiction novel wins Edgar award
I was looking for a new mystery writer to try on, so I went to Audible's list of Award Winners and clicked on Edgar Awards. What it says there is the award is for "the best in mystery fiction." And this book was Edgar Award Winner, Best Paperback Original, 2012.
What I got was a science fiction novel, and not a very good one at that. It's a mystery only in that there's a policeman involved with some dead people. Beyond this, the only remaining mystery is what the folks on the Edgar Award committee were thinking.
You know those old sci-fi stories where some super-race comes from a galaxy far far away in the far far distant past of the earth, and affect the course of human civilization? Some times they built the pyramids and left runes with incredible wisdom, other times they planted a sort of time capsule that opens and saves the world in a distant future. Yeah, it's one of those.
The publisher's summary highlights the eleven bodies in the trolley. You think some cop is going to poke around in the seedy underbelly of Evesden, or charge through the boardroom of the McNaughton Corporation, looking for clues and piecing it all together? Nah. This mystery gets solved as a twist on the old what-happens-when-the-wise-aliens'-powers-aren't-handled-right shtick, or something like that. I admit I wasn't paying much attention by the time the explanation came.
Richard Poe is a very good narrator, although he didn't have much to work with here. The story was so lame that I found myself paying more attention to Poe's accents than to the story line. And that's sort of bad news for Mr. Poe, because he doesn't do British all that well. He pronounces "been" as "bean", but that's about it.
It did get me wondering though, why is that when a Brit does a bad American accent it sounds sort of cute and charming, but when an American does a bad Brit accent it sounds pretentious and ... well, stupid?
Oh well. Bottom line, if you're looking for a good mystery, keep looking. And don't assume just because a book wins an award that it deserved it.
Ratings: 2 stars for the story. I used to read a lot of science fiction, and if I had known this was actually sci-fi I would have been more charitable. The younger me might have liked it. But only 1 star overall, because I was deceived.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful