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A review by mhanlon
The Fixer by Joseph Finder
2.0
I got a copy of this through First to Read, Penguin's advance copy program. I was super excited because Joseph Finder seems like a really nice guy and I really liked his Paranoia, I felt like it captured the telecom/tech industry really well. So maybe I didn't enjoy The Fixer as much because I didn't work in the magazine industry, but there felt like there was something a little flatter in this book. There was a lot of description, and it's obvious that Mr. Finder loves his adopted home of Boston, but I felt a lot of of felt clunky, vague, as if afraid to commit.
Around page 76, in the BlueFire Reader edition, there's a scene in which Rick, the main character, finds himself in a situation that might be a bit disorienting, but in the span of one paragraph we hear the voice he hears are Irish, *maybe*, that the thing he tastes is *maybe* burlap, something he jams his foot into isn't steel, it's *probably* human. The other, most egregious example of the reader being beaten over the head with something was later on in the book, page 173, where Rick understands something, but "Dr. Girona went on as if Rick hadn't replied," and we're treated to the definition of a stroke.
The story was a promising one, but I struggled to find Rick all that interesting (he loses the riches and fame of a lifestyle you're not quite sure he's earned, and then re-earns the riches, sort of, and becomes a d**khead again for a short while) and I found the extensive wardrobe descriptions a little tedious after a while.
I'd go back to Finder again in the future, because he's got a great history of fun, ripping reads, and this would make a good beach read where you can skim the description a little bit more when you have to squint because the sun has come out from behind the clouds again. But this one wasn't his best.
Around page 76, in the BlueFire Reader edition, there's a scene in which Rick, the main character, finds himself in a situation that might be a bit disorienting, but in the span of one paragraph we hear the voice he hears are Irish, *maybe*, that the thing he tastes is *maybe* burlap, something he jams his foot into isn't steel, it's *probably* human. The other, most egregious example of the reader being beaten over the head with something was later on in the book, page 173, where Rick understands something, but "Dr. Girona went on as if Rick hadn't replied," and we're treated to the definition of a stroke.
The story was a promising one, but I struggled to find Rick all that interesting (he loses the riches and fame of a lifestyle you're not quite sure he's earned, and then re-earns the riches, sort of, and becomes a d**khead again for a short while) and I found the extensive wardrobe descriptions a little tedious after a while.
I'd go back to Finder again in the future, because he's got a great history of fun, ripping reads, and this would make a good beach read where you can skim the description a little bit more when you have to squint because the sun has come out from behind the clouds again. But this one wasn't his best.