"The Company Man" by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit)

The Company Man
Robert Jackson Bennett
464 pp. Orbit. $13.99
Pub. Date: 4/11/2011
ISBN-13: 9780316054706

Unique settings in speculative fiction novels are a rare thing. Take Robert Jackson Bennett's "The Company Man." Set in 1919-20, the book inhabits the fictional city of Evesden, a monstrous, Orwellian megapolis which serves as the home base for the McNaughton Corporation. But McNaughton isn't any ordinary corporation--this is a rule the world type of company. Think Microsoft. Then run that through your factorial machine. Now you are getting close. McNaughton is ubiquitous, seemingly omniscient and all-powerful with the coolest whiz-bang technology available.

It also has a vault full of company secrets; secrets which their Security department work hard to keep out of public purview. Cyril Hayes is a Company man, a fixer who takes care of problems, snips loose ends, and plugs holes in the McNaughton informational dike. He is, also, a tragedy on two legs, held together by narcotics, his best friend Detective Garvey, and his new assistant Samantha.

A seemingly random murder leads Hayes through the underbelly of Evesden, where secrets even he wasn't aware of are finally revealed as he travels further down the rabbit hole.

Unfortunately, the city of Evesden is the most interesting character in "The Company Man." The rest are drawn from the handbook of detective noir cliches. Hayes is such a flawed protagonist, it is hard to believe him competent enough to execute his job. Not making things easy for the protagonist is understandable, but Hayes self-inflicted problems really stretch believability. And his character isn't developed enough to make the reader think he has the level of strength of character to pull himself out of the gutter. His assistant Samantha and his pal Garvey are too thin, and their respective character arcs are obvious. In particular, Samantha doesn't have much point in the novel, her character mostly along for the ride. She is wide-eyed innocence confronting the big city--the real world--for the first time in her life. Her naivety doesn't add to the novel; it just seems contrived.

I was disappointed in some of the mysteries underlying "The Company Man." One of the main ones: where does McNaughton's technology come from, was predictable. The others left me unsatisfied. Bennett has a real handle on the language and tone of the genre--it is the story that lets him down. If the characters had been  more vivid and personal and the plot more engrossing, "The Company Man" could have been a special novel. Instead, it feels like going through the motions. It is mental mind candy that leaves your stomach sour after consuming it all. There just isn't enough substance here for a recommendation.

Final Grade: 6 out of 10