Book Summary and Reviews of The Executor by Jesse Kellerman

The Executor by Jesse Kellerman

The Executor

A Novel

by Jesse Kellerman

  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2010, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Perpetual graduate student Joseph Geist is at his wit's end. Recently kicked out of their shared apartment by his girlfriend, he's left with little more than a half bust of Nietzsche's head and the realization that he's homeless and unemployed. He's hit a dead end on his dissertation; his funding has been cut off. He doesn't even have a phone. Desperate for some source of income, he searches the local newspaper and finds a curious ad:

CONVERSATIONALIST SOUGHT.
SERIOUS APPLICANTS ONLY.
PLEASE CALL 617-XXX-XXXX
BETWEEN SEVEN A.M. AND TWO P.M.
NO SOLICITORS.

And so Joseph meets Alma Spielman: a woman who, with her old-world ways and razor-sharp mind, is his intellectual soul mate. How is he to know that what seems to be the best decision of his life is the one that seals his fate?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Few thriller writers today are as gifted as Kellerman at using lucid and evocative prose in the service of an intense and nail-biting story. " - Publishers Weekly

"The buildup is excruciatingly slow—think bad Dostoyevsky—and the protagonist so unsympathetic that it's difficult to care about his quandaries." - Library Journal

"There’s a subtle but gnawing inevitability to this very closely observed, engaging portrait of an eternal sophomore." - Booklist

This information about The Executor was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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R

Excellent!
My first book by Jesse Kellerman and cannot wait to read his previous ones! I loved everything about it: the plot, the well-defined characters as well as the depiction of the darkness of the human soul that permeates the entire story. I ended up caring deeply for Joseph even if he does commit unspeakable acts. Honestly, I rooted for him in spite of such acts and wanted him to be okay!

This book is great entertainment and will leave you thinking about it way after turning the last page. Not to be missed.

Donna

Maybe it was the reader
I listened to this book rather than reading the book. Because I am an audio book fan, I realize that a good narrator of a book can make a bad book great (the voice is so good) or a good book bad (the voice is a monotone and flat when the book is not).

The plot was apparent after a few chapters. The discussion of philosophy juxtaposed against the actions of the characters actions was interesting - but either because of the reader voice or the actual text, I found the book pedantic.

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Author Information

Jesse Kellerman Author Biography

Photo: Blake Little

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer's Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored Crime Scene, A Measure of Darkness, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children's books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ...

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