blood_rose_books's review
4.0
In his debut novel Matthew Quirk introduces the reader to The 500, the most powerful people who really run Washington, and they use that power to shape it and it is Mike Ford's job to own them:
Mike Ford's past is definitely different from others attending Harvard Law School, and normally is not one you would put on you University application. Mike grew up in a small town, where his father was a con-man and Mike has been learning the techniques of this trade for as long as he can remember. He is completely shocked, when he gets picked for a job at the Davies Group, Washington's most powerful consulting firm but Davies seems to see something in him. Mike never questions what he is asked to do and he becomes a rising star in the company, but some things do not seem right and Mike begins to question everything. Now, he's staring down the barrel of a gun, pursued by two of the world's most dangerous men. To get out, he'll have to do all the things he thought he'd never do again: lie, cheat, steal-and this time, maybe even kill.
I originally picked up this book because I thought the premise of the book sounded a bit like the TV show Suits, which I am a big fan of. There were just too many similarities not to think that they could be from the same ilk. However, I have since discovered that they are not related but I think if you like the show Suits you will like the book as well.
Yes, you read that correct above, this is Matthew Quirk's debut novel, but you would never know that it is, without searching that information out. Quirk displays a sophistication within his writing and plot lines that you expect from seasoned writers. The first scene will catch your attention and you will need to know how Mike found himself in this situation with a gun to his head. I know it made me want to read more.
I liked the voice that Quick decided to write this book in, with the main character Mike basically talking to the reader about events that have already transpired. I felt that this allowed the reader to get to know the main character better as you were part of his overall thought process. However, this does mean that you do not get to know the secondary characters and have Mike's opinion as to how he sees those characters as well, but for this book I think that it worked really well.
I liked Mike as a character and his struggle, to prove that he was just as good as those who did not have to pay for their education at Harvard and according to him, were just handed all the best opportunities that life could offer while he had to work for every one. Mike comes from an interesting past of con artist and scammers and it is his reliance at times to his past an his father's occupation that makes his work for the Davies Group so interesting. Mike has amazing problem solving skills and just when you think that you can count him out, he is able to come up with a plan, but nothing that seems too crazy, he just sees things differently.
I found this book very interesting and I was captivated throughout and this is a great achievement for a debut author and debut series. I am interested to see how Quirk turns this book into a series, as the ending seemed very final to me, but I think that Quirk will be able to handle this. I am extremely impressed that this is his debut novel and can't wait to pick up his next book.
Enjoy!!!
If You Like This,
Check These Out Too:
Mike Ford's past is definitely different from others attending Harvard Law School, and normally is not one you would put on you University application. Mike grew up in a small town, where his father was a con-man and Mike has been learning the techniques of this trade for as long as he can remember. He is completely shocked, when he gets picked for a job at the Davies Group, Washington's most powerful consulting firm but Davies seems to see something in him. Mike never questions what he is asked to do and he becomes a rising star in the company, but some things do not seem right and Mike begins to question everything. Now, he's staring down the barrel of a gun, pursued by two of the world's most dangerous men. To get out, he'll have to do all the things he thought he'd never do again: lie, cheat, steal-and this time, maybe even kill.
I originally picked up this book because I thought the premise of the book sounded a bit like the TV show Suits, which I am a big fan of. There were just too many similarities not to think that they could be from the same ilk. However, I have since discovered that they are not related but I think if you like the show Suits you will like the book as well.
Yes, you read that correct above, this is Matthew Quirk's debut novel, but you would never know that it is, without searching that information out. Quirk displays a sophistication within his writing and plot lines that you expect from seasoned writers. The first scene will catch your attention and you will need to know how Mike found himself in this situation with a gun to his head. I know it made me want to read more.
I liked the voice that Quick decided to write this book in, with the main character Mike basically talking to the reader about events that have already transpired. I felt that this allowed the reader to get to know the main character better as you were part of his overall thought process. However, this does mean that you do not get to know the secondary characters and have Mike's opinion as to how he sees those characters as well, but for this book I think that it worked really well.
I liked Mike as a character and his struggle, to prove that he was just as good as those who did not have to pay for their education at Harvard and according to him, were just handed all the best opportunities that life could offer while he had to work for every one. Mike comes from an interesting past of con artist and scammers and it is his reliance at times to his past an his father's occupation that makes his work for the Davies Group so interesting. Mike has amazing problem solving skills and just when you think that you can count him out, he is able to come up with a plan, but nothing that seems too crazy, he just sees things differently.
I found this book very interesting and I was captivated throughout and this is a great achievement for a debut author and debut series. I am interested to see how Quirk turns this book into a series, as the ending seemed very final to me, but I think that Quirk will be able to handle this. I am extremely impressed that this is his debut novel and can't wait to pick up his next book.
Enjoy!!!
If You Like This,
Check These Out Too:
vkemp's review
3.0
This was a fast and entertaining read. Michael Ford has always wanted to live the good life. Son of a grifter and con man, Mike grew up poor in Northern Virginia. After a stint in the Navy, he ended up at Harvard Law School and was recruited by Henry Davies to join the Davies Group in Washington, D.C. Now Mike has it all, but at what price? Henry Davies is a fixer, he knows where all the bodies are buried because he buried some of them himself. Now Henry and Mike are on a collision course to uncover what secrets can make someone commit murder and Mike may lose everything he thinks he holds dear.
rosseroo's review
1.0
I tend to read more in the crime or mystery genres, rather than the thriller -- but I made an exception for this, seeing as how it's set in my hometown. I wish I hadn't, because it's an painfully bad version of the kind of thriller that revolves around powerful people and corruption. The premise is that hardworking Mike Ford is recruited from his Harvard Law class to join the most prestigious lobbying firm in Washington. However, the firm is to lobbying as the Navy Seals are to the Coast Guard, operating on a level entirely unto themselves, with the kind of power and access that only exists in fiction.
Of course, Ford soon discovers that his new job might require him to get his hands a little dirty, and that his new bosses are Machiavellian to an extreme. The plot mainly revolves around his attempt to extract himself from the firm, while something shady is going down involving a Supreme Court Justice and a Serbian war criminal (the thug cliche of the last decade). The story is ridiculous on so many levels -- at one point, in order to keep the plot advancing, Ford literally does the opposite of what he tells himself to do and spouts some line about not even understanding how his body was overriding his brain (and no, it's not a sex thing).
There's a subplot that gets more and more central as the book moves on, about Ford's father, who's been in jail for 20+ years. The father was a con artist and thief with a minimal record, and in Ford's telling, is caught red-handed at the scene of a burglary and then sentenced to this incredibly long jail term. Despite the fact that the only people who ever get sentences of such length have either committed major violent crimes or are the subject of some kind of mandatory minimum in relation to drug trafficking, he never once questions his father's sentence for burglary? Well, of course not, because then a big revelation later that ties everything all-too-neatly together, can't happen.
But that's about par for the course for the book, which features lazy cardboard characterization all the way through, even in the way it represents Washington as a place exclusively inhabited by a powerful corrupt elite, and those that profit from or prey on them. And if the storyline sounds familiar, it might be because it's awfully similar to the Grisham book The Firm -- except not nearly as plausible. Skip this one.
Of course, Ford soon discovers that his new job might require him to get his hands a little dirty, and that his new bosses are Machiavellian to an extreme. The plot mainly revolves around his attempt to extract himself from the firm, while something shady is going down involving a Supreme Court Justice and a Serbian war criminal (the thug cliche of the last decade). The story is ridiculous on so many levels -- at one point, in order to keep the plot advancing, Ford literally does the opposite of what he tells himself to do and spouts some line about not even understanding how his body was overriding his brain (and no, it's not a sex thing).
There's a subplot that gets more and more central as the book moves on, about Ford's father, who's been in jail for 20+ years. The father was a con artist and thief with a minimal record, and in Ford's telling, is caught red-handed at the scene of a burglary and then sentenced to this incredibly long jail term. Despite the fact that the only people who ever get sentences of such length have either committed major violent crimes or are the subject of some kind of mandatory minimum in relation to drug trafficking, he never once questions his father's sentence for burglary? Well, of course not, because then a big revelation later that ties everything all-too-neatly together, can't happen.
But that's about par for the course for the book, which features lazy cardboard characterization all the way through, even in the way it represents Washington as a place exclusively inhabited by a powerful corrupt elite, and those that profit from or prey on them. And if the storyline sounds familiar, it might be because it's awfully similar to the Grisham book The Firm -- except not nearly as plausible. Skip this one.
kellyhager's review
5.0
Michael Ford is not doing well. His dad is in prison, his mom has died from cancer and he doesn't speak to his brother. Due to his mom's medical bills, he is also almost $900,000 in debt (well, between the medical bills and the college tuition fees). He'd be willing to do just about anything to make that debt go away.
Enter The Davies Group. They're sort of a consulting firm in DC and they recruit Mike. They pay off his debt, get him a nice apartment and a huge salary. Best of all, Mike quickly falls for a coworker. Now his life is pretty close to perfect.
Unfortunately, just like everything else that's too good to be true, there are a lot of skeletons in The Davies Group's closet...
I devoured this book over the better part of a day. Life kept interfering, which is why it took me that long. (Advice: do not start this book unless you have several hours to devote to finishing it.) It's been compared to The Firm, and that's incredibly apt. Like early John Grisham, this is just an incredibly fun novel. It's very suspenseful, and one of the perfect summer reads this year. (I don't know about you, but when the weather turns hot, I want either a frothy novel or something that is incredibly suspenseful.)
Also, in an election year, political thrillers are almost mandatory, right?
This novel also reminded me of Rosemary's Baby. Obviously there's no satanic cults or devil-babies, but what the two novels do have in common is this huge sense of paranoia. When your enemy could be everywhere (or could have gotten to anyone), who do you trust? Who do you have to help you? And how can you even get help when you don't know if it's a trap?
The 500 is one of the most purely fun (but also thought-provoking and clever) novels I've read in a long time. I'm very excited to read whatever Matthew Quirk writes next. Highly recommended.
Enter The Davies Group. They're sort of a consulting firm in DC and they recruit Mike. They pay off his debt, get him a nice apartment and a huge salary. Best of all, Mike quickly falls for a coworker. Now his life is pretty close to perfect.
Unfortunately, just like everything else that's too good to be true, there are a lot of skeletons in The Davies Group's closet...
I devoured this book over the better part of a day. Life kept interfering, which is why it took me that long. (Advice: do not start this book unless you have several hours to devote to finishing it.) It's been compared to The Firm, and that's incredibly apt. Like early John Grisham, this is just an incredibly fun novel. It's very suspenseful, and one of the perfect summer reads this year. (I don't know about you, but when the weather turns hot, I want either a frothy novel or something that is incredibly suspenseful.)
Also, in an election year, political thrillers are almost mandatory, right?
This novel also reminded me of Rosemary's Baby. Obviously there's no satanic cults or devil-babies, but what the two novels do have in common is this huge sense of paranoia. When your enemy could be everywhere (or could have gotten to anyone), who do you trust? Who do you have to help you? And how can you even get help when you don't know if it's a trap?
The 500 is one of the most purely fun (but also thought-provoking and clever) novels I've read in a long time. I'm very excited to read whatever Matthew Quirk writes next. Highly recommended.
encgolsen's review
4.0
Fast-paced thriller set in a world of DC corruption. Read my complete review here: http://decalino.com/2016/02/12/review-the-500-by-matthew-quirk/
werds's review
3.0
I'd like to give this 3 and a half stars. This is a action film waiting to happen and okay, by the end of the book the author tries to worm in some "deep" connections but that doesn't make it any different from any "1 guy against the Mighty Company" trope.
Nothing wrong with that and Quirk writes in an enjoyable way, but it's a snack between snacks, nothing more.
Nothing wrong with that and Quirk writes in an enjoyable way, but it's a snack between snacks, nothing more.
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