What do you think?
Rate this book
Price on Their Heads: A Novel of Income Inequality and Mayhem
Warning! This story contains impolite language, graphic violence, a little sex, and is very politically incorrect.
Jackie Key inherits a full scholarship from a rich man murdered by his brother. To justify his complicity, he studies the economic ripple effect of the dead man’s assets. What he discovers and tries to publish makes him become public enemy number one among the country’s rich and powerful because Dr. Jackie Key can calculate a true price on their heads.
From Jeff Posey, author of The G.O.D. Journal, comes a twisting and turning contemporary political thriller that exposes the cruelly tilted playing field of American economics and politics. Join Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr. Jackie Key as the heavy-handed government and ultra-rich drive him to join a team of assassins who target his list of the “too rich to exist.”
Jackie Key inherits a full scholarship from a rich man murdered by his brother. To justify his complicity, he studies the economic ripple effect of the dead man’s assets. What he discovers and tries to publish makes him become public enemy number one among the country’s rich and powerful because Dr. Jackie Key can calculate a true price on their heads.
From Jeff Posey, author of The G.O.D. Journal, comes a twisting and turning contemporary political thriller that exposes the cruelly tilted playing field of American economics and politics. Join Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr. Jackie Key as the heavy-handed government and ultra-rich drive him to join a team of assassins who target his list of the “too rich to exist.”
300 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2014
439 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Posey
26 books6 followersJeff Posey has a geology degree and worked as a petroleum geologist before he discovered the world of words.
Since then, he's been city editor of a metropolitan magazine, fiction editor for a national magazine, and then stumbled on his own ignorance: about business. So he earned an MBA, thinking that would solve everything. Ha! But it did give him the ability to see things that had been invisible before, such as how business and money truly work.
Now he writes short stories and novels, most of them inspired by his nearly two decades of research and fascination with ancient Southwest cultures (mainly the good ol’ Anasazi) and tied to his favorite area in and around Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
You’ll see allusions to the ancient ones in all of his work, which he describes as rather like a huge ongoing meta-novel.
To learn more, see http://JeffPosey.net/.
Since then, he's been city editor of a metropolitan magazine, fiction editor for a national magazine, and then stumbled on his own ignorance: about business. So he earned an MBA, thinking that would solve everything. Ha! But it did give him the ability to see things that had been invisible before, such as how business and money truly work.
Now he writes short stories and novels, most of them inspired by his nearly two decades of research and fascination with ancient Southwest cultures (mainly the good ol’ Anasazi) and tied to his favorite area in and around Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
You’ll see allusions to the ancient ones in all of his work, which he describes as rather like a huge ongoing meta-novel.
To learn more, see http://JeffPosey.net/.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 25, 2014
I'm the author, so I think it's pretty good. See what you think.
December 26, 2014
All fiction requires a reader to be able to suspend disbelief. Some genres (much science fiction and fantasy) ask more of the reader in this regard than others (contemporary fiction, romance, and chick-lit, for example). Books in the thriller genre tend to fall toward the high end of this scale. Regular readers of a genre learn to buy into the less believable aspects of a story or abandon the genre. The reason I mention this is because when reflecting on this story after finishing, I found that some aspects of it seemed far-fetched. However, while reading it (which is where believing matters) I was immersed in the story and not questioning events at all.
The premise of the book is intriguing. The issue of income inequality is one that has been getting a lot of attention in certain US political circles the last several years. Jackie Key, the protagonist who is an economist, has spent years studying the effect the concentration of assets and income has on the function of the economy and has developed formulas that quantify these effects. Just as he’s ready to publish a paper outlining his findings, those in power find out, and all heck breaks loose.
I liked this story. As a thought experiment (what if an economist actually could and did show the detrimental effects of income inequality on the economy) it worked for me. I cared about what happened to Jackie and Maura, a reporter who becomes his sidekick and romantic interest. The thriller part of the story was good, and that’s what matters more than any underlying themes or points the reader might or might not care about.
However, there were a few places where I thought the author stumbled. One example is when Jackie meets Maura for the first time. Jackie’s feelings, just before Maura came into his office, were foreshadowing that she was going to be extremely important in some way. I felt the way the author did this was overdone and way too obvious. Another example was a spot that talked about monopolies that, while it didn’t detract from the story, I also believe was far from reality.
But what I thought was the best aspect about Price on their Heads was what it didn’t do. So many of the books I read that are premised around a hot button political issue feel like the author cared more about trying to make political points than telling a good story. I’m okay with attempting to make a political point, whether I agree with the point or not. But the hard sell approach many of these books take turns me off, whether I agree with them or not. Here, I didn’t feel that way. It felt like the author cared more about the story than the politics, which is as it should be.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
The premise of the book is intriguing. The issue of income inequality is one that has been getting a lot of attention in certain US political circles the last several years. Jackie Key, the protagonist who is an economist, has spent years studying the effect the concentration of assets and income has on the function of the economy and has developed formulas that quantify these effects. Just as he’s ready to publish a paper outlining his findings, those in power find out, and all heck breaks loose.
I liked this story. As a thought experiment (what if an economist actually could and did show the detrimental effects of income inequality on the economy) it worked for me. I cared about what happened to Jackie and Maura, a reporter who becomes his sidekick and romantic interest. The thriller part of the story was good, and that’s what matters more than any underlying themes or points the reader might or might not care about.
However, there were a few places where I thought the author stumbled. One example is when Jackie meets Maura for the first time. Jackie’s feelings, just before Maura came into his office, were foreshadowing that she was going to be extremely important in some way. I felt the way the author did this was overdone and way too obvious. Another example was a spot that talked about monopolies that, while it didn’t detract from the story, I also believe was far from reality.
But what I thought was the best aspect about Price on their Heads was what it didn’t do. So many of the books I read that are premised around a hot button political issue feel like the author cared more about trying to make political points than telling a good story. I’m okay with attempting to make a political point, whether I agree with the point or not. But the hard sell approach many of these books take turns me off, whether I agree with them or not. Here, I didn’t feel that way. It felt like the author cared more about the story than the politics, which is as it should be.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
November 30, 2014
*ARC courtesy of NetGalley*
Review also at JustOneMoreBlogAboutBooks
What a ride!!! This book was definitively an amazing race, for its characters and for me as a reader! It was different from everything I've read, but in a good way: I'm very happy to have stepped out of my comfort zone a little to read Jeff Posey's novel.
I admit the book lost me a little when Jackie, talking with Maura, went deep in his economic model and theory of richness and whatnots but, after that first sort of interview, the story did get better and better.
The author put together a really great set of characters - every one of them quite well developed and realistic - and assembled an even more great (not really) fictional universe where everything you took for granted was in reality something different and way more complicated. Nothing in this book went as I expected, I was always blown away by a character's erratic action - mostly Jimmy's - or an unpredictable set of circumstances. It was mindblowing...and I loved it!
Price on Their Heads kept me on my toes, that's for sure!
At last, I'd like to thank the author for the chance to read his book for free through NetGalley and I hope he appreciates my review.
Review also at JustOneMoreBlogAboutBooks
What a ride!!! This book was definitively an amazing race, for its characters and for me as a reader! It was different from everything I've read, but in a good way: I'm very happy to have stepped out of my comfort zone a little to read Jeff Posey's novel.
I admit the book lost me a little when Jackie, talking with Maura, went deep in his economic model and theory of richness and whatnots but, after that first sort of interview, the story did get better and better.
The author put together a really great set of characters - every one of them quite well developed and realistic - and assembled an even more great (not really) fictional universe where everything you took for granted was in reality something different and way more complicated. Nothing in this book went as I expected, I was always blown away by a character's erratic action - mostly Jimmy's - or an unpredictable set of circumstances. It was mindblowing...and I loved it!
Price on Their Heads kept me on my toes, that's for sure!
At last, I'd like to thank the author for the chance to read his book for free through NetGalley and I hope he appreciates my review.
November 2, 2014
REVIEW: PRICE ON THEIR HEADS
What an exciting, engrossing, thriller! I want to read it again! I'm not sure whether the moral encased here should be: "The Past is never really over" or "Never go public with whatever you know." Professor Jackie Key discovers both these lessons to be true, when his still-unpublished macroeconomics treatise is leaked and incites the Ultra-Wealthy to want him fired, expelled, arrested, even terminated; and the long-lot covert spy."wet-worker" older brother, not above a bit of assassination himself, reappears to rescue Jackie and his journalist-lover.
What an exciting, engrossing, thriller! I want to read it again! I'm not sure whether the moral encased here should be: "The Past is never really over" or "Never go public with whatever you know." Professor Jackie Key discovers both these lessons to be true, when his still-unpublished macroeconomics treatise is leaked and incites the Ultra-Wealthy to want him fired, expelled, arrested, even terminated; and the long-lot covert spy."wet-worker" older brother, not above a bit of assassination himself, reappears to rescue Jackie and his journalist-lover.
November 20, 2014
What a remarkable book, I have never though about economics inn that way before and certainly not that so few people can control the incomes of the rest of the world population. A fascinating story with a noble end. I do love reading a book when not only am I entertained but also learn something new.
March 22, 2019
*disclaimer: this book was sent to me after entering a Goodreads giveaway.
After NUMEROUS years reading this book (3? If I remember correctly?) I finally got through it. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly made me keep putting this book down for such lengthy periods because I definitely didn't hate it by any standards.
More or less the general plot of the book is something I would typically consider right up my alley: the outcone of somebody (in this case protagonist Jackie Key) researching and making known the trickle down affects of killing off the top 1%.
The author seemed to know what he was talking about (although I got mildly lost at points when technicalities were being discussed and paragraphs were long) and the writing was pretty good. I couldn't get attached to the characters however. They all seemed a little too cookie cutter and throughout all the hurdles and upset and triumphs, I had zero connection to any of them. And then there's the fact that Maura (love interest) was too often referred to as though she was thrown into the plot just for that touch of "female energy" and to be Jackie's curvaceous, sidekick. Don't get me wrong, she had her own backstory and what not, but the way she was described sometimes just came across a bit... mleh. (Technical definition.)
Also the fact that Maura was described as sexy, the most beautiful woman Jackie had ever seen, best sex ever yada yada... but when it came time to describing his ex wife it was all "she used to be beautiful but now she's fat and ugly, and also did I mention she's REALLY FAT."
Aside from the bland stereotypes that came with the few females in this novel, it was overall somewhat decent, and I would recommend people at the very least give it a go.
[Shameless plug.] If you do happen to, I made a spotify playlist to go with the book here ----> https://open.spotify.com/user/97madz/...
After NUMEROUS years reading this book (3? If I remember correctly?) I finally got through it. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly made me keep putting this book down for such lengthy periods because I definitely didn't hate it by any standards.
More or less the general plot of the book is something I would typically consider right up my alley: the outcone of somebody (in this case protagonist Jackie Key) researching and making known the trickle down affects of killing off the top 1%.
The author seemed to know what he was talking about (although I got mildly lost at points when technicalities were being discussed and paragraphs were long) and the writing was pretty good. I couldn't get attached to the characters however. They all seemed a little too cookie cutter and throughout all the hurdles and upset and triumphs, I had zero connection to any of them. And then there's the fact that Maura (love interest) was too often referred to as though she was thrown into the plot just for that touch of "female energy" and to be Jackie's curvaceous, sidekick. Don't get me wrong, she had her own backstory and what not, but the way she was described sometimes just came across a bit... mleh. (Technical definition.)
Also the fact that Maura was described as sexy, the most beautiful woman Jackie had ever seen, best sex ever yada yada... but when it came time to describing his ex wife it was all "she used to be beautiful but now she's fat and ugly, and also did I mention she's REALLY FAT."
Aside from the bland stereotypes that came with the few females in this novel, it was overall somewhat decent, and I would recommend people at the very least give it a go.
[Shameless plug.] If you do happen to, I made a spotify playlist to go with the book here ----> https://open.spotify.com/user/97madz/...
December 28, 2014
First of all, I wish to thank Goodreads First Reads and author Jeff Posey for the good fortune of winning a copy of the excellent and enlightening book!!! Thank you!!! I would recommend this book to everybody, if for no other reason than to see the why and how of the destruction of our economy. How the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and how the middle class has begun to turn into the new poor class. The story line involves an economics professor who writes a well researched and documented study showing how the only way to get the economy back on track is by the elimination of the very rich who not only hoard, but get richer by taking from the lower classes. Because of a so called "hit list", he suddenly is being chased by the government, who we ALL know is bought and paid for by the wealthy. This is a suspenseful thriller and very well written. The characters are very likable, and the storyline entertaining. Had the events not been so over the top fiction, this could almost pass as a how-to need-to manual on how to get our society back on track. I used to advocate (to my mom and husband only!) that we should do away with all our politicians. But, that would not work, because the powers that be would simply find more of the greedy and corruptible 99.9%s to take their place. And the ignorant and brain washed 1%s would continue along their sheep path. If I was super rich, I would start by sending this to every politician and elected and appointed official. I am just thankful that I am old, do not have to worry about it much longer, and have no children and grandchildren to inherit the mess we made of things.
October 29, 2014
Price on their Heads works on the dilemma that if the richest people in America were to pass on their wealth to the rest of America this would benefit the majority - but should this be done via democracy or simply murdering them?
The bulk of the book is effectively like a chase movie with double crossing and shady figures.
The problem for me is that our two heroes work on the theory that all rich people are inherently evil and that you can only get rich by being immoral. Whilst this supports the dilemma of whether they should be murdered it does make it hard to get behind our lead characters meaning that it is difficult to cheer on any character in the book.
Perhaps this was the intent of the author (i.e. is anyone totally good?) but from a reader's perspective having perhaps one lead character with a sense of morality would have helped.
The bulk of the book is effectively like a chase movie with double crossing and shady figures.
The problem for me is that our two heroes work on the theory that all rich people are inherently evil and that you can only get rich by being immoral. Whilst this supports the dilemma of whether they should be murdered it does make it hard to get behind our lead characters meaning that it is difficult to cheer on any character in the book.
Perhaps this was the intent of the author (i.e. is anyone totally good?) but from a reader's perspective having perhaps one lead character with a sense of morality would have helped.
January 8, 2015
First off, I am not an economics expert,though I do understand income inequality and trickle down economics to some degree. That said, I did enjoy the thrill of the chase and the characters . They kept the book going page by page. I did understand the premise of the book but not to the extent of killing people off because they are rich, which makes me glad this is fiction! I REALLY enjoyed the political incorrectness of the book,its a breath of fresh air,believe you me, but buy the book because its a great thrill ride of a read, because it is that ,a thrill ride! The twists and turns in the book keep you wanting to read more.
May 17, 2015
I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads Giveaway a few months back. I was intrigued by the concept of the novel (macroeconomics and murder). Posey provides a good background knowledge base of economics for the reader while not letting the numbers get in the way of the story. Overall, I enjoyed the book. On the other hand, I found some elements quite farfetched and the frequency of references to the physical physique and sexuality of Maura annoying. It did actually distract me at one point and I was counting them on literally every other page, reducing an otherwise interesting character to the role of a sexy sidekick. Still, worth the read. Fast paced, pretty unique and enjoyable.
August 15, 2015
I enjoyed reading ‘Price on their heads.’ There’s not an uninteresting moment in this story.
And if it can keep me interested, as I don’t read too many books in this genre, then it will appeal to the fans of political thriller.
As I have already said in my review ‘worth the time I invested reading ‘Price On Their Heads.’
If you like you can read the full-review by following this link:
http://www.passionatebookreviews.com/...
And if it can keep me interested, as I don’t read too many books in this genre, then it will appeal to the fans of political thriller.
As I have already said in my review ‘worth the time I invested reading ‘Price On Their Heads.’
If you like you can read the full-review by following this link:
http://www.passionatebookreviews.com/...
June 1, 2015
The front cover promises mayhem, it begins within the first ten pages and ends with the last! This is a true page turner! I was a little worried about the economic aspect of the story, and the possibility of a boring read. But, the premise was intriguing enough to make me start reading... boy am I glad I did! There was nothing about this story I did not enjoy. Get a copy, you won't regret it!
July 13, 2015
This book is political without over-doing it. A chase thriller for the most part but with a very serious political message we would do well to understand. Wealth distribution and the failure of trickle down economics is the backbone to an extended story.
At one point I thought it would just be a run of the mill chase thriller but it halls itself back to something better and broader.
At one point I thought it would just be a run of the mill chase thriller but it halls itself back to something better and broader.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews