Public Service

by Colin Knight

Not many jobs are for life.
Jeff Parsons was angry, angry enough to kill. A reliable, dependable, and mostly honest public servant, Jeff expected to ride the government gravy train undisturbed until his retirement in 2025.


On Friday March 2, 2012, Jeff’s train derailed; a confidential email revealed that Jeff’s boss, under the guise of government-wide cut backs, planned to ‘let Jeff go’ so they could use the savings to reward and promote their sycophant lackeys and painted whore.


Unemployment at fifty would destroy Jeff‘s life and threaten the security and health of his children.


That was not acceptable.
Desperate and determined, Jeff analysed the problem; six deaths in seven days ought to be enough.


All he needed was a killer.

Genres: Ebooks, Fiction

ebook

First published January 3, 2015

About the author

Colin Knight was born in Manchester, England to working class parents – his father painted houses and drove delivery trucks; his mother worked in a retirement home. He and his four siblings shared a small three-bedroom house on an unremarkable city owned housing estate ten miles from the city centre. From seven to sixteen years old, he held newspaper and milk delivery jobs, which he did, before school. Educated to state standards, at an experimental public high-school for boys, Colin graduated at sixteen with minimum credentials. At eighteen, he joined an American international company as a general office helper. By twenty-three Colin had developed an aptitude for product management and marketing. His career with the American company provided work assignments in Italy and Switzerland, as well as travel to many European countries. In 1987, Colin immigrated to Canada to work for a distributor of the American company. In 1991, he took a chance and quit work to attend university. By 1997, Colin had obtained a BA Honors Degree in Political Science, and a MA Degree in International Relations. In 1999, after a brief return to the private sector, Colin joined the Canadian Federal Government. During his fifteen-year government career, Colin worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency, the Public Safety Department, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and most recently, he was a Senior Policy Analyst in the Federal Privy Council Office. Government work and assignments took Colin to Europe, Asia, Latin America and the US. Colin retired from the government in 2014 to focus on family, writing and life. Colin lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife and their three children. In between housework, groceries, shuttling children and general family support, Colin is working on his next novel. Squash, soccer, learning to play the guitar, and quality beer relieve stress and writers block.

Reviews

[Readsandeats · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as I won a giveaway on Good Reads. All the thoughts in this review are my own and in no way influenced by anyone.

I did like this book, it was written from the perspective of the main character for most of the book which I found interesting.
The premise of this book is that there have been a number of members of the Canadian Inland Security Secretariat murdered and those that are still alive have been brought to Ottawa Police HQ to protect them. We are not told about the other members of the department except from Jeff. As he was friends with the prime candidate as the murderer, he is the main person the police interview. To me he soon became a character I found it hard to like or sympathise with and as the story unfolded he became even more unlikeable.
The end of the novel was quite disturbing and Jeff even more unlikeable (he said he does everything for his family but that I am not so sure about).

It is an interesting read and would say if you like murder mystery stories then give it a go.

[Lizenbyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book as the story was told from the first person prospective. As I manage a large work group, I was very interested in the office "politics" from this writer's perspective. I would read another book by this auther.

[Clare Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very interesting read by Colin Knight, very creative. I am sure so many people can relate to the stories in this book about the real working world I know I could. A very different novel to what I normally read, however I have read two other books by Colin Knight that I really enjoyed reading so had to give this one a try. It makes you wonder what your co-workers are really thinking about their position in the corporate world and the lack of good leadership in so many organizations.

Very different story line that keeps you in suspense until the very last page. If you are looking for a book with a very interesting plot that is very different from most novels I have read, this would be the book to read.

No on to my 4th Colin Knight novel and looking forward to his next one.

[Antigone Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bureaucrats from a small Canadian government division are dying at an alarming rate. The methods of death are all different, accident, suicide, hit and run. But when six die in less than a week the police suspect something more sinister is afoot. They bring in Jeff,a co-worker, who knew the deceased and the dirty secrets of government life. Is he a witness or a killer?

This is a fun book, cleverly plotted and pretty well written. It alternates between Jeff and the victims. Jeff is a bit bombastic, pontificating about the wrongs, slights and ineptitude of the office. Ending is good and the tone is wry.

[Michael Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so polite Canadians, serial killers, oh my.

Intriguing shifting use of third and first person telling the story of a whole lot of political housecleaning. Story is engaging exploration of what happens when bureaucrats go bad, very bad. I found the changing voice used to tell the story well done, and developed a real sense of empathy for the protagonist.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of this novel through GoodReads. This review is all my own reactions to the book, and received no compensation for my review.

[Rachelle Bachiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading books by Colin Knight. The story is about office discontent of higher management and how they use people to agree with their plan while mistreating others when they do not go with the flow. Jeff, who is the main character, even though he is not in high management, uses people to his advantage when he plans to kill those he dislikes. He keeps saying that he does it for his family but in the end does he do it for them or for himself. Was very disturbed by the ending since he will continue to eliminate those who do not belong in higher management. Very frightening.

[Laura Poppenwimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very unusual plot where the main character is a public servant who kills his incompetent co-workers. The style is interesting, a chapter about the people while they were alive and then a chapter about the killing. The story moves along and even manages to elicit sympathy for the killer and a feeling of disgust at the workers killed, maybe they actually deserved. Disturbing and interesting at the same time. A very original storyline.

[Rick Molitor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story

This was a very different and interesting story. It was a compelling read. The story grabs your attention and holds it all the way through to a very interesting ending. It was an interesting perspective that holds your interest. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Arrowhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

This author kept me spellbound from page one to the end. Many twists and turns kept you wondering what is next. Imagination like that is to be applauded. Can’t wait to read another of his books.

[Roblin Muso]

57:7. Believe in God and his messenger, and spend something out of whatever He has let you inherit from anyone else. Those of you who believe and spend on charity and in public service will have an even larger fee.

[Kathy Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

This book was incredible. The ending was not at all what I expected. Can't say much more without this review being a spoiler. Will there be another book to follow this one.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premise and well-written. Great flow to the story and good characters even though I couldn't like any one very much.

[Susan Quenneville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Ottawa, this book was my read-at-bedtime one for the past few weeks. Glad to have finally finished it!

[Juju · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok read

[James Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read! The plot in intruiging and the characters are complex.

[Barb VanderWel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book.
I can't wait for more.
I will be leaving reviews on AMAZON & GOODREADS!
And letting everyone know about it.
So I gave it FIVE STARS!

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting genre

The author teased the readers with the plot. I vacilated back and forth between the likelihood of the speaker being the criminal or simply an innocent observer

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what to think about this book, it was mostly in the same setting. I mean it was good, perfect murder, however, I would read more of this Author.


Cherie'

[Alexandra Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I don't usually read outside of the romance genre but enjoyed this read. Don't want to give away spoilers but know you're in for some interesting twists from some intriguing characters!

[Diane Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but did not completely pull me into the story. There have been a lot of murders at one business, and the ones that were still alive were brought to the Ottawa Police HQ in order to protect them. Jeff tells us about the other members who are still alive and is the prime murder suspect.

It was interesting and a decent read. If you like mysteries you may like this one!

[Lavender]

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I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.