Six Hours Past Thursday

By Jack Payne

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591134935
• ISBN13: 9781591134930
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Impact Books
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Scruples are for suckers

A fictional account of a scummy, womanizing con-man that explains in boastful detail how crooks can legally manipulate the system to defraud their victims in business and investments. The author, Jack Payne, has seen it all in the real world, then managed to transpose a myriad of devious machinations into an entertaining tale of deception and greed. A must-read for anyone thinking about buying a business or real estate opportunity.The protagonist, Steve Draves, is as good at bending rules as a magician is at twisting balloon animals. Behind his family-man facade lurks a narcissist bereft of any morals. Payne not only manages to describe the sexist womanizer's exploits without needless vulgarity, he actually has you worrying about someone you'd want to murder if you ever did business with them.While it's hard to imagine this psychopathic liar could have the ability to feel the emotion of love, his occasional acts of consideration - for even a select few - leaves you wondering if redemption is a possibility. Though it appears easy for Draves to read and manipulate both the emotions and thought processes of someone during a short encounter, it proves to be an impossible task with those he interacts with on a daily basis.In a dramatic twist, which should enlighten us all to the vagaries of ego and empathy, Jack Payne leaves us with an enduring tale of the human condition.

Titilating psychological thriller!

Payne really delivers an action-packed look into the life of a business broker who lives just above the law -- and at times, a bit below. As long as Steve Draves doesn't get caught, anything goes. The reader really gets into Draves' head through Payne's vivid descriptions on his thoughts and actions. Draves leads more than just a double life. A married man who would, at least, like to be cheating on his wife with a variety of women who tantalize and taunt Steve, at least from his perspective. A successful broker, Steve's family lives in a $12,000 house which is a bit modest for a millionaire, even in the 1960s. He plays the part of a struggling young father who keeps his wife on a $150 a week budget. He allows other businessmen to give him "advice" on career moves, while he watches his savings soar in his business deals. Even at his office, his life is for show. A tape recording of typewriter sounds constantly plays to make clients think there are 20-odd staff members working, when there is really only himself and his secretary. Things become dicey when he begins telling his friend about his million-dollar deal with a mob boss who doesn't appreciate all of Draves' wheeling and dealing. Once the mobster gets wind of a mistake Steve's secretary made, he's on the run! Despite Steve's character being such a sexist, self-proclaimed Don Juan, I found myself secretly pulling for Steve, hoping he straightened out his life. The shock ending is much in line with the reality of Steve's actions and business dealings. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a great ride. I found humor as well as poignancy on every page. I look forward to more fiction from Jack Payne!

an exciting yet cautionary tale -

1966 was the end of The Age of Innocence, according to author Jack Payne. He's right, of course. To be sure there were lots of scams before then, but this book could be considered a catalog of the `scam-of-the-week'. Perhaps tycoon types would find it fun reading all these behind-the-scene descriptions of get-rich-quick schemes, but after a while, truly, it gets to be a bit heavy going. Still, Mr. Payne is one heck of a story-teller, and his considerable writing skills lure you ever-onward toward the final reckoning. Younger readers may have a hard time believing some of this, but us older fogies will know he's absolutely nailed the era and the various mind-sets that existed then. Steve Draves, mid-30s, an entrepreneurial type, is married to the gorgeous Betty, and has almost one-year old twin sons. His business-he buys and sells things, usually real estate-seems to be doing okay, if not spectacularly. What more could he want? Well, to begin with, he wants Tina and Sandy and Deby. And two million dollars in his private account. He is scrupulous when it comes to staying legal, most of the time. The one time things get flubbed proves to be his nemesis. The client is a mobster with a daughter, and she is determined to have Steve for herself, regardless of the maneuvering she must do to make this happen. I wouldn't give away the ending even if I could, because I don't want to be a spoiler. The book is not easily classifiable, to be sure; it's a suspenseful thriller with a touch of mystery. Kudos also to Mr. Payne for being able to tell such a compulsive, male-oriented story without resorting to street language. Here's my recommendation to any reader-try SIX HOURS PAST THURSDAY-I'm sure you'll enjoy it. And then, like me, you'll be waiting, rather impatiently, for the author's next book.

"You Almost Come to Love This Bastard..."

"Six Hours Past Thursday," by Jack Payne, USA, Impact Books J+J, 2004 - ISBN 1-59113-503-8 - pbk, 304 pp., is an intense and troubling revelation of an imperious, conniving, flauting but outwardly successful business broker, Steve Draves, who wants it all and who risks being out on a limb and at risk of cutting too many of the wrong branches. Unbeknownst to his wife Betty, he secretly amasses a small fortune he boastfully reveals to his best but inept straggler friend Mark. Though "happily" married with children, Steve has one too many addictions: he (1) is a fantasizing philanderer with a proclivity for Junoesque bosomy women he meets in bars or the workplace, (2) becomes regularly immersed in Martinis, (3) has inventive machiavellian hustler skills and (4) is overly narcissistic. As is true with most addicts and addictions, "just one or two more and it's quits," Steve manages to jump most of the hurdles and run most of the bases -- but he is stopped short at home plate. And, as in Nature, there can be that eerie calm before the storms. Payne's novel is itself addicting. It provides an interesting itinerary of places, a litany of characters and revealing of some tragic consequences of the imperfections of the human condition. Steve is somebody you would like to hate but you also almost come to love this bastard whose Ego got laid by his Id. The story line is not one to be easily forgotten. The author is very well-published but this is his 1st novel which comes off well -- I found but 4 minor mispellings. The price is right. We don't learn the meaning of the title until the last chapter...do read this book!

The Machiavelli of Underhanded Business

There's something about a conman. From the charming but conniving Starbuck in N. Richard Nash's classic play `The Rainmaker,' to Milo Minderbinder, the larcenous Army Mess Officer in Joseph Heller's `Catch 22,' there's just something about a smooth-talking swindler. Jack Payne's new novel, Six Hours Past Thursday, brings a new face to the pantheon of tricksters. Move over Henry Gondorff, here comes Steve Draves. Steve has it all: a beautiful wife, wonderful children, a fat bank account, and the sort of best friend that he can trust with his life. What more could a man want? In Steve's case - everything. More money, more booze, and every attractive woman who crosses his path. Steve is the master of the tricky deal, and a maestro of the doublecross. It's amazing to watch him work, as he skims, squeezes and strong arms his way to a fortune, all without ever quite breaking the law. Everything is going great until the mob gets involved... Jack Payne brings a lifetime of exceptional business acumen to this novel, and his insider knowledge comes through in the details of every shady deal. His writing is smooth, engaging, and deceptively powerful. But you won't recognize the true nature of Jack Payne's skill until you realize that you love Steve Draves, even as you're compiling your list of reasons to despise him. Jeff Edwards, author of "Torpedo: A Surface Warfare Thriller"