​Spears Corporate Thrillers

​Spears Corporate Thrillers

Focusing on intrigue and thrillers, Tom's long experience in the corporate world gives him an ability to realistically portray company politics, cover-ups and espionage.  His jaded view of the motives driving senior managers rings true with many who have served sentences in the ranks of large public companies.

Currently working on:  Editing notes for Outsourced.

Up Next:  Second draft of Change Agent

 

Projects In The Works

Outsourced -- Matt Lively pursues his estranged wife to China, where he finds her forced to work on a military weapons program.  The third and final episode of a trilogy which began with "Leverage," and continued with "Pursuing Other Opportunities."

Proposal Completed March 10, 2013

First Draft Completed May 13, 2014

Second Draft Completed February 22, 2015

Third Draft Completed November 30, 2015

 

Right-Sized -- After an emotional lay-off, this novel traces the stories of both the terminated employee and the boss over the course of the subsequent year.  One character sinks into desperation, while the other battles guilt and remorse.  When the situation becomes volatile, however, the real question is who will try to solve their problems with a gun.

Proposal Completed March 16, 2014

First Draft Completed December 1, 2014

Second Draft Completed July 3, 2016

 

Change Agent -- Joel Smith returns, temporarily employed by Freeholdings Marketing, Inc., a software company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He is ordered to retrieve Tipcom, a proprietary software program Freeholdings licensed to Hextech, as the license agreement is about expire and Freeholdings has reason to believe Hextech plans to use the algorithm to go into direct competition with them.  Partnered with security expert Ken Macey, Smith poses as and employee of a cabling sub-contractor, taking advantage of the sub-contractor's access to the company's network to search for the targeted source code.  What he finds, however, has him wondering exactly who's stealing what from whom.

Proposal Completed March 30, 2014

First Draft Completed September 1, 2015

 

Anergy -- Joan Priest's "retirement" to a Caribbean island ends abruptly when Doug Pinto calls on her to help him integrate recently acquired Indian Wind Turbine manufacturer SanDeep Energy into his "green energy" portfolio of businesses.  When Priest discovers a scheme to improperly rake-off profits from the company, she finds her life again at risk.

Proposal Completed April 6, 2015

 

Peter's Principles -- A departure from the normal corporate thriller, Peter's Principles follows company misfit Peter Willard in his unlikely ride up the corporate ladder at Pneumatics, Inc.  Willard's unique combination of overconfidence, political ignorance, and dumb luck will keep the reader chuckling while also noticing a few similarities from their own work experiences.

Proposal Completed April 12, 2016

 

On the Drawing Boards

 

Untitled Project -- A senior manager, confronted with a potential affair by one of his key producers during a corporate retreat, investigates the situation to find a disturbing web of deception running through his entire sales organization.

 

Bad Employee, Great Employee - A non-fiction companion work to Bad Boss, Great Boss.  This book will cover the subordinate behaviors that drive managers and compare those to the characteristics that makes an employee highly valued by their supervisor.