Description:
As if insurance agents don't have it bad enough, along comes Jim Hartman, a Frankenstein's monster begat of sloth, greed, and Philip Harper (the pseudonym for investigative reporter Jonathan Neumann and Stuart Green, a psychologist specializing in violent offenders). Not content with the usual game and gain, Hartman's hit upon a lucrative sideline: the murder-made-to-look-like-negligence of his clients' children, followed by a wrongful death suit brought by a hand-picked attorney. Or, in Death Benefit's central case, the untimely death of a young wife and mother and the more untimely reasons her policy won't pay. Unfortunately for Hartman, he's picked a friend of erstwhile investigative reporter and earthbound avenging angel, George Gray. But with all of that going for him, Hartman had made a mistake. His lies about Karen's illness were too specific. The events in his phony file would have left a paper trail. If I could show the trail was missing, then I could prove that what he described had never actually taken place. Karen and Jerry's policy had ended eight years ago. That had to mean that Hartman had been keeping the premium payments since then. If I alerted the insurance company about the scam, the company wouldn't like the news but wouldn't do anything to pay Jerry what he was due. If I went to the police, Hartman might get arrested, but that wouldn't get Jerry the death benefit either. Hartman had cheated the family out of their money. I intended to see that he paid. Taut, sure, and finely written, Death Benefit, like Gray's previous outings (Payback and Final Fear), is about simple justice. Wrongs are righted and innocents repaid, legally or otherwise, by the guilty parties. There are more than one, certainly, and sussing out (and resussing out) who they are (watch for the nicely drawn, beautiful, and brilliant lawyer, Rachel Curren), what they owe, and how they'll ultimately pay is worth the price of admission. --Michael Hudson
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