Customer Reviews

Death Benefits

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been a fan of Thomas Perry's work since his first book, Butcher's Boy. Perry is one of the rare writers who never inflicts himself on his material, but rather allows the characters to evolve and speak for themselves. His writing is spare, never cluttered, and his characters are always fully realized and highly distinctive. Death Benefits is a fine example of a writer at peak form. Aside from a truly intriguing plot line that extrapolates on the possibilities of misusing life insurance that have not (at least to my knowledge) previously been explored, we have a central character who, at the age of twenty-four, grows up within the pages of this book--ably and entertainingly pulled along by the fascinating Stillman and the clever Serena. What I particularly liked about the character of Stillman, aside from his ingenuity, is his humor and wisdom. There's a lot of truth about life, and about the process of personal growth in these pages. Much as I enjoyed it, though, I found the "bad guys" to be rather an implausible creation. That said, this is a thoughtful and entertaining book, and the last hundred pages of Death Benefits make for a breathless ride. Highly recommended.

In Pasadena, California, insurance agent Ellen Snyder approves the payment of the twelve million-dollar death benefit to an impostor. Not long afterward, Ellen vanishes somewhere between the nearby airport and apparently LA. The impostor has also disappeared. A stunned McClaren Life and Casualty hires private investigator Max Stillman to investigate the fraud.

After making inquiries in both the Pasadena and the San Fransicso based home office, Max successfully recruits John Walker, an analyst working for his client, to assist him on the case. Max believes John can help him because he amorously knew Ellen when they were trainees. John agrees to help because he believes the woman he still loves is innocent of any wrongdoing. With opposite motives, John and Max begin a trek around the country in an effort to locate the money and the two culprits behind the felony.

If anyone had doubts that no one does suspense thrillers better than Thomas Perry does, just read the exciting, action-packed and character driven DEATH BENEFITS. Only a great writer with the talent of Mr. Thomas can turn insurance companies and related fraud seem glamorous and exhilarating, but that is what the author accomplishes in this fabulous tale. Max and John make a powerful team even as their individual traits make them seem like real people. The who-done-it is cleverly designed from the start, when Ellen flees into the night, and never eases up as the audience has another mystery from one of the genre greats.

Harriet Klausner

I agree with those that liked the characters of John Walker and Max Stillman as well as the premise of this novel. As the characters worked their way through the puzzle of how somebody was defrauding McLaren Life and Casualty out of millions of dollars the intrigue gets more complex, interesting and very dangerous. However, the answer to the puzzle struck me as so implausable that after following what had become a real head scratching story, I could not help but wonder why the author had chosen to go there. I have enjoyed all of the Jane Whitefield books and am still looking for a copy of The Butcher's Boy, but this book is simply not up to what I have come to expect from this author. It deserves a better ending.

Max Stillman is a security consultant called into the San Francisco office of McClaren Life and Casualty, his job is to investigate the disappearance of one of their employees, a young woman named Ellen.

As Max begins his questioning of the employees, he comes to the discovery of John Walker, the young claims analyst who once had an affair with the missing co-worker.

Shocked that he has been chosen to accompany Max, John, tries to understand why he is in this mess, and as the pieces fall into place, he finds out that Ellen disappeared quickly after paying a large insurance claim to an imposter.

As the two men work together, one looking to clear Ellen's name and the other looking to convict her, they will uncover an evil conspiracy neither is prepared for.

"Death Benefits" is a first-rate, fast paced thriller, that can NOT be put down. From page one the reader is hurled into a maze of unexpected danger, double-crosses, mysterious characters and un-bearable suspense.

Thomas Perry author of several very good thrillers, none of which compare to this, has written a breakout novel that thriller readers should dive into.

"Death Benefits" deserves a spot on all the bestseller list's!

Nick Gonnella

While Perry has never matched the quality of Butcher's Boy, Death Benefits makes a wonderful read. The story is suspenseful (if not altogether plausible) and he again creates interesting multidimensional protagonists. Like all his books, this one includes extensive descriptive settings so the reader always has a strong physical point of view to accompany the narrative.

Some reviewers have had a problem with the ending, but I found it a unique twist. Yes, one must suspend disbelief when reading; but, what fun thriller doesn't require that? The ending is a bit abrupt; but, you gotta stop the story sometime.

This is a great book to read at the beach or while travelling. It sure helped me pass a couple long train rides.

Death Benefits by Thomas Perry Random House 2001

While I am more familiar with Perry's Jane Whitfield series, which by the way are excellent, this mystery is rich in excitement, detail and well-developed characters.

A scam has been perpetuated against the McClaren Insurance company and Max Stillman, an insurance investigator, picks John Walker to help him because John had been very close to Ellen Snyder, a woman who has also disappeared. In their search for Ellen and some leads about the missing 10 million they encounter several bad guys and get roughed up and a computer specialist who can seemingly get into any data base. When a hurricane hits Florida, John is not only caught in the midst of it but uncovers a thread of the scam they are investigating. Several clever deductions lead John Max and Mary Catherine Casey ( John's new girl friend) to a small New Hampshire town that proves to be the base of a much larger scam than they started with.

The last 100 pages of the mystery are a real screamer and will keep you reading late into the night as John, Max and Mary struggle to save their lives and return with the story.

Once again Thomas Perry has not disappointed me. The only tiny point of criticism is that John's relationship with Max seems much too unlikely. He follows Max with too obligingly. Never-the-less and excellent read.

This was a great read. Perry has a new character John Walker, not a professional like the Butcher Boy nor anything like his Jane series. I was glad to see Perry branch out and do new material, many of my favorite authors last year seemed to just plug out another sequal setting up another sequal. Though I would like another book about Walker.

Walker is pulled from his small cubicle at an insurance company by Stillman a "trouble shooter" and matures as the case proceeds and expands. At first he resists but since the case involves a former girl freind of his (who seems to be either setup or guilty of pulling of a 12 million dollar insurance scam), he feels the need to see the case through and prove her innocent.

All the main characters were well developed and the plot was rivoting. The end was a little quick and the FBI involvement a little weak but all in all a great story.

I have been waiting for Thomas Perry's book and to my surprise found it in a local bookstore. I was disappointed that it was not a Jane Whitehead novel, but he more than made up for that by crafting a tight plot about likeable people that you're really sympathetic to,even though--well, anyway, it's a great thriller, and I sat up to finish reading it until 3:00 AM. I strongly recommend it! pph30@aol.com

I'll skip the plot intros shown in other reviews. There are a limited number of authors whose books I'll reread every few years and all of Perry's books heretofore have fit into that category. When I saw him at a booksigning last year and he explained about Jane being left to wedded bliss and new characters in the next book, I had no regrets since so many series characters become stale after a while.

Max Stillman is fun but a not-unwelcome repetition of similar characters that figured prominently in "Metzger's Dog" and I believe "Dance for the Dead". I enjoyed Max's comment about age in which he says "The ones (changes) you can't see are bigger than the ones you can. One day you just discover that you can't watch this movie or read this book or have this conversation any more. Sometimes you've had it too many times already, but at others, it's not even that. It's just that nothing in it is anything that you're interested in anymore."

Perry's books are always about clever people and I enjoy the way he uses his secondary characters so the primary person can explain how they're in fact so clever (it's done totally modestly). Max starts out being clever but too many years or too many of the old fashioned Mai Tais creep up and he loses his edge and becomes very naive towards the end.

While the maturation under fire of John Walker is interesting, his statements don't always stay in character. Sometimes he seems the only one who knows what's going on and then he's back to the bumbling way he was. There are numerous implausible circumstances.

Those are the cons. While this is the weakest of all Perry's books, he's done so well before, he's entitled. How does this compare to what else is out there, not much of a contest. Will I read this book with Perry's others every summer in which the year is even-numbered, you betcha.

I have been gobbling up Thomas Perry novels ever since discovering his Jane Whitfield series, so I only glanced at the cover when I picked this one up from the bin. I have to confess I was let down when I saw that it was about the insurance industry--what could be more boring? But "boring" is exactly the wrong word to use to describe this wonderfully exciting novel. I was hooked from the first few pages and just could not put it down. This is one of those suspense thrillers where you love the characters and are so swept up in the story you forget to make dinner for yourself. The disappearance of a woman who looks as if she is involved in a scheme to peculate millions leads a former lover on a quest to uncover her fate, and he soon finds himself embroiled in a deep conspiracy. This is believable, a book about greed and love, that will fascinate you.