The Beneficiary [Kindle Edition]

Marshall Thornton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Beneficiary is a well recommended read."
--Allison, Well-Read Reviews

"The twists and turns were subtle, and in some cases, not obvious until you read the perfect ending. I was second guessing myself the entire time, wondering what was going to happen"
--Karen, e-Fiction Book Club

Product Description

Set against the backdrop of the Los Angeles riots, this contemporary noir follows a struggling real estate agent who’s cooked up a plan to make a big pot of money. Hanging around a Narcotics Anonymous meeting she finds a former addict struggling through the last stages of AIDS. Offering him support, she mortgages her home and uses the money to buy property in his name. Property she insures. As she waits for him to die so she can collect her big payday, she begins to suspect he may not be everything she thought.

10,000 words. Approximate reading time: 29 - 41 minutes.

Now includes the bonus story SIMPLE ADDITION.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 129 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001R4C07O
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,260 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Marshall Thornton is an award-winning author, playwright and screenwriter living in Long Beach, California. Best known for the Boystown detective series, he is also the author of the thriller Desert Run and the comedy The Perils of Praline, or the Amorous Adventures of a Southern Gentleman in Hollywood. He received an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, where he was awarded the Carl David Memorial Fellowship and recognized in the Samuel Goldwyn Writing awards. He has had plays produced in both Chicago and Los Angeles and short stories published in The James White Review and Frontier Magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written. suspenseful short story, February 3, 2009

By 

Gregory Bernard Banks ", author" (Atlanta area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Beneficiary (Kindle Edition)

Marshall Thornton's short story, "The Beneficiary," is a great suspenseful tale that takes place during the time of the 1990s Los Angeles riots, and is the story of a desperate real estate agent who comes up with a plan to commit insurance fraud involving finding, and marrying, a man who is near death's door. Despite the fact that she finds what seems to be the perfect mark for her plan, as the plan progresses, she begins to worry that things may not be quite as simple as she originally thought.

Thornton's writing is excellent. His characters are well developed and the setting was enough to make one believe they are back in the 90s. The story progresses at a strong pace and keeps you guessing until it reaches an ending that to me has a bit of a Hitchcock-like twist. The story is short, and so it was a bit disappointing to reach the end so soon. But at the same time, in the hectic times we live in today, a good, quick read is also much appreciated sometimes, and this story definitely provides just such an experience.

This is a story that I believe everyone will enjoy.

- Gregory Bernard Banks, author & publisher

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It' s Over?, July 18, 2010

By 

Diane H. "Erin's Mom" (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Beneficiary (Kindle Edition)

Just as I was getting into the story--it was over. It is literally a 10 minute read!!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, July 15, 2009

By 

Lynn ODell "Red Adept Reviews - A Blog" (Carolinas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Beneficiary (Kindle Edition)

The Good Stuff:

This was a great story of greed. It was told in tight, concise prose with wonderful character development.

No editing errors worth mentioning.

The Bad Stuff:

I can't think of any. ;-)

Length: Novellette - 387 Kindle Locations

Rating: PG for adult themes