Customer Reviews

The Beneficiary

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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

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

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

what a great way to pass a few minutes. this is a short novella, but don't let that fool you. it keeps u turning the pages. and the ending is pretty clever. can't wait to read more from this author.

This author has talent. He puts this story together, ties up the ends with no excess fluff, and makes it work. Who needs to read about what this character had for lunch and what she wore, etc? Good twist to the story.

I agree with others that this short story has good elements, but I thought it was oddly linear and I didn't like that it was told primarily from just one perspective.

This was a neat short story. Reminded me of the old TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Short and sweet.

This is a well written, entertaining piece of fiction. I look forward to reading more by Mr. Thornton.

I really dont consider myself much of a book critic but man this was bad. The plot actually wasnt horrible but it was so poorly developed that it was almost like reading an outline of a junior high school lit project. No character development, no depth or background and no subtly, clear what the outcome would be. Really a very poor read.

This was a total piece of garbage. Novella my behind, I read it in ten minutes and was sorely disappointed. Even for .99 I expected a lot more. Won't make that mistake again.