perry is coasting and reusing a compe best material for this

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	• Death Benefits (SIGNED) Thomas Perry Random House, 2001 average customer review:based on 53 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

perry is coasting and reusing a compe best material for this

ok, some great ideas, recycled plots and scenarios from his earlier books, lame ending, still perry is great and I will continue to buy his books, next one is supposed to be better, pursuit!

Love Perry, However the book sagged by end

The basic premise is interesting. The intricacy of the insurance world is explained quite well and John's life is boring. However the problem comes in the third act when Max, John and the new girl with many names are trapped in a town that is evil. Nice twist, an almost unexpected road leading to this final showdown. But here;s the problem Ellen Snyder (assistant manager at the Pasadena branch office of McLaren Life and Casualty, pays out a 12 million dollar death benefit to an imposter and then disappears, company red flags go up all over)a pivotal character dead before any other characters get to interact with her. John only reflects on his brief affair. I felt a little cheated when her body is found, quite impossibly, in a field. She's instrumental to the case yes but also to the who tableau of the crime and hence the book. The replacement girl is suppose to be this genius interesting thing but she comes in as a pale substitute.
Security consultant, Max Stillman, is called in to clean up the mess. Grabbing data analyst, John Walker, from McLaren's San Francisco headquarters to assist him, because he knew Ellen intimately, the two set off across the country, tracking Ellen and the money. Stillman's convinced she's guilty of insurance fraud. Walker is sure she's innocent and sticks with Stillman and the case to protect and defend her. But what these two find, at the end of the road, shocks and surprises even Max Stillman, and he's seen it all. However at a certain point the obvious becomes apparent and the three of them trapped in this town that kills for cash is played well but never pays off.
What hurts the book is that we're total outsiders to this town and its residents so they're all violent zombies attacking the heroes. There is no connection to the villains, they're just a mass facelss mob. If Ellen had been one of them then we could see some motivation see some betrayal, some game played. I love Thomas Perry's work but no one is close to getting into the scrapes that Jane Whitefield does and gets out of.
Max Stillman is good, not a Jane but good. John just gets to be a newbie and the chickie who loves computers is just there as a sex convenience and DC-esque Oracle.

A nice ride but don't expect the bells and whistles and porterhous you get with 4 out of 5 of teh Jane Whitefield books. This is a departure when instead there should have been some kind of combo action. Jane trying to hide Ellen as Max.John and towns[people close in all for different reasons. Now that wou;d've been interesting.

A page turner? Ehhhh, a finisher. You're 100 pages in, might as well finish it.

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A Good Read

Another winner from Thomas Perry. The hero comes from an unexpected source and by the end has found his true calling. I would like to see more of John Walker from Mr. Perry. John Walker is a character to rival Jane Whitefield.

Another Great Perry Novel

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.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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