Book Review: Death Benefit

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Death Benefit     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Philip Harper
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Series: George Gray # 3
Simon & Schuster, Jul 2000, $24.00, 236 pp.

In Philadelphia, Jim Hartman loves stealing and relishes killing. He enjoys making blood money out of his illicit activities. About the only thing he loathes is working at an honest job. He cheats people out of their insurance benefits and murders individuals so that he can earn a fee when his clients, the benefactors, settle a wrongful death suit.

His biggest mistake was crossing paths with investigative crime fighter George Gray. For a fee, George also steps outside the law to do whatever is necessary to recover and return money taken away by cheats like Hartman. When the wife of a friend of Gray dies, Hartman plies his trade. Gray smells a con and instigates a game of cat and mouse in which he intends to blackmail his opponent into returning the absconded funds or escort him to the police.

The third Gray investigative thriller (see PAYBACK and FINAL FEAR) is a powerful tour-de-force starring two males living on opposite sides outside the law. One is heads and the other is tails, but they share the same coin of operating above (or below) the law. This leaves the audience with the moral dilemma as to what is right and wrong, and what is ethical because a good cause still means defying society’s rules. Philip Harper raises the conscience of the reader, but provides no pat answer leaving it to the individual to draw his or her own conclusions. DEATH BENFITS is a fascinating yet frightening tale that hits the gut because it is not only plausible, it seems genuine.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner