Suddenly John finds himself hustled by Max Stillman, head of his own security firm, under contract to McLaren to investigate a disturbing case of insurance fraud. It appears that a man posing as Alan Werfel, the son of Andrew Werfel, came to collect on his father’s twelve million dollar death benefit. When the real Alan Werfel shows up to claim his inheritance, things are sticky indeed. The agent who surrendered the twelve million to the impostor was Ellen Snyder, a young woman who was in the same training class as Walker. Stillman thinks that Walker will be useful in tracing Ellen, who has been missing for several days, since they were an item during their training session.

Walker is, in fact, of considerable help but unfortunately by the time Ellen is located, she is dead. Stillman believes the scam is too well executed to be the work of one individual, and is the brainchild of an organization that has more plans in mind. He thinks the next time McLaren will be targeted will be during a national disaster, when confusion reigns, and claims are processed with great speed. Walker is offered a chance to sign off the investigation, since his initial responsibilities have been fulfilled, but he feels a certain obligation to avenge Ellen’s brutal murder, and, perhaps, continue in a more exciting lifestyle than the one in which he imagined himself so content.

There is no question about it. Thomas Perry is an accomplished writer. He has had several successful series including Jane Whitefield (Vanishing Act, Blood Money, etc.). Death Benefits introduces two new protagonists, John Walker and Max Stillman who are distinctive, somewhat unpredictable, yet likable characters. Stillman is sufficiently enigmatic that the reader tends to both like and fear him at the same time. Walker for all of his seemingly gentle nature can be surprisingly strong and callous. (Although he immediately regrets his brutal actions).

Serena (a.k.a. Mary Catherine Casey), John’s possible love interest, is just a delight. Smart, totally unflappable, she has the strength and courage to sail through the most hair-raising situations. All three are perceptive and clever, constantly teaching the reader to interpret data in several ways.

Thomas Perry’s descriptive powers are masterful. Whether it be people -“Her accent sounded foreign...but so faint that he could not identify beyond conjecture that... must be Europe, and her appearance argued for the north.” or place -“the room was like a disordered and confused repair shop, the floor tangled with bundles of power cords, and surge suppressors, the tables around the walls crowded with computers and screens, most of them with no keyboards. He opened a door ... The room appeared to have been transported here from somewhere in the Middle East.” or mood - “a solid mass of air that hit him... then was gone. It startled him, a sudden slap from the hurricane, and not a playful pawing... a first pass from something that wanted to eat him.”

Perhaps the one drawback of Death Benefits is the last 75-100 pages. The plot up until then is tight building logically on clues obtained by relentless attention to detail, but it takes a sudden crazy turn. It then reads more like a movie script where action is of paramount importance together with an army of bad guys. The ability to believe that such a number of evil doers could exist in one place under the circumstances the author describes is not within my capabilities. I feel an excellent novel went south in a hurry. I so enjoyed the first two thirds to three quarters of the book, but the ending was disappointing

--Andy Plonka