Review of Death Insured
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Annika porter
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- Latest Review: Death Insured by AJ Tyler
Review of Death Insured
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Death Insured" by AJ Tyler.]
Death Insured by A.J. Tyler is a fun detective novel that follows Chief Medical Examiner Lara Shapiro and investigative consultant Allen Miller. Although they make an unlikely pairing as student and professor respectively, the death of Miller’s aunt brings both coroner and consultant together as they discover some unusual circumstances regarding the death. Simultaneously, Mark Malincek and Maria Otero have been running both a charity and a business buying terminal cancer patients’ life insurance policies and providing them with funds from their charity to continue their cancer treatments. To profit off these patients’ policies, the pair has begun killing their supposed charity recipients and turning a profit. But who truly is the mastermind of this plot, and will they slip up enough to be caught? The plot runs deep in this book as Shapiro and Miller attempt to close in on these “mercy killing” culprits.
Tyler’s novel is a fun detective story that takes the reader on a sophisticated journey filled with murder, seduction, power, and deceit. The plot is extremely well thought-out, with antagonists who scrutinize every detail of their plan. While the reader is let into the thought process of both pro- and antagonists, the villains are able to deceive and misdirect the detectives through their cunning, complex plans. The author clearly thought of every detail, which makes this plot airtight and realistic. Tyler makes the plot extremely engaging by including several twists and turns to keep the audience rooting for the detectives. Many specific details are included in each chapter, as the author sets the scene for each interaction and makes the characters and situations feel all the more realistic.
My few complaints regarding this book stem from the fact that it remains slightly unclear who the main character is. While the book’s blurb may state that Allen Miller is the main protagonist, just as much (if not more) time is spent with the character of Lara Shapiro, whose perspective we read before Miller even makes an appearance. Almost half the book is written from the perspective of the antagonists and, while being an engaging aspect of the book, blurs the focus of who the main character truly is. This resulted in the audience having way more information than the protagonists, even knowing most of the insidious plot within the first few chapters. At that point, all that was left was for the audience to watch as the detectives attempted to discover what readers already knew. In that regard, there was little suspense or surprise in the book, as the real conflict became, “Will the detectives figure out the plot or not?” I think some readers may still find the more passive style engaging, but I believe the book lacked a bit of stakes due to the reader knowing twice as much information as the pro- and antagonists. While this might be nitpicking, I also felt a little gross about some of the portrayals of women in this book. While I’m certain the author had the best intentions, many of the male characters were given extracurricular hobbies, the hobbies of the women included working out “to maintain their physique” and forgoing desserts “to maintain their physique”. One character uses seduction to maintain her power, and I actually did not mind this portrayal. That character felt more fleshed out than other characters and motivated her actions. While I do not believe these odd details were super intentional, I felt weird reading those moments within the novel.
All that said, I believe that Death Insured is an intriguing novel with a well-crafted plot. Unfortunately, numerous grammatical errors were scattered throughout the book, including extraneous commas and missing commas that could have cleared up several run-on sentences and clarified the author’s intent. Overall, I appreciated the unerring, detailed nature of the plot and enjoyed the detectives’ perspectives. Due to the errors and lack of stakes, I rate this book 3/5 stars. I still believe that readers who enjoy detective stories would enjoy this novel, especially if they appreciate understanding the sides of both the heroes and the villains. This book is filled with seduction and strong language and therefore may be unsuited to a younger audience. I was thoroughly intrigued while reading this book and would recommend other readers experience the novel themselves.
******
Death Insured
View: on Bookshelves
Death Insured by A.J. Tyler is a fun detective novel that follows Chief Medical Examiner Lara Shapiro and investigative consultant Allen Miller. Although they make an unlikely pairing as student and professor respectively, the death of Miller’s aunt brings both coroner and consultant together as they discover some unusual circumstances regarding the death. Simultaneously, Mark Malincek and Maria Otero have been running both a charity and a business buying terminal cancer patients’ life insurance policies and providing them with funds from their charity to continue their cancer treatments. To profit off these patients’ policies, the pair has begun killing their supposed charity recipients and turning a profit. But who truly is the mastermind of this plot, and will they slip up enough to be caught? The plot runs deep in this book as Shapiro and Miller attempt to close in on these “mercy killing” culprits.
Tyler’s novel is a fun detective story that takes the reader on a sophisticated journey filled with murder, seduction, power, and deceit. The plot is extremely well thought-out, with antagonists who scrutinize every detail of their plan. While the reader is let into the thought process of both pro- and antagonists, the villains are able to deceive and misdirect the detectives through their cunning, complex plans. The author clearly thought of every detail, which makes this plot airtight and realistic. Tyler makes the plot extremely engaging by including several twists and turns to keep the audience rooting for the detectives. Many specific details are included in each chapter, as the author sets the scene for each interaction and makes the characters and situations feel all the more realistic.
My few complaints regarding this book stem from the fact that it remains slightly unclear who the main character is. While the book’s blurb may state that Allen Miller is the main protagonist, just as much (if not more) time is spent with the character of Lara Shapiro, whose perspective we read before Miller even makes an appearance. Almost half the book is written from the perspective of the antagonists and, while being an engaging aspect of the book, blurs the focus of who the main character truly is. This resulted in the audience having way more information than the protagonists, even knowing most of the insidious plot within the first few chapters. At that point, all that was left was for the audience to watch as the detectives attempted to discover what readers already knew. In that regard, there was little suspense or surprise in the book, as the real conflict became, “Will the detectives figure out the plot or not?” I think some readers may still find the more passive style engaging, but I believe the book lacked a bit of stakes due to the reader knowing twice as much information as the pro- and antagonists. While this might be nitpicking, I also felt a little gross about some of the portrayals of women in this book. While I’m certain the author had the best intentions, many of the male characters were given extracurricular hobbies, the hobbies of the women included working out “to maintain their physique” and forgoing desserts “to maintain their physique”. One character uses seduction to maintain her power, and I actually did not mind this portrayal. That character felt more fleshed out than other characters and motivated her actions. While I do not believe these odd details were super intentional, I felt weird reading those moments within the novel.
All that said, I believe that Death Insured is an intriguing novel with a well-crafted plot. Unfortunately, numerous grammatical errors were scattered throughout the book, including extraneous commas and missing commas that could have cleared up several run-on sentences and clarified the author’s intent. Overall, I appreciated the unerring, detailed nature of the plot and enjoyed the detectives’ perspectives. Due to the errors and lack of stakes, I rate this book 3/5 stars. I still believe that readers who enjoy detective stories would enjoy this novel, especially if they appreciate understanding the sides of both the heroes and the villains. This book is filled with seduction and strong language and therefore may be unsuited to a younger audience. I was thoroughly intrigued while reading this book and would recommend other readers experience the novel themselves.
******
Death Insured
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Death Insured by AJ Tyler
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Kibet Hillary
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Well, the story sounds really captivating, but I am shocked that some could be so cruel that they could choose to end the life of a person they just pretended to be concerned about. My curiosity is piqued to know whether the mastermind(s) will be discovered. Thank you, @Annika porter, for the review.
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Latest Review: Sooner Secrets by Shelley L. Levisay
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Mary Becca
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Thanks for this wonderful review. It is very informative and helpful in guiding someone as they make a selection of the book.
