Nightstrike's Reviews: Death Benefit

As of the middle of May, I've been on a bit of a hiatus once more (Sorry 'bout that!) as I've needed to focus on final grades for school. Lo and behold, my math class is missing six grades following the most recent, which was put in on the 26th of may, two of which would have had significant impact on my final grade. So . . . yeah, there's that. I have yet to dive back in to design work, since right now I'm in the process of looking for colleges, but once I do, you can expect some interesting projects to surface.

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Something about Robin Cook's books seems to intrigue me. While in the past I've commented on my dislike of the dialogue, which is generally the only bit I am not a fan of, the storylines are interesting, and Cook does a lot of worldbuilding. Following the debut character arcs for Dr. Jack Stapleton, and his family and friends, Death Benefit introduces two new characters. Pia Grazdani and George Wilson are both medical students at Columbia University Medical Center with major prospects. Pia herself is taking part in groundbreaking research on synthetic organs with the (in)famous Dr. Tobias Rothman, as both bond over their social awkwardness. Shortly after, tragedy strikes, and the hospital is intent on limiting Pia's ability to investigate what happened. Meanwhile, two wealthy Wall Street entrepreneurs are hoping to come up with another money-making scheme, and have stumbled onto the idea of purchasing life insurance policies. But how are these two series of events connected?

Death Benefit made for an interesting read, because unlike a few others among Cook's novels, the reader would already have had an inkling of what was going on, thus making it almost enjoyable to watch the characters seemingly flounder, as they try to put two and two together. The ending in particular is a unique twist, and Pia's reaction to the revelation is quite interesting. As with Cook's other novels, the dialogue is a bit heavy, and tends to overshare, but for most of the characters shown, it was fitting this time around.

Overall Rating: 9/10

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I've got a few more reviews I'll put up soon, as well as some projects to share once I resume the daily grind, so stay tuned!