Bet Your Life

richard dooling

A terminally ill man sells his life insurance policy for cheap to an investor who will collect the full amount when the sick man dies.But is the sick man really sick? Does he even exist? In the age of AIDS and no-holds-barred capitalism, the business of betting on how much longer sick people will live is thriving. Is this new market in which life insurance policies are bought and sold a legitimate enterprise, or is it an open invitation to fraud and murder? Carver Hartnett, Miranda Pryor, and Leonard Stillmach all work for Reliable Allied Trust, in Omaha, where they investigate insurance fraud. Carver -- the narrator of this edgy and surprising novel -- is frustrated. His company would rather raise premiums than prosecute insurance criminals. Miranda, his seductive coworker, leads him on and then puts him off -- she seems to have something monstrous to hide. When their friend, crazy Lenny, a computer gamer and an expert with drug-and-alcohol cocktails, dies in the middle of playing Delta-Strike online, a strange and disturbing narrative unfolds around a possible murder and massive insurance fraud. Carver is drawn deeper into various hearts of darkness, and in his efforts to discover the truth behind his friend's death, he ends up betting his own life. Filled with memorable characterizations -- Carver's boss, the shrewd Old Man Norton; Dagmar Helveg, Norton's fascist assistant; regional investigator Charlie Becker, a plain-talking, commonsense cop -- Bet Your Life conducts a stealthy philosophical investigation of its own, in which our hero ends up investigating the mysteries of his soul.

Genres fictionmystery

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2002

This edition

Format: 352 pages, Paperback
Published: October 14, 2003 by Harper Perennial
ISBN: 9780060505400
ASIN: 0060505400
Language: English

About the author

richard dooling

Author Richard Dooling's first novel, Critical Care, was made into a film directed by the great Sidney Lumet, starring James Spader and Helen Mirren. His second novel, White Man's Grave, was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Award. His third novel, Brain Storm, and his fourth novel, Bet Your Life, were both New York Times Notable Books Of The Year.

In 2003-2004, Richard Dooling co-wrote and helped produce Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital for ABC. Under the pen name Eleanor Druse, a mystic and savant in residence at Kingdom Hospital, Richard Dooling also wrote The Journals of Eleanor Druse, a New York Times bestseller.

Richard Dooling was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended college and law school at Saint Louis University and worked for a few years as a registered respiratory therapist in Omaha and St. Louis.

He practiced law at Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis for four years.

Richard Dooling lives with his wife, Kristy, in Montana.

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