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A review by lisaortiz1221
Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
4.0
Buying Time brought three characters with their separate stories together, converging into one legal thriller wrought with corruption, deceit, murder and more. this was one of those un-put-down-able books that was a great way to mix up my reading habits and i would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a good thriller/suspense novel.
do you know what a viatical settlement is? i didn’t prior to reading this, so let me do a quick explanation first. apparently, there are brokers that purchase life insurance policies from individuals (usually those with terminal illnesses such as cancer) at a percentage of the face value. they pay the individual in cash, in exchange for being named the sole beneficiary of that policy. investors are willing to put up the cash for the return on their investment once the individual dies. at first it sounds a bit morbid, but in actuality, it can be a very meaningful thing for terminally ill patients. it allows them to do things they might not have afforded, such as experimental procedures that their insurance won’t cover, or to spend the last months of their life traveling. but, on the flip side of that coin is the potential for questionable and unethical actions, which is exactly what Buying Time is about…
Angela is a moderately successful attorney working on what could be her breakthrough case following an organization called Live Now that deals in viatical settlements. the organization is under scrutiny for their questionable tactics, but she soon realizes that the issues run much deeper. though Angela is dedicated and fierce in her professional life, her personal life is a constant source of headaches. her engagement to a judge seemed like a good idea at the time, since her biological clock is ticking, but as he becomes more and more controlling and condescending, she isn’t so sure of herself. then, when she meets the sensitive, thoughtful and good looking Dre at the gym, she finds herself caught up in a tangle in both her personal and professional life.
Lawrence Erickson is on the up and up with his career, shooting for the coveted U.S. Attorney General position, but his wife, at home with terminal cancer, is becoming a problem. she is the ruthless sort, clearly unhappy in the marriage and is threatening to expose something that could ruin his career. as he tries to placate her and hold her out until she kicks the bucket, he finds himself sucked into a web of political scandal and cover ups of enormous proportions.
Waverly has made a few wrong turns in life, but has the best intentions. supporting his gold-digging wife (and impressing his in-laws) proves to be more difficult than he’d anticipated and he finds himself cutting corners, and ultimately disbarred from the legal profession. when he gets offered the opportunity to sell viatical settlements for Live Now, he thinks things might finally be looking up. but, when his clients start dying sooner then they should and he finds himself under suspicion, he realizes that the downward spiral of his life has only just begun.
one thing i really appreciated about reading Buying Time was the presentation of viatical settlements in its strengths and weaknesses. this is an actual thing that can be a blessing to the patients. in addition, Young also explores domestic abuse in a very tangible way. although a tad graphic at times, i didn’t find it over-dramatic or excessive in its representation and appreciated the varying levels of human corruption. the depth and variety of characters that Young presented was extremely well done and although i can’t say that i liked many of the characters, their flaws were all well drawn. by far, my favorite was Angela, the strong and stubborn woman of the bunch. Waverly was irritatingly naive and played an annoying, yet convincing victim and Erickson was so easy to hate, the epitome of a deplorable politician.
my only qualms about the book were in its over-simplification of the nature of relationships. the marriages seemed borderline cookie cutter types, with enough predictability to bug me a bit. but, otherwise, it was an excellent book that i couldn’t put down. if you like a good thriller, this is a book not to be missed.
do you know what a viatical settlement is? i didn’t prior to reading this, so let me do a quick explanation first. apparently, there are brokers that purchase life insurance policies from individuals (usually those with terminal illnesses such as cancer) at a percentage of the face value. they pay the individual in cash, in exchange for being named the sole beneficiary of that policy. investors are willing to put up the cash for the return on their investment once the individual dies. at first it sounds a bit morbid, but in actuality, it can be a very meaningful thing for terminally ill patients. it allows them to do things they might not have afforded, such as experimental procedures that their insurance won’t cover, or to spend the last months of their life traveling. but, on the flip side of that coin is the potential for questionable and unethical actions, which is exactly what Buying Time is about…
Angela is a moderately successful attorney working on what could be her breakthrough case following an organization called Live Now that deals in viatical settlements. the organization is under scrutiny for their questionable tactics, but she soon realizes that the issues run much deeper. though Angela is dedicated and fierce in her professional life, her personal life is a constant source of headaches. her engagement to a judge seemed like a good idea at the time, since her biological clock is ticking, but as he becomes more and more controlling and condescending, she isn’t so sure of herself. then, when she meets the sensitive, thoughtful and good looking Dre at the gym, she finds herself caught up in a tangle in both her personal and professional life.
Lawrence Erickson is on the up and up with his career, shooting for the coveted U.S. Attorney General position, but his wife, at home with terminal cancer, is becoming a problem. she is the ruthless sort, clearly unhappy in the marriage and is threatening to expose something that could ruin his career. as he tries to placate her and hold her out until she kicks the bucket, he finds himself sucked into a web of political scandal and cover ups of enormous proportions.
Waverly has made a few wrong turns in life, but has the best intentions. supporting his gold-digging wife (and impressing his in-laws) proves to be more difficult than he’d anticipated and he finds himself cutting corners, and ultimately disbarred from the legal profession. when he gets offered the opportunity to sell viatical settlements for Live Now, he thinks things might finally be looking up. but, when his clients start dying sooner then they should and he finds himself under suspicion, he realizes that the downward spiral of his life has only just begun.
one thing i really appreciated about reading Buying Time was the presentation of viatical settlements in its strengths and weaknesses. this is an actual thing that can be a blessing to the patients. in addition, Young also explores domestic abuse in a very tangible way. although a tad graphic at times, i didn’t find it over-dramatic or excessive in its representation and appreciated the varying levels of human corruption. the depth and variety of characters that Young presented was extremely well done and although i can’t say that i liked many of the characters, their flaws were all well drawn. by far, my favorite was Angela, the strong and stubborn woman of the bunch. Waverly was irritatingly naive and played an annoying, yet convincing victim and Erickson was so easy to hate, the epitome of a deplorable politician.
my only qualms about the book were in its over-simplification of the nature of relationships. the marriages seemed borderline cookie cutter types, with enough predictability to bug me a bit. but, otherwise, it was an excellent book that i couldn’t put down. if you like a good thriller, this is a book not to be missed.