ASSUMPTION OF RISK

Luther Sitasy, an investment banker, becomes a psychotic killer when he--along with his sexy partner in crime, Dana Quinn--concocts a insurance scam that entails murdering policy claimants. A first novel. 60,000 first printing.

A pair of cold-blooded killers, one male, one female, conspire to skim millions of dollars from insurance companies in this ingenious first novel. The plot hatched by investment banker Norman Bloodstone and his partner, Dana Quinn, requires claimants to drop their claims-and, for this to happen, the pair are perfectly willing to expedite the demise of the claimants and, when necessary, their attorneys. Vietnam vet Luther Sitasy, head of the policy limits claims division of a Phoenix insurance company, stumbles onto the scheme by accident, eventually putting himself, his family and his friends in danger, especially from Bloodstone, who might as well be called Bloodlust. In a welcome twist, Sitasy, rather than playing superhero, looks for help from an old Vietnam buddy who's now an FBI agent. Silver, himself a Vietnam vet and employee of a Phoenix insurance company, creates an intriguing hero in Sitasy and a memorable villain in Bloodstone, even if he doesn't make quite all he could of the intricate relationships between the characters. His prose is vigorous and, in general, this is an impressive debut.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

James M. Cain showed that an insurance thriller can be a stylish, unequivocal success. Debut novelist Silver, himself an insurance man in Phoenix, shows that Cain was an exception. Luther Sitasy--of a rich Texas shipping family--has wound up working as an insurance claimsman. Silver explains his character's odd career choice in terms of post-Vietnam trauma and recovery from booze, but it's still an uncomfortable fit. The guy lives in a sprawling Arizona mansion, collects muscle cars, keeps his gun hand steady in a basement range, and employs an elderly Japanese couple to handle the cooking and cleaning. Divorced from wife Jackie, a TV news producer, Luther lives for his work (and play, which includes a WW II fighter plane and a Vietnam-era helicopter). Luther stumbles onto a vast insurance scam in which claimants are being murdered and their claims funneled to a shell corporation in Singapore. The perpetrators are Norman Bloodstone and Dana Quinn: He's the psycho who does the killing and then tells her about it during their sexual celebrations; she works at Luther's firm and keeps track of the scam's cash flow, now edging up to the deadly duo's $20 million target. Norman and Dana, however, are almost as busy double-crossing each other as Luther is tracking them down, and Dana meanwhile has a sideline going with her family lawyer that, once exposed, sends Norman on a killing spree, his victims including Luther's dog and two of his coworkers. At end, the inevitable confrontation features Norman with a sniper's rifle, Luther with a chip on his shoulder, and a small army of lawmen concentrated in an amusement park modeled after Nam. Silver's talent for microscopic techno-description, and his appetite for gore, can't rescue this effort from a glacial pace and cardboard characters. In between the juicy stuff, it's all wonky insurance babble and guntalk, with an undercurrent of right-wing politics that does nothing to push along the tale. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Norman Bloodstone likes money, and he likes to kill to make it. Dana Quinn is a greedy insider at Trans Patriot Insurance. She feeds--not quite literally--the victims to Bloodstone, who poses as an investment banker, but the only assets he'll increase are his own. Noting all the victims and the payouts is Luther Sitasy, a Vietnam vet and recovering alcoholic, who is now a claims manager at Trans Patriot. As Luther investigates, he pictures himself in his wartime mode as hunter; he's also the prey as Bloodstone determines to eliminate the threat Luther's inquiry raises. When Bloodstone moves against Luther's daughter Mikki, they both settle into a predatory mind-set and race toward an exciting and explosive conclusion. Author Silver is an insurance professional and draws on his knowledge of the industry to provide a plausible backdrop for a greedy serial killer. Any gaps in logic are seamlessly patched with enough sex and violence for two summer beach reads. This a notable first novel and a launching pad for a considerable talent. Wes Lukowsky

Touted as a "big commercial novel" by the publicist, this thriller features a man who uncovers a murderous insurance scam.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.