Hey! You! Have you ever considered Stealing an Identity? Read Daniel's Palmer's Stolen--Think Again!

English: image edited to hide card's owner name. author: Arturo Portilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"The drug therapy I'm going to recommend has been highly effective
in treating your type of cancer."
"What's the survival rates..."
"Twenty-five percent," Adams said. "If we don't start treatment right away, that number could drop precipitously..."
"Here's where it gets a bit tricky," Adams said, speaking in a voice that suggested "a bit" meant "a lot."
I could see that Ruby was still trying to digest the 25 percent figure.
"How could it get more tricky?" she asked.
The generic form of Verbilifide, the drug therapy you need, is currently out of stock...
"Meaning it will cost around three hundred thousand dollars."
"Ruby and I both looked sticker shocked. It's bad enough confronting a cancer diagnosis, but to think about the financial implications conjured up the old "Insult to injury" adage..."
!!!

Stolen

By Daniel Palmer

Available 4-30; Pre-order Now!


Palmer spotlights two nationally important topics in his latest thriller, but with his superb twist, you "almost" forget what started it all...

John Bodine is the main character. He still suffers from PTSD from when he had to "choose" to kill a friend! They had been climbing and John was placed in the position of knowing that he could not pull up both of his friends who were hanging below him. He chose to save the man with a family, but none of them ever got over it. John was no longer able to climb and had gone through a deep depression... His wife had been there to help...

Now she was the one suffering, but what she needed was money--lots of money! She had cancer. Their insurance company would not cover any medication except the generic version. The generic version had been unavailable for months! John searched for assistance and could gain only $12,000 from one organization...

In the meantime, his wife could not begin any type of medication! Will there ever be a better process for medical care in the United States?!!

John worked at home and had created an online game site. Because of his work, and because of the pressure placed on him to keep the love of his life alive, he decided to see if he could find one of his members who also were insured by the one company that would pay for the actual cancer medication, when the generic was not available. Doing his research online, he finally found one of his members, insured--but who was behind in payments...

"You don't know me. You have no right to pass judgment.
"I suppose that's true," Uretsky said, almost with a sigh.
"I don't know you. Not fully, that is. But I want to know
you. I want to know you so much better. How far can you
be pushed? That's the burning question here. I want to
see you break. That the game we're playing, John, and
there's no way out. Think about poor Lisa, here. Is there
really anything worse than having your fingers snipped
off by a rusty pair of pruning shears, your life force
drained from you, your windpipe crushed by the
constricting power of two hands squeezing tighter and
tighter? I think not. I think that's a gruesome death."
"I don't know," I said, my voice shaky. "I don't know."
I started to cry, small tears pricking at the corners of
my eyes. I was listening to the ranting of a madman and
watching the agony of a woman who I was powerless to
help. Well, not powerless, because there was one thing
I could do.
"Rob a liquor store..."
~~~

John immediately did all the things necessary to assume the identity of this man and his wife, including moving into a new home, establishing them with the new, stolen identity. His wife was very much opposed to this, but bottom line, nobody wanted her death just because their insurance company had a "get out of payment" clause in their policy...

Everything was going fine. Ruby had gone to a new doctor, got established and when the regiment for her started, they automatically were covered by their "new" insurance...

They started living again--even meeting a new neighbor... Nobody had questioned their identities...

Until one day...

The telephone in their new apartment rang. Nobody had been given that number! He hesitated, then picked it up...A voice spoke, raspy and deep, "My name is Elliot Uretsky and I believe you stole my identity."

Caught? Put in Jail? Left without Insurance?  Nothing like that happened! Instead, the man started terrorizing John and Ruby! If they were criminal enough to steal an identity for insurance purposes, then they were criminals. He wanted them to commit further criminal acts! The first job was to hold up a store! But John couldn't believe that he meant it and they didn't do what he said...

The neighbor who had just befriended them was mutilated and murdered! The man was a psychopath!

John and Ruby are pulled more and more into responding to the demands of this man, who seemed to know everything about them and whatever they did!

And he was using the same name as John's new identity! A police chase was soon underway. John and Ruby were, of course, involved since the woman murdered had lived below them...And the warning was that each of the people he held hostage would somehow be related to John or Ruby!

Frankly, as this thriller goes on, you even begin to forget about Ruby's grave health situation! They are pulled in further and further, not knowing what to do. They couldn't go to the police or they would be arrested for identity theft and insurance fraud... But if Ruby didn't get her medication, her death could be imminent!

I have appreciated Palmer's choice to deal with social issues in his novels and enjoyed his earlier ones (See below to click to my earlier reviews.) But his thriller writing, his creative imagery in this novel far surpasses anything he's done thus far! Don't miss any of this new writer's work--once you read it, you'll know that he's moving fast and is going to just get better and better! A must-read recommendation from me on this one!

What would you do if somebody in your life needed unavailable medicine to order to live?!! What A blockbuster movie this would make!


GABixlerReviews

Daniel Palmer spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer helping to build first generation websites for Barnes & Noble and other popular brands. An experienced musician and songwriter, Daniel has recorded two CDs and licensed his songs for commercial use. Daniel's co-written two short stories for the trade organization International Thriller Writers, which were published in Thriller (edited by James Patterson) and First Thrills (edited by Lee Child). His debut thriller novel, Delirious, WAS published by Kensington in early 2011, part of a three book contract with the publisher. He holds a master's degree in mass communications from Boston University, and currently resides in New Hampshire with his wife and two children.

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-consider-if-you-willthe-first.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/10/shout-out-for-daniel-palmers-next-book.html