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The Policy
The shady death of a high-level insurance executive triggers suspicion in life-insurance actuary Alex Tynan, who thinks the management in her company is using the most unethical means imaginable to reap obscene profits. Reprint.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Lynch
8 books3 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
A pseudonym used by Philip Sington and Gary Humphreys.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
A pseudonym used by Philip Sington and Gary Humphreys.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 4, 2015
I really enjoyed this book particularly since I spent my entire career as an Group Insurance Executive. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
August 31, 2009
A good read with interesting characters and a believable plot. Set in Providence, Rhode Island--so interesting to read about that part of the country.
March 30, 2010
Interesting book about scheming Insurance companies, and of course the crooked executives that run them. Nice twists..
December 29, 2021
I enjoyed this novel. After two lackluster novels, it is always rewarding finding a good one. The descriptions were well written and made the characters more lifelike.
"Despite his aging skin and thinning hair he had an aurora of intelligence boyishness--- a puckishness that was underlined by twinkling blue eyes and pointed, big lobed ears."
"Mrs. Trybowski just stared with her sad brown eyes. She might have been pretty once, but a fold in her cheek pulled her mouth over to one side in what looked like the aftermath of a stroke. She held her chest as she talked."
"In the light Liz could see that his skin was pitted and scarred, especially around his cheeks, and his face was drawn as if he'd been very sick not so long ago, and just come through it."
"The dozen mobile homes fringing a loop of buckled tarmac look like decaying teeth"
"the neatly cross brogues had, over the years, worn an almost perfectly circular hole in the carpet"
Midway through the book something oddly struck me. It was the character's names. The names of Harold Tate and Guy Pilaski were in the same paragraph. The names danced through my head. Why? Have I seen the names before? Do I know anybody in real life named after them? The novel deals with life and death, pharmaceuticals, genetic testing, and insurance policies. After a minute of pondering, the idea clicked like a seatbelt buckle. I felt my neurons fire up as they jumped over the synapse and landed on a dentrite! Combining both the themes and the names mentioned, I thought of Charles Manson and the Summer of Love. Sharon Tate was married to Roman Polanski. So is Harold Tate the Sharon Tate and Guy Pilaski the Roman Polanski? I don't think so since the characters aren't married or dating each other. Again these are last names only.
Somehow getting promoted to Treasury carries some sort of omen. Your family and close friends notice a change and personality. Once a fun loving guy has turned into an antisocial robot. The pressure from higher-ups breaks even the most astute person. This reminds me of grocery store managers.
I really enjoyed this novel. Even when I was done with 70% of it, I was still engrossed. My major complaint is that despite her careful and rational investigation into the events, Alex couldn't draw any conclusions from the clues she gathered.
Alex is a little slow when it comes to finding out the insurance companies trying to kill you. Toward the end of the book I was the chapter ahead in terms of logic. Her boyfriend is withdrawn and doesn't care about her. All the investigative work that she done and all the clues she ensembled were SCREAMING to her the dangers. Yet she didn't realize it until a near death experience. Even then she was still doubting her work. Here is a hypothetical example of how clueless she could be:
If this scenario happened in the book, Alex would do further investigations into the money. She would go into the bank and nearby businesses in hopes of witnesses or security cameras. When she came across the physical evidence she would still question it. She would lean towards the boyfriends word more than the actual clues that point out the holes in his story.
My review will end with a quote from the book that I found interesting.
"In his experience, people still had a remarkable faith in the objectivity and truthfulness of computers and the information they held. By comparison, the word of a human being was always suspect." (P.301)
Reminds me of the infancy of the internet.
4.09/5 stars
Pros: The story really had me using my brain.
Cons: Unfortunately the reader will solve the mystery before our protagonist does. It is a little frustrating that she doesn’t put the clues together quicker.
"Despite his aging skin and thinning hair he had an aurora of intelligence boyishness--- a puckishness that was underlined by twinkling blue eyes and pointed, big lobed ears."
"Mrs. Trybowski just stared with her sad brown eyes. She might have been pretty once, but a fold in her cheek pulled her mouth over to one side in what looked like the aftermath of a stroke. She held her chest as she talked."
"In the light Liz could see that his skin was pitted and scarred, especially around his cheeks, and his face was drawn as if he'd been very sick not so long ago, and just come through it."
"The dozen mobile homes fringing a loop of buckled tarmac look like decaying teeth"
"the neatly cross brogues had, over the years, worn an almost perfectly circular hole in the carpet"
Midway through the book something oddly struck me. It was the character's names. The names of Harold Tate and Guy Pilaski were in the same paragraph. The names danced through my head. Why? Have I seen the names before? Do I know anybody in real life named after them? The novel deals with life and death, pharmaceuticals, genetic testing, and insurance policies. After a minute of pondering, the idea clicked like a seatbelt buckle. I felt my neurons fire up as they jumped over the synapse and landed on a dentrite! Combining both the themes and the names mentioned, I thought of Charles Manson and the Summer of Love. Sharon Tate was married to Roman Polanski. So is Harold Tate the Sharon Tate and Guy Pilaski the Roman Polanski? I don't think so since the characters aren't married or dating each other. Again these are last names only.
Somehow getting promoted to Treasury carries some sort of omen. Your family and close friends notice a change and personality. Once a fun loving guy has turned into an antisocial robot. The pressure from higher-ups breaks even the most astute person. This reminds me of grocery store managers.
I really enjoyed this novel. Even when I was done with 70% of it, I was still engrossed. My major complaint is that despite her careful and rational investigation into the events, Alex couldn't draw any conclusions from the clues she gathered.
Alex is a little slow when it comes to finding out the insurance companies trying to kill you. Toward the end of the book I was the chapter ahead in terms of logic. Her boyfriend is withdrawn and doesn't care about her. All the investigative work that she done and all the clues she ensembled were SCREAMING to her the dangers. Yet she didn't realize it until a near death experience. Even then she was still doubting her work. Here is a hypothetical example of how clueless she could be:
Her boyfriend bursted through the door. He was bleeding and holding his shoulder. “I’ve been shot! Help!” “How?” “Some gangbanger shot me, I was innocent this time!” He had once been in the gang but he swore off allegiance. He was living the good life now and had a steady job at Walmart… or so he claimed.
“I should call the emergency services.” “No baby. It is not necessary, just take the fragment out and stitch me up. I’ll be okay.” “I don’t think I can do--” “I have money babe,” he interrupted. “All our troubles are over. Look.”
He groaned as he dug through his pocket, he was in worse shape than she thought. He had a stack of cash. “Look five-grand…. There is more for us. Please help.”
She let out a sigh…. That was a lot of money. Where did he get it? In the distance she heard sirens.
If this scenario happened in the book, Alex would do further investigations into the money. She would go into the bank and nearby businesses in hopes of witnesses or security cameras. When she came across the physical evidence she would still question it. She would lean towards the boyfriends word more than the actual clues that point out the holes in his story.
My review will end with a quote from the book that I found interesting.
"In his experience, people still had a remarkable faith in the objectivity and truthfulness of computers and the information they held. By comparison, the word of a human being was always suspect." (P.301)
Reminds me of the infancy of the internet.
4.09/5 stars
Pros: The story really had me using my brain.
Cons: Unfortunately the reader will solve the mystery before our protagonist does. It is a little frustrating that she doesn’t put the clues together quicker.
Read
May 12, 2018It held my interest right from the beginning. I would have given it five stars, but the medical issues were too involved and not all of it was necessary. Looking forward to reading another of his books
June 14, 2012
Great story. A little intimidating, however.
August 25, 2022
Too complicated. DNA and life insurance.
April 19, 2018
When corporate espionage, insurance fraud, wire fraud, and murder all come together, you get what is known as "The Policy," by Patrick Lynch. This is an interesting story about intrigue, and how to teach yourself about the insurance field.
Alex Tynan, a young financial analyst employed by ProvLife, becomes suspicious when the successful life insurance company, expands into health care coverage. First of all, the statistics of the policyholders seem artificial and impractical. She also notices several of her the higher ups suddenly make enormous amounts of money, while she must care for her aging mother and support herself on an entry-level salary. The company executive is found dead, after acting weird for several weeks. When coworkers start making the connection that Alex is romantically linked to the dead C.E.O., she realizes that she has been set up in some kind of sinister game being played behind the closed doors of the insurance company. With murder and greed exploding all around her, an unknown person is shadowing her every move, Alex falls into no-man's-land where trust is no longer an option, not even the shocking facts that are staring her right in the face.
For me, I spotted two major blunders that this author had created in this novel. The first is the fact that there is way too much industrial technicalities in it; secondly, by having that in the novel, he took away too much meat from the plot. Also, I had a very hard time following the main character, Alex Tynan. I couldn't tell if she was coming or going.
Overall, the book was okay. It felt like I was sitting in a class on how to become an insurance agent. Really not my cup of tea here. So the call is yours, you can prove me wrong by reading the book and put up a glorifying review, or agree with me after you are done reading "The Policy."
Alex Tynan, a young financial analyst employed by ProvLife, becomes suspicious when the successful life insurance company, expands into health care coverage. First of all, the statistics of the policyholders seem artificial and impractical. She also notices several of her the higher ups suddenly make enormous amounts of money, while she must care for her aging mother and support herself on an entry-level salary. The company executive is found dead, after acting weird for several weeks. When coworkers start making the connection that Alex is romantically linked to the dead C.E.O., she realizes that she has been set up in some kind of sinister game being played behind the closed doors of the insurance company. With murder and greed exploding all around her, an unknown person is shadowing her every move, Alex falls into no-man's-land where trust is no longer an option, not even the shocking facts that are staring her right in the face.
For me, I spotted two major blunders that this author had created in this novel. The first is the fact that there is way too much industrial technicalities in it; secondly, by having that in the novel, he took away too much meat from the plot. Also, I had a very hard time following the main character, Alex Tynan. I couldn't tell if she was coming or going.
Overall, the book was okay. It felt like I was sitting in a class on how to become an insurance agent. Really not my cup of tea here. So the call is yours, you can prove me wrong by reading the book and put up a glorifying review, or agree with me after you are done reading "The Policy."
December 31, 2011
I finally got to this book and am not sure I would read a book by him again. The story was interesting but I was never captured by the characters as, except for Alex, we really didn't get to know any of the others. I found things to be a bit predictable, too.
February 27, 2010
This was just an okay book. I remember the plot not being nearly as compelling or intelligent as I was hoping for while reading it.
September 5, 2011
Insurance scam and murder! Easy read!
September 25, 2013
A female actuary is the hero. What's not to like?
December 17, 2015
Booooring!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews