The Price of Life-Greg McCarthy

The Price of Life
Greg McCarthy
Otherworld Publications, Sep 2010, $19.95
4949 Old Brownsboro Rd, Suite 113
Louisville, KY 402222
ISBN: 9780982649459

Eight years old Jennifer Haller suffers from a brain tumor that is too late to just remove. The insurance company denies coverage of what they deem is an "experimental" operation to remove the tumor. Her father U.S. Marine Captain Ed Haller comes home from his fourth tour of Iraq to bury his child and his belief in the American way.

He and his wife Julie hire lawyer Grant Mercer to sue a doctor who failed to order an MRI when Jennifer’s ailment was still operational. However, the medical malpractice suit is difficult to prove as the doctors and insurance companies with their lawyers refuse to cooperate; abetted by Texas state politicians who decided a life lost due to medical negligence is worth no more than $250,000. As a senator, lobbyist and insurance executive are murdered; Captain Haller sits stoically less a limb lost to an IED staring at witnesses providing depositions.

Clearly biased on one side of the debate on malpractice lawsuits, Greg McCarthy provides a strong legal thriller that will leave readers questioning the ethics of the health-jurisprudence system that buys politicians. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Jennifer dies and never slows down as no one takes responsibility for her death except perhaps her father who is filled with remorse that he chose his country over his family. Although much of the cast except for grieving guilt laden dad is not fully fleshed out and the homicides seem unnecessary even if exciting, readers will enjoy this deep look at The Price of Life.

Harriet Klausner