Thrillers, Occupations - Fiction

Kill Me

Name: Kill Me
Author: Stephen White
ISBN: 9780451220714

by Stephen White

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Overview

He has chosen to die and signed a contract with the right people to make it happen. Everything will go as planned, even if he changes his mind. Which he has. And all he can do now is keep looking over his shoulder.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller White (Missing Persons) takes an endlessly debatable question-at what point would a decline in your quality of life cause you to want to end your life?-and leverages it into a clever, absorbing thriller. The anonymous narrator is in his prime, a happily married father of a young girl given to high-risk sports. An assortment of grim fates and a near-escape of his own make him consider the question. A shadowy group called Death Angel Inc. contracts to guarantee that if the life of the "insured" should reach a certain agreed-upon level, they will terminate that life. Fascinated and impressed by the Death Angels' knowledge and reach, he eventually negotiates terms with them. This Faustian bargain doesn't take long to reveal its dark side, and White pays almost equal attention to the philosophical and the physical as his hero has to both approach the conditions that would trigger his contract's death clause yet remain healthy enough to fight back. Some finely scripted action scenes build to a telegraphed ending that weakens the book only slightly. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Stephen White

Writers often use elements of their own personalities to craft their most-enduring characters, and Stephen White has certain done so in creating fellow-clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory. However, White s electrifying series of crime thrillers aren t likely to be mistaken for autobiographies anytime soon.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
The newest installment in Stephen White's Dr. Alan Gregory series asks the question: If you could choose when to die, would you? After a wealthy entrepreneur -- who has a brother with Lou Gehrig's disease and a friend in a permanently vegetative state after a diving accident -- decides to enlist the services of a shadowy company (a.k.a. the Death Angels) to covertly end his life if his physical and/or mental capacities deteriorate below a certain level, he realizes too late that every second of existence, regardless of its perceived quality, is invaluable.

Colorado psychiatrist Alan Gregory faces his most challenging case ever when "an anonymous rich white guy" schedules sessions with him. The man has become deeply unsettled by an accident that has turned a close friend into a brain-dead husk; determining that he never wants to live like that, he pays the Death Angels a million dollars to give him peace of mind -- then promptly forgets about his policy, until a brain aneurysm threatens his life and he is informed that "the client-derived parameters have been exceeded."

Kill Me is much more than a stay-up-all-night psychological thriller. The novel's deeply introspective themes revolve around profoundly serious topics like death and dying, coping with unforeseen tragedies, grief and healing, etc. But considering the amount of dark plotlines running through the book, Kill Me has a surprisingly uplifting message: While one foot may be in the grave, the other definitely is not. Fans of authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz will absolutely love this unique and unsettling novel. Kill me if I'm wrong. Paul Goat Allen

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

White narrates a special introduction that provides the origin of this search into the meaning of life and into quality-of-life issues that could make one's death preferable to continued existence. The listener learns a lot about psychologist Alan Gregory's patient, a live-life-to-the-fullest multimillionaire who enters into a contract with the "Death Angels," a secret death insurance company, to end his life should his health decline below a client-defined threshold. We learn his likes, his loves, everything in his life but his full name. As a brain aneurysm threatens to precipitate action by the Death Angels, he finds a strong reason to live, even a life diminished by threat of imminent stroke and possible loss of brain function. If this seems to describe a book that requires a lot of thought, be assured that there's tons of action, suspense, and intrigue along the way. Well read by Dick Hill, this well-engineered audio is a superior candidate for adult mystery collections; very highly recommended.-Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Crime-prone Boulder psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory doesn't have to do anything but listen to one of his most troubled patients: a man sentenced to death by killers he hired himself. After getting rescued from a skiing mishap that could have been much worse and hearing the news that a friend has been turned into a vegetable by a scuba accident, the anonymous narrator, a wealthy med-tech developer, realizes he's never worried what will happen if illness or accident leave him incapacitated, unable to communicate his wish to die if he can't Live-with-a-capital-L, or make sure that wish is honored. A sympathetic friend puts him in touch with a shadowy group he dubs the Death Angels who offer a unique service. For a cool million, they'll ask you enough questions to construct an individualized profile of your likely future wishes, then monitor your health, keep an eye out for accidents and step in without further notice if you cross the quality-of-life line you've drawn yourself. The big advantage to this arrangement, of course, is that you get to make decisions about the end of your life while you're still in the pink of health. The big disadvantage is that once you've made the final payment, your contract with the Death Angels is irrevocable-even if you soon develop an aneurysm that produces symptoms so serious you know the Death Angels are watching, even if in the meantime you've developed an emotional bond to a son you never knew you had that's so vital it's absolutely essential you stay alive at least long enough to find the missing boy and bid him farewell. White, no stranger to suspenseful but wildly implausible plots (Missing Persons, 2005, etc.), wisely front-loads this thriller with aflatly incredible premise that pays off down the road despite a cargo of further improbabilities.