The Printed Page

• My rating: Good; I read half the book in a single sitting finishing it the next day. While there weren’t a lot of surprises as I’d figured out where Mr. McCarthy was headed with his story it was engrossing and gave me lots to think about along the way. The price of life pays out in so many ways for his characters and each must ultimately decide what price they are willing to pay. Some will pay with their lives, others will pay with their sense of self-worth and integrity. I will be adding Mr. McCarthy to my authors to watch list.
• New-to-me author: Yes; debut novel
• Would I read more from this author: Yes

Title: The Price of Life

Author/web site: Greg McCarthy

Publisher: Otherworld Publications

Publication date & page count: July ’10 & 307 pages

Eight-year-old Jennifer Haller’s brain tumor is killing her. A timely CT scan would likely have saved her, and a new surgery offers hope for a cure, but Julie Haller is crushed when their insurance company refuses to pay for her daughter’s operation.

Shortly after Jennifer’s diagnosis, Marine Captain Ed Haller loses his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq. He comes home to rehabilitate while Jennifer wages her own losing battle with cancer and its treatment. Jennifer’s death leads the family to Fort Worth lawyer Grant Mercer, whom they hire to sue Jennifer’s neurologist.

As Mercer works the case, Julie Haller learns the results of recent tort reform efforts, including a $250,000 limit in medical malpractice cases. She and her husband realize that a quarter-million dollar price tag on a beloved eight-year-old girl is simply inconceivable. They have no interest in the money, focusing instead on their responsibility to honor their daughter by seeking justice for her death.

The murders of a lobbyist in Austin, a state senator on a remote country road, and an insurance executive in New York seem unrelated until Jennifer’s doctor is kidnapped. Mercer makes the disturbing connection between the victims and his case, and discovers how far some people will go when the usual avenues of justice are too sharply curtailed.