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The Policy
Unemployed, divorced, and living in a new state, Hunt Jackson would be considered a risk by most insurance companies. Lucky for him, he's found one that will give him a policy. All he has to do is sign on the dotted line-and note a minor provision: they require a pound of flesh for their investment. No backing out. No joke. No running away.
429 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
47 people are currently reading
1350 people want to read
About the author
Bentley Little
135 books2,565 followersBentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
March 13, 2025
I don’t write reviews.
I think Little is my favourite super-prolific horror writer. He hates and fears the same things I do. The entire time I lived in the US, I shelled out boatloads for insurance, but never really felt… insured? Because when I needed help, I wasn’t covered. My nice, less than 50k miles, (though slightly older since it was a grandma car), car was stolen and I got so little from the insurance, that I had to purchase a real junker. I paid hundreds monthly in health insurance, but was still regularly screwed over by the medical system. (In Japan, I pay less than $100 a month to insure two people, a doctor’s appointment is about 10 bucks, an emergency room visit is not much more, and an ambulance ride is free. Something is clearly wrong in one country. Guess which one).
So could I believe one step further that insurance is a force of pure evil, created to enslave and torture mankind? Sure, yes I could. It sounds silly, but aren’t we completely caged in by these systems? As I’m changing jobs, I’m reminded of how much terrible bureaucracy with which I’m obligated to interact.
Book 6 - Just a Little Bit More: Reading Through the Bentley Little Catalog
I think Little is my favourite super-prolific horror writer. He hates and fears the same things I do. The entire time I lived in the US, I shelled out boatloads for insurance, but never really felt… insured? Because when I needed help, I wasn’t covered. My nice, less than 50k miles, (though slightly older since it was a grandma car), car was stolen and I got so little from the insurance, that I had to purchase a real junker. I paid hundreds monthly in health insurance, but was still regularly screwed over by the medical system. (In Japan, I pay less than $100 a month to insure two people, a doctor’s appointment is about 10 bucks, an emergency room visit is not much more, and an ambulance ride is free. Something is clearly wrong in one country. Guess which one).
So could I believe one step further that insurance is a force of pure evil, created to enslave and torture mankind? Sure, yes I could. It sounds silly, but aren’t we completely caged in by these systems? As I’m changing jobs, I’m reminded of how much terrible bureaucracy with which I’m obligated to interact.
Book 6 - Just a Little Bit More: Reading Through the Bentley Little Catalog
August 17, 2023
This is one of Little's highly satiric novels in the tradition of The Store or The Association or The Consultant, not one of his traditional supernatural evil monster tales. Anyone who has ever had ongoing problems with an insurance company will understand their evil often transcends your garden variety werewolf or zombie, whereas those who have not will think he's a bit out of his tree. I wish I could be in that latter category.
December 11, 2021
Hunt Jackson is starting his life over in Tucson, Arizona. Soon after remarrying Hunt meets an insurance agent hellbent on increasing Hunt's insurance. The agent — tall, gaunt, oddly dressed in an old-fashioned suit and fedora — is himself a menacing figure. It quickly becomes clear whoever refuses the agent suffers weird catastrophic consequences. There is even a once in a lifetime tornado in downtown Arizona. Hunt's life insurance policy is now looking like a deadly weapon.
I am convinced when Little wrote this it was out of frustration for his insurance company. Somewhere in a tiny office was an insurance agent that was pressing Little too hard on getting extra coverage.
I am convinced when Little wrote this it was out of frustration for his insurance company. Somewhere in a tiny office was an insurance agent that was pressing Little too hard on getting extra coverage.
June 28, 2011
Exactly what I expected from one of today's finest horror novelists. Well written characters, bizarre situations, and a real sense of menace is what Bentley Little is all about. I recommend this book to newcomers as a good example of Little's style... setting an innocent family up against a seemingly unpenetrable force of evil. "The Policy" is totally entertaining and you'll find it hard to put down. If you enjoyed this book, "The Association" and "The Store" have very similar concepts. Every year around Halloween Bentley puts out a new book, so keep your eyes open for the next!
December 19, 2015
‘The Policy’ is about a mysterious insurance company that constantly offers all types of insurance and people realize that they face deadly consequences if they refuse to accept them. The main character, Hunt and his wife Beth attempt to put an end to this together with their friends.
The story is told from third-person perspective and alternates from Hunt to Beth to the other characters. I personally found this writing style to be ineffective for this book. It didn’t enable me to connect to Hunt at all or to anyone else and as a result I couldn’t care less what horrible experiences they had to go through. It didn’t help that Hunt came across as bland. I suppose he’s meant to be the hero but he just never gave me any lasting impression. Plus, no one seemed to attempt to chase away those pesky insurance agents that pop up out of nowhere all the time. I wonder why they didn’t try to completely ignore them, attack them, ambush them etc. Where’s the creativity? Why not put up a fight?
The only thing anyone did was to turn down the insurance then they immediately face some sort of plight. Of course later they did but that happened a little too late and most importantly, they really should have done something sooner. They struck me as people who gave in too easily. Beth was especially stupid for going to the dentist and not thinking of bringing a weapon to fight or defend herself in case something goes wrong. No one in this book was intelligent, in fact.
It wasn’t particularly scary either. Most of the time I just got annoyed whenever those agents appeared with their usual spiel and the character would either agree or say no and if they do the latter, they’d be warned by the agent. It became repetitive and predictable. I also didn’t like the repetition regarding how those agents or mysterious beings looked like. As for the haunted guest room in Beth’s house as well as the bed which was ‘somehow’ creepy, there was no explanation for that. I can understand the agent lurking around to taunt them but what’s the significance of the bed? There’s no point incorporating something with the potential to be interesting if it ends up forgotten.
The final ‘showdown’ was also laughable as everything was way too easy. There were a couple of interesting bits in the book but they weren’t enough to save this from the mess it turned out to be.
The story is told from third-person perspective and alternates from Hunt to Beth to the other characters. I personally found this writing style to be ineffective for this book. It didn’t enable me to connect to Hunt at all or to anyone else and as a result I couldn’t care less what horrible experiences they had to go through. It didn’t help that Hunt came across as bland. I suppose he’s meant to be the hero but he just never gave me any lasting impression. Plus, no one seemed to attempt to chase away those pesky insurance agents that pop up out of nowhere all the time. I wonder why they didn’t try to completely ignore them, attack them, ambush them etc. Where’s the creativity? Why not put up a fight?
The only thing anyone did was to turn down the insurance then they immediately face some sort of plight. Of course later they did but that happened a little too late and most importantly, they really should have done something sooner. They struck me as people who gave in too easily. Beth was especially stupid for going to the dentist and not thinking of bringing a weapon to fight or defend herself in case something goes wrong. No one in this book was intelligent, in fact.
It wasn’t particularly scary either. Most of the time I just got annoyed whenever those agents appeared with their usual spiel and the character would either agree or say no and if they do the latter, they’d be warned by the agent. It became repetitive and predictable. I also didn’t like the repetition regarding how those agents or mysterious beings looked like. As for the haunted guest room in Beth’s house as well as the bed which was ‘somehow’ creepy, there was no explanation for that. I can understand the agent lurking around to taunt them but what’s the significance of the bed? There’s no point incorporating something with the potential to be interesting if it ends up forgotten.
The final ‘showdown’ was also laughable as everything was way too easy. There were a couple of interesting bits in the book but they weren’t enough to save this from the mess it turned out to be.
August 26, 2021
Bentley Little is the master of finding the evil in everyday things, and, especially in America, there isn’t much that is more evil than insurance companies. They don’t care if you live or die, unless it affects their profits. They don’t care about your family, your home or your car. All they care about is hitting their quotas and keeping their eyes on the bottom line.
Hunt Jackson is newly divorced, and has moved back to Tucson to make a fresh start. Soon after renting a house, an insurance agent comes calling. Yes, the landlord has homeowners insurance, but Hunt will need rental insurance as well. And that little car he just bought needs coverage. And he’s unemployed - what about healthcare? Soon, he’ll find out just how much that protection is needed…and what little his small policy affords him.
As life continues, Hunt gets remarried, finds friends old and new - and he takes out many insurance policies. His agent is quite hard to refuse (and Hunt has seen what happens to people who do refuse). Eventually, he and his friends are spending all their money on insurance, but the agent is relentless. He is always there, ready to offer more protection. But who are the insured really being protected from?
I’ve seen people say they don’t like the social commentary in some of Little’s books, but I think it’s great. Whether it’s corporate greed, the education system or evil insurance companies, the stretch of taking things from an everyday nuisance to something truly horrific usually isn’t a far one. This was one of the best ones yet, because any American can tell you at least one nightmare story about their insurance company screwing them over. Some of the healthcare-related parts, I could actually see happening (well, hopefully not the baby).
Even though it has the unfortunate trademark “everything turns into weird fantasy” at the end, this is still one of the better Little books I’ve read. The writing was good as always, the subject was one people can commiserate with and it was pretty fast-paced. This gets a 4.5, rounded up because it creepily mimics life a little too much…
Hunt Jackson is newly divorced, and has moved back to Tucson to make a fresh start. Soon after renting a house, an insurance agent comes calling. Yes, the landlord has homeowners insurance, but Hunt will need rental insurance as well. And that little car he just bought needs coverage. And he’s unemployed - what about healthcare? Soon, he’ll find out just how much that protection is needed…and what little his small policy affords him.
As life continues, Hunt gets remarried, finds friends old and new - and he takes out many insurance policies. His agent is quite hard to refuse (and Hunt has seen what happens to people who do refuse). Eventually, he and his friends are spending all their money on insurance, but the agent is relentless. He is always there, ready to offer more protection. But who are the insured really being protected from?
I’ve seen people say they don’t like the social commentary in some of Little’s books, but I think it’s great. Whether it’s corporate greed, the education system or evil insurance companies, the stretch of taking things from an everyday nuisance to something truly horrific usually isn’t a far one. This was one of the best ones yet, because any American can tell you at least one nightmare story about their insurance company screwing them over. Some of the healthcare-related parts, I could actually see happening (well, hopefully not the baby).
Even though it has the unfortunate trademark “everything turns into weird fantasy” at the end, this is still one of the better Little books I’ve read. The writing was good as always, the subject was one people can commiserate with and it was pretty fast-paced. This gets a 4.5, rounded up because it creepily mimics life a little too much…
October 15, 2014
Little is great at tapping into the frustration, anger and yes, even fear that we all feel towards certain parts of life that we just sort of accept. THE ASSOCIATION dealt with homeowner's associations. THE STORE dealt with the corporate take over of small mom and pop stores. And now we have THE POLICY to deal with our despisement of insurance companies.
The story follows Hunt Jackson as he resettles in his home town of Tucson. He quickly settles in, finds a job, makes new friends of old friends, and starts to have problems with his insurance.
Like usual, Little takes things farther than you would ever find in real life but that is part of the fear, that there really isn't that much to stop insurance companies from doing some of the stuff detailed here. Things follow through nicely and come to a much nicer and cleaner ending than I thought was going to occur. If you're not already a fan, reading this novel will put you well along the path to becoming one.
The story follows Hunt Jackson as he resettles in his home town of Tucson. He quickly settles in, finds a job, makes new friends of old friends, and starts to have problems with his insurance.
Like usual, Little takes things farther than you would ever find in real life but that is part of the fear, that there really isn't that much to stop insurance companies from doing some of the stuff detailed here. Things follow through nicely and come to a much nicer and cleaner ending than I thought was going to occur. If you're not already a fan, reading this novel will put you well along the path to becoming one.
March 28, 2014
Bentley Little has an unusual gift: he can take anything, no matter how mundane, and make it seem sinister. This time out, the villain is a nameless insurance company, embodied by an insurance representative in Tucson, AZ. (Another of Little's talents: taking bureaucracies and turning them into savage things of horror.) At first, the insurance company seems just like any other, but soon, their policies start seeming odd. For example, they offer employment insurance, guaranteeing that you will never be fired, and that you will always love your job. Or how about insurance against being jailed? And so on and so forth. You get the idea. The thing is, if you don't get these policies, the next thing you know, you're fired. Or you're in jail. Or, you know. Soon the citizens of Tucson are deathly afraid of the insurance man, afraid enough to just buy whatever he offers. But Hunt and his wife Beth have other ideas.
There are a lot of terrifying things in this story. One of the characters doesn't get dental with this insurance company, and when she wakes up after a procedure, she's had all of her teeth pulled and replaced with metal. Another character winds up accused of molesting a little girl, a crime he most certainly didn't commit. And then there's something that happens with a baby that will turn your stomach. You know how when things get to you so badly, you feel weird behind your knees? The baby scene will do that to you.
Little's work usually has one flaw: the endings. He doesn't do very well with them. However, this one hits a home run. You will never forget the sheer insanity of the ending. This is my second favorite of his books, the first being THE STORE.
There are a lot of terrifying things in this story. One of the characters doesn't get dental with this insurance company, and when she wakes up after a procedure, she's had all of her teeth pulled and replaced with metal. Another character winds up accused of molesting a little girl, a crime he most certainly didn't commit. And then there's something that happens with a baby that will turn your stomach. You know how when things get to you so badly, you feel weird behind your knees? The baby scene will do that to you.
Little's work usually has one flaw: the endings. He doesn't do very well with them. However, this one hits a home run. You will never forget the sheer insanity of the ending. This is my second favorite of his books, the first being THE STORE.
May 23, 2022
It was good to delve in one of my favorite author's horror stories again. Although the book is almost 20 years old, it hasn't lot any of the attraction I felt when reading it for the first time. Although the story follows more or less Little's proved recepy, there is lots to discover. It's quite gruesome at places, but the main characters are people just like you and me. And that's what makes this story great.
May 28, 2011
Loved it up until the end. What a weird ending. I hate when authors just seem to throw an ending together. It's something that Bentley Little does a lot. But other than the ending being crap it was a good book. Really made me question insurance companies and their motives. I know they aren't really "evil" but ever wonder why sometimes when you turn down extra insurance something always happens? ;) Just something to think on lol.
February 14, 2019
The Policy by Bentley Little is a story based around insurance, and for Hunt Jackson it is more than just insurance that he finds himself purchasing.
Bentley Little has a bizarre way of getting his stories across to the masses. With great writing and a fantastical imagination, Bentley gives you more than a story. This was such an intriguing read for me.
Bentley Little has a bizarre way of getting his stories across to the masses. With great writing and a fantastical imagination, Bentley gives you more than a story. This was such an intriguing read for me.
July 10, 2018
I have to admit, this was not my favorite Little book. It had its moments but to be honest, it never stuck with me. I believe I had forgotten most of it about a week after reading it. I may have to reread it just to justify this review. :/
December 28, 2015
This book was definitely a good read. For my first book by this author it was a really good one. The story line was really good & the characters were all really like able. The thing I liked most was how the book was written. It built up the suspense in the book & made it a good thriller. As the book went in the twists keep going more & more & the book keep building up with more & more suspense. I have heard mixed opinions about this author, but I know I am definitely going to be reading more of his work & he is a great horror writer IMO. This book also makes you think how crazy it would be if it happened it's cool that the writer took something so random like insurance & made it into a horror story. It was really interesting & creative. Thanks to Addy for this book & giving me the best Christmas gift this year lol.
September 2, 2020
A cheesy horror story, The Policy is about a supernatural insurance company that really pushes their policies down your throat. Offering home insurance, if you feel your current policy is sufficient, overnight you might be woken (or not) with a tree falling on your roof. employment insurance? Not what you think. If you tell the pushy agent no, the next day at work you'll find yourself fired. And if you buy one of their policies? It's never enough; the push for additional coverage is never-ending. But is this company omnipotent, or what? How can they control these things? The answer lies in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, but the ending was really cut short and lame. My first Little; probably not his best work.
August 1, 2017
A bit of a groaner from Mr. Little here. This is probably the least of his "satirical" books, where normal, everyday life is skewed way out wack into bizarre and horrific directions. The first third or so was great, and I thought the concept was fascinating: an evil, all powerful insurance company. The second half just got more and more ridiculous until the extremely ridiculous finale. That said, there are some great passages in this book, and the concept is great. I was going to give it three stars, but the finale and wrap up of the book was just too ridiculous for me and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Definitely not an essential Little volume.
June 7, 2018
Awful. Just another opportunity for Bentley Little to try to turn his political pet peeves into horror. In The Store it was the big, scary chain stores. In The Academy it was charter schools. In The Policy, he tries to scare us with the horrors a couple faces dealing with an evil insurance company. He fails to deliver. Big time. We get it, Bentley. You're a liberal. Try coming up with some story lines that aren't inspired by MSNBC. Don't waste your time on this book. I struggled just to finish it and I'm not sure why I did.
December 15, 2017
A total rush of a horror novel - An evil Insurance Agency comes to town and want everyone to buy their insurance, and if you don't, you will suffer the consequences. While many of the scenes are telegraphed by the policies offered and the ending is a little too much, getting there is a hoot, well written with strong characters that you feel for, and the insurance salesman is creepy. A good one to read.
August 12, 2024
A fairly typical Bentley Little book, some great biting satire on the evils we are forced to deal with in our day to day lives mixed with rather apathetic and unintelligent characters and a weird ending. For all the power the insurance agency supposedly has they certainly got taken down with minimal resistance. Middle of the road Little, 3.5 stars rounded down.
July 6, 2019
While I suppose this could be considered a horror novel, it was too laced with wit and humor to be anyway scary. If you do not like private, for profit insurance companies, this is right up your ally. 3.5 stars.
March 30, 2022
This book started out pretty good but as the book progressed it started getting over the top. To much of muck had it suck yo the basic story line it probably would of been a good book. In my opinion the book was doing to much. I gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 26, 2024
I thought the first 2/3 or so was silly and just kind of ridiculous. Some authors can make supernatural subjects believable but this one did not. The wrap up/solution seems to go quickly. I felt the ending needed a little more answer to what happened.
September 28, 2025
Cute - not that scary but a fun read.
June 20, 2012
I was working for a Life Insurance company when I read this. I liked it. I lent it to some co-workers, but they didn't dig it too well. I'm no longer at that company either.
March 18, 2018
The standard Bentley format but this time based on the insurance industry. As always, it's entertaining and amusing.
June 29, 2021
Hunt Jackson is an ordinary guy, newly divorced and returned to his childhood city of Tucson, Arizona, where he rents a house, finds a job, reconnects with a childhood pal, meets a new woman….and finds he needs various forms of insurance in his new life. But his insurance agent is *very* unusual, popping up at his home at odd times, demanding that he buy policies for more and more insurance against some ordinarily uninsurable life events. Like keeping his job, or not being convicted of crimes he didn’t commit, or living forever. The agent’s demands keep rising, until finally Hunt has no choice but to fight back, against astronomical odds…. This is a nice example of what my husband calls suburban horror, meaning the horror-fication of ordinary suburban hassles, in this case the need for insurance policies for home, vehicle, health, life. I’ve read other books by Bentley Little and I like his matter-of-fact style, all the while increasing the tension and the stakes until the story reaches (and passes) the heights of, well, absurdity. This *is* horror fiction, after all. I found the marginalization of the female characters a bit grating, and it’s always a crapshoot to throw contemporary pop-culture references into the mix; in this case, the book was published in, I think, 2003, whereas I’m reading it in 2021 - yes, there’s still an internet, but far different from that depicted here, and while I remember Encarta, most young people wouldn’t have a clue, to cite a couple of examples. Still, a fast read which delivers the chills it promises; mind you, I’ve always been terrified of *all* suburbs, just never thought to add insurance salesmen into the mix!
January 31, 2019
*** Je abgefahrener, blutiger, psychomäßiger, um so besser. Wenn, dann muss es richtig knallen! ***
Das Buch habe ich zu Weihnachten geschenkt bekommen, jetzt habe ich es endlich zur Hand genommen und durchgelesen. Ich sage ja oft und allen, dass ich für Krimis nicht gemacht bin … ich schaue ja kaum Tatort oder so … aber dafür bin ich für Thriller immer zu haben. Je abgefahrener, blutiger, psychomäßiger, um so besser. Wenn, dann muss es richtig knallen. Ein Grund, weshalb Fitzek bei mir ganz oben steht. Aber auch FIEBER von Bentley Little war jetzt nicht so schlecht.
Es werden mit den alltäglichen Ängsten gespielt, was meist ja die schlimmsten sind. Die thrillermäßige Entbindung im Krankenhaus hat mich schon ziemlich fertig gemacht und es ist insgesamt schon eine packende Story, obwohl es nur um Versicherungen geht ...ich habe jetzt ziemliche Angst vor dämonischen Versicherungsvertretern. Das ist aber auch ein Punkt, der mir gar nicht bekommen ist. Denn plötzlich driftet das Ganze in so ein Mystery-Fantasy-Dämonen-Dings ab. Hätte mir da eine andere Auflösung gewünscht. Was ich mir auch gewünscht hätt, wäre ein anderer deutscher Titel … also wirklich… “Fieber”? Der Originaltitel lautet ”The Policy”, da hätte man doch was gescheites draus machen können ...
⭐ BEWERTUNG: ●●●oon 3 Feenpunkte
Und darum geht’s:
Hunt Jackson schließt eine neue Lebensversicherung ab. mit ungeahnten Folgen. Denn plötzlich findet er sich in einer Hetzjagd auf Leben und Tod wieder.
Das Buch habe ich zu Weihnachten geschenkt bekommen, jetzt habe ich es endlich zur Hand genommen und durchgelesen. Ich sage ja oft und allen, dass ich für Krimis nicht gemacht bin … ich schaue ja kaum Tatort oder so … aber dafür bin ich für Thriller immer zu haben. Je abgefahrener, blutiger, psychomäßiger, um so besser. Wenn, dann muss es richtig knallen. Ein Grund, weshalb Fitzek bei mir ganz oben steht. Aber auch FIEBER von Bentley Little war jetzt nicht so schlecht.
Es werden mit den alltäglichen Ängsten gespielt, was meist ja die schlimmsten sind. Die thrillermäßige Entbindung im Krankenhaus hat mich schon ziemlich fertig gemacht und es ist insgesamt schon eine packende Story, obwohl es nur um Versicherungen geht ...ich habe jetzt ziemliche Angst vor dämonischen Versicherungsvertretern. Das ist aber auch ein Punkt, der mir gar nicht bekommen ist. Denn plötzlich driftet das Ganze in so ein Mystery-Fantasy-Dämonen-Dings ab. Hätte mir da eine andere Auflösung gewünscht. Was ich mir auch gewünscht hätt, wäre ein anderer deutscher Titel … also wirklich… “Fieber”? Der Originaltitel lautet ”The Policy”, da hätte man doch was gescheites draus machen können ...
⭐ BEWERTUNG: ●●●oon 3 Feenpunkte
Und darum geht’s:
Hunt Jackson schließt eine neue Lebensversicherung ab. mit ungeahnten Folgen. Denn plötzlich findet er sich in einer Hetzjagd auf Leben und Tod wieder.
May 6, 2017
Like most Little books, where mundane subjects (retail stores or consulting firms) are the basis for tension and trepidation turned into exaggerated terror, "The Policy" gives us a dramatization of a protagonist caught in the web of an evil insurance agent. While "The Store" played on the commonplace fear by many in our society that retail chains such as Wal-Mart are destroying our nation by driving "mom & pop" shops out of business, "The Policy" taps into our fears of insurance, being unprotected and having to fend for ourselves. Many in society are brainwashed by the State-controlled media that they are the victims of capitalism and evil corporations. The insurance agent at the heart of "The Policy" plays on these fears, and Little does a good job of showing a fearful society (such as ours) as being a gullible society. Little is very good at telling stories from an everyman point of view, and "The Policy" is no exception. While his dialogue could use a little work, the plot zips along nicely. The only quibble is the ending, which is a letdown of sorts. It's hard to complain, as so few authors seem to be able to conclude their tales in a satisfactory manner these days. As they say, just enjoy the journey. Another worthy story from Little, who churns these suckers out at an impressive rate.
July 2, 2018
Bentley Little books have pretty much been hit or miss for me over the years. On the negative side, there's been, "The Return", "The Town", and "The Burning". On the positive side, I've enjoyed "The Store", "The Resort", and "The Summoning". Happily, I can add "The Policy" to those that I've liked.
In this novel, Little takes on the insurance industry and how invasive and obnoxious members of that profession can be. (Can't they just take "no" for an answer.) Generally, that is not the case and it's certainly not the case in this book. Hunt Jackson and his new wife, Beth, along with many of their friends in the Tucson area are badgered, threatened, and cajoled into adding all kinds of insurance into their lives. When some of the friends finally stand up to the strange insurance and say "no more", bad things begin to happen.
Little does a solid job amping up the paranoia and chills as he takes the reader on this journey. The characters in the novel are well-written and believable. The only negative for me is an ending which seemed contrived, rushed, and didn't fit in with the rest of the book. With that said, though, it didn't detract from a fun and intense reading experience. If you're a Little fan, you'll like "The Policy".
In this novel, Little takes on the insurance industry and how invasive and obnoxious members of that profession can be. (Can't they just take "no" for an answer.) Generally, that is not the case and it's certainly not the case in this book. Hunt Jackson and his new wife, Beth, along with many of their friends in the Tucson area are badgered, threatened, and cajoled into adding all kinds of insurance into their lives. When some of the friends finally stand up to the strange insurance and say "no more", bad things begin to happen.
Little does a solid job amping up the paranoia and chills as he takes the reader on this journey. The characters in the novel are well-written and believable. The only negative for me is an ending which seemed contrived, rushed, and didn't fit in with the rest of the book. With that said, though, it didn't detract from a fun and intense reading experience. If you're a Little fan, you'll like "The Policy".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2018
I did not expect that ending!
The book is great, the first third being a slow, pretty creepy build-up, the middle third ramps up the action and the last third takes a complete U-turn into the bizarre.
I really liked the ending but I would have liked it to ideally be the ending to a book that was tonally consistent with it. It turns all Guillermo Del Toro on you and it doesn't entirely fit in my opinion.
This is my first Bentley Little book and if they weren't like gold dust to get hold of over here in the UK, I'd be picking up a lot more. I picked this one because I actually work in insurance and wanted to see how the subject was handled as I love horror books but rarely do I connect with the circumstances (I don't attempt to revive the dead at Indian burial grounds, live in a haunted house, get lost in the Scandinavian wilderness that often, etc). I thought the subject was handled well and I actually laughed at how ludicrous some of the situations were.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. The whole thing's a five star read but from two very different five star stories.
4.5 Evil Critical Illness Policies out of 5.
The book is great, the first third being a slow, pretty creepy build-up, the middle third ramps up the action and the last third takes a complete U-turn into the bizarre.
I really liked the ending but I would have liked it to ideally be the ending to a book that was tonally consistent with it. It turns all Guillermo Del Toro on you and it doesn't entirely fit in my opinion.
This is my first Bentley Little book and if they weren't like gold dust to get hold of over here in the UK, I'd be picking up a lot more. I picked this one because I actually work in insurance and wanted to see how the subject was handled as I love horror books but rarely do I connect with the circumstances (I don't attempt to revive the dead at Indian burial grounds, live in a haunted house, get lost in the Scandinavian wilderness that often, etc). I thought the subject was handled well and I actually laughed at how ludicrous some of the situations were.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. The whole thing's a five star read but from two very different five star stories.
4.5 Evil Critical Illness Policies out of 5.
January 8, 2025
Bentley Little's books take a reader down some pretty dark paths. The Policy by Little is no exception. The Policy toys with an idea brewing in the minds of most Americans: Insurance companies are evil because they often use scare tactics and then charge outrageous fees, and when something happens, Where are they? Of course, this is Bently Little, and he takes this idea and stretches it, turning it from a bite-size balloon to the Goodyear Blimp. The story plot starts with what one might think of as a leaky ceiling that eventually floods an entire house. At first glance, the insurance agent in this book is stereotypical but often morphs into something much more sinister when gazed at for too long. The people he targets are just like you and me, trying to live, love, and avoid horrible accidents. Ironically, the Insurance Man's policies prevent only making others suffer, and the deals are only on the table for a short while, making it impossible to feel safe at any moment if they are not signed. This story gets pretty crazy, turning down a dark, twisted road that makes you feel like there is no light at the end of this policy. I'm never disappointed after reading a Bently Little.
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