What do you think?
Rate this book
Buyout: A Novel
From acclaimed author Alexander C. Irvine comes a gritty near-future thriller in the paranoid, prophetic vein of Philip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan.
Thirty years from now, with Americans hooked into a near-total surveillance society, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation's penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It's a win-win situation.
At least that's what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.
As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse-but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother's death, Martin's professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything-and everyone-he holds dear. Inspired by today's politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man's struggle to do the right thing.
Thirty years from now, with Americans hooked into a near-total surveillance society, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation's penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It's a win-win situation.
At least that's what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.
As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse-but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother's death, Martin's professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything-and everyone-he holds dear. Inspired by today's politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man's struggle to do the right thing.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Alexander C. Irvine
190 books199 followersAlexander C. Irvine is an American fantasist and science fiction writer. He also writes under the pseudonym Alex Irvine. He first gained attention with his novel A Scattering of Jades and the stories that would form the collection Unintended Consequences. He has also published the Grail quest novel One King, One Soldier, and the World War II-era historical fantasy The Narrows.
In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov's positronic robot milieu; and Batman: Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero.
His academic background includes an M.A. in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine. He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.
In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov's positronic robot milieu; and Batman: Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero.
His academic background includes an M.A. in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine. He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 7, 2009
The premise of this book sounded interesting, but I'm having a hard time getting into it. The main character isn't sympathetic to me, and the way he goes about thinking of ethical issues - err, or not thinking about them... I was thinking of how this relates to assisted suicide and then someone in the book just came out and said, "Assisted suicide has been legal for what, like 20 years?" Ouch! But I can see how it may come to that, and after all I'm interested in all sorts of dystopias that I view as warnings. I'm only a few pages into the book, but I switched to some other books in the meantime because I didn't fare so well with the beginning of this one.
Finally finished, and it does get somewhat better, although the ethics of the characters do not... Not what I expected.
Finally finished, and it does get somewhat better, although the ethics of the characters do not... Not what I expected.
August 26, 2018
Exciting surprising ride!
Keeps you guessing until the end..where you do not even want the story to stop..because you are so invested, that you must know the whole story..end to end.
Keeps you guessing until the end..where you do not even want the story to stop..because you are so invested, that you must know the whole story..end to end.
July 3, 2009
When I was reading "Buyout," I enjoyed it. I read it quickly.
But the more I've thought about the book, the more questions I have. And they're not philosophical or ethical questions about the idea of the buyout; they're what-the-heck-happened-and-why questions about the plot.
The book is full of holes. Maybe it's bad writing. Maybe it's bad storytelling. Maybe it's bad editing.
Here's the set-up: Martin Kindred, an unhappy insurance agent living in Los Angeles in 2040, gets the opportunity to become the first agent for a new insurance company. The company wants to offer prisoners who were sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) buyouts - they get $5 million that they can give to their family and friends, and all they have to do is take the lethal injection within 48 hours of signing the buyout agreement. Martin will get a pretty big commission for every deal he closes. And he hopes that the new job and new pay will make life at home better. (He and his wife barely talk and are getting ready to go through a divorce.) Then Martin's brother, a cop, gets killed. Martin thinks he knows the identity of the killer, and the killer is a candidate for a buyout. Here come the ethical questions.
The ethical questions of the buyout are addressed somewhat inadequately. But that's forgivable.
What's not forgivable is the complete disappearance of Martin's family at the end of the book. Martin's parents, brother, sister-in-law, wife and daughters play a huge part of Martin's life in the first part of the book. The brother gets killed off. Martin sees his parents once or twice after that and then they disappear from the story. Martin's sister-in-law hits on him and then disappears. And another character tells Martin he's taken Martin's wife and kids hostage, but you never find out if he actually did and what happened to them. They just disappear. The dude's last name is Kindred, for crying out loud! His family is important!
SPOILER ALERT
At the same time Martin's family disappears, it's revealed that there's a plot to basically ruin Martin's life. It's an awfully elaborate plot - full of some holes of its own. There's no explanation about why it was organized, why Martin was chosen, whether Everett Shenkley (the man Martin believes killed his brother) was part of it or just figured it out, how Curt whats-his-name and Sol Briggs got involved. Nothing.
The people involved in the plot against Martin kill each other. And Martin kills one or two of them.
And then everything is wrapped up in a page or two when Martin's friend destroys the evidence that could get Martin convicted.
Martin gets out of jail. But his family never reappears and the plot holes never get filled.
But the more I've thought about the book, the more questions I have. And they're not philosophical or ethical questions about the idea of the buyout; they're what-the-heck-happened-and-why questions about the plot.
The book is full of holes. Maybe it's bad writing. Maybe it's bad storytelling. Maybe it's bad editing.
Here's the set-up: Martin Kindred, an unhappy insurance agent living in Los Angeles in 2040, gets the opportunity to become the first agent for a new insurance company. The company wants to offer prisoners who were sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) buyouts - they get $5 million that they can give to their family and friends, and all they have to do is take the lethal injection within 48 hours of signing the buyout agreement. Martin will get a pretty big commission for every deal he closes. And he hopes that the new job and new pay will make life at home better. (He and his wife barely talk and are getting ready to go through a divorce.) Then Martin's brother, a cop, gets killed. Martin thinks he knows the identity of the killer, and the killer is a candidate for a buyout. Here come the ethical questions.
The ethical questions of the buyout are addressed somewhat inadequately. But that's forgivable.
What's not forgivable is the complete disappearance of Martin's family at the end of the book. Martin's parents, brother, sister-in-law, wife and daughters play a huge part of Martin's life in the first part of the book. The brother gets killed off. Martin sees his parents once or twice after that and then they disappear from the story. Martin's sister-in-law hits on him and then disappears. And another character tells Martin he's taken Martin's wife and kids hostage, but you never find out if he actually did and what happened to them. They just disappear. The dude's last name is Kindred, for crying out loud! His family is important!
SPOILER ALERT
At the same time Martin's family disappears, it's revealed that there's a plot to basically ruin Martin's life. It's an awfully elaborate plot - full of some holes of its own. There's no explanation about why it was organized, why Martin was chosen, whether Everett Shenkley (the man Martin believes killed his brother) was part of it or just figured it out, how Curt whats-his-name and Sol Briggs got involved. Nothing.
The people involved in the plot against Martin kill each other. And Martin kills one or two of them.
And then everything is wrapped up in a page or two when Martin's friend destroys the evidence that could get Martin convicted.
Martin gets out of jail. But his family never reappears and the plot holes never get filled.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2024
With great characters and a makes-ya-think central idea in a very viable near-future, Alex Irvine has written a book that caught me off guard. I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this title by an author I'd sadly never heard of. My thanks to Spectra for sending me the book in a giveaway that I won on their Facebook page.
I see Buyout as two types of books at once. First, it's an idea book. In the year 2040, the company Nautilus has pioneered a radical and controversial new way to deal with overcrowded prisons and the high costs of imprisoning those serving life without parole: offer them a buyout. Pay them to take the "Golden Needle" and end their lives. They receive a sum of money based on the expected would-be costs of their life imprisonment, and they get to decide how to distribute this money anyway they wish though they are encouraged to use it as a means to atone for their crimes. Donate it to charity. Give it to the family of your victims. Setup a college fund for needy kids. But opponents to buyouts see this as placing a monetary value on human life. And they're not exactly wrong, in my opinion. See, it's a big idea.
The second type of book I see this as is a character study. With many rules and restrictions that buyouts need to precisely follow, Martin Kindred is the man in charge of choosing viable candidates for buyouts and for making sure that they go by-the-book. And as a by-the-book kinda guy, he's perfect for the job. We get to see Martin go through a lot of hard times. His marriage is crumbling. His position with Nautilus is putting him and his family in the spotlight and not in a good way. We learn that his career decisions have made him a perpetual outsider to his family of career cops. And then someone close to him gets murdered. We also see just how far a person might go, what rules they may break, for the sake of friendship.
Make it a thriller by throwing a mystery in there to tie it all together and you have one really good book. I suppose there could have been a bit more tension and the pace could have been faster (key features of a thriller, right?) but those are the only possible complaints in my opinion. And the strengths FAR outweigh any weaknesses. I’m glad to have lucked my way into this book. I’m looking forward to reading some of Irvine’s work that I’ve already missed and to see what he does in the future.
.
I see Buyout as two types of books at once. First, it's an idea book. In the year 2040, the company Nautilus has pioneered a radical and controversial new way to deal with overcrowded prisons and the high costs of imprisoning those serving life without parole: offer them a buyout. Pay them to take the "Golden Needle" and end their lives. They receive a sum of money based on the expected would-be costs of their life imprisonment, and they get to decide how to distribute this money anyway they wish though they are encouraged to use it as a means to atone for their crimes. Donate it to charity. Give it to the family of your victims. Setup a college fund for needy kids. But opponents to buyouts see this as placing a monetary value on human life. And they're not exactly wrong, in my opinion. See, it's a big idea.
The second type of book I see this as is a character study. With many rules and restrictions that buyouts need to precisely follow, Martin Kindred is the man in charge of choosing viable candidates for buyouts and for making sure that they go by-the-book. And as a by-the-book kinda guy, he's perfect for the job. We get to see Martin go through a lot of hard times. His marriage is crumbling. His position with Nautilus is putting him and his family in the spotlight and not in a good way. We learn that his career decisions have made him a perpetual outsider to his family of career cops. And then someone close to him gets murdered. We also see just how far a person might go, what rules they may break, for the sake of friendship.
Make it a thriller by throwing a mystery in there to tie it all together and you have one really good book. I suppose there could have been a bit more tension and the pace could have been faster (key features of a thriller, right?) but those are the only possible complaints in my opinion. And the strengths FAR outweigh any weaknesses. I’m glad to have lucked my way into this book. I’m looking forward to reading some of Irvine’s work that I’ve already missed and to see what he does in the future.
.
August 10, 2009
In "Buyout" Alexander Irvine presents a pretty fascinating future world. It's a noir drenched dystopia where radical, unchecked climate change have resulted in people fighting wars for things as simple as clean water, a new dust bowl devastates parts of America and Las Vegas has been reclaimed by the desert. Americans seem not bothered and almost fatalistic because they live in a culture connected by a vast communications network that offers countless distractions and illicit pleasures via virtual reality.
Into this world Irvine places Martin Kindred who starts off as an insurance agent in Los Angeles Circa 2041. The action of the book gets going when Martin becomes the public face of a new "Buyout" program, where prisoners with life sentences can voluntarily put themselves to death in order for their family and victims to receive large cash payouts. When Martin's LAPD office brother is murdered by someone who's been offered a buyout things start to spiral out control for him.
The book works as a pretty compelling future noir story. The details and complications of what's going on are fun and lead to a pretty satisfying conclusion. Martin's best friend, a supporting private detective character is very interesting some times even more so than Martin himself. The book's only real flaws are Martin some times makes for an annoying protagonist and it dragged for a bit in the middle. All in all though "Buyout" was a pretty satisfying read
Into this world Irvine places Martin Kindred who starts off as an insurance agent in Los Angeles Circa 2041. The action of the book gets going when Martin becomes the public face of a new "Buyout" program, where prisoners with life sentences can voluntarily put themselves to death in order for their family and victims to receive large cash payouts. When Martin's LAPD office brother is murdered by someone who's been offered a buyout things start to spiral out control for him.
The book works as a pretty compelling future noir story. The details and complications of what's going on are fun and lead to a pretty satisfying conclusion. Martin's best friend, a supporting private detective character is very interesting some times even more so than Martin himself. The book's only real flaws are Martin some times makes for an annoying protagonist and it dragged for a bit in the middle. All in all though "Buyout" was a pretty satisfying read
December 20, 2013
I'd give the book a fair rating. The first half was extremely slow and boring. The story was nominally science fiction, but sf had really nothing to do with the plot. The story centered on the ethical considerations of allowing someone in prison with life without parole to be given the option of agreeing to be executed and part of the money the state saved by this be given to him to distribute as "retribution" to those he harmed (or anyone else for that matter). I don't believe the book comes to any resolution on this and the question is left hanging.
The second half of the book is a fairly good police mystery story. Someone is killed and the protagonist has to figure out who did it. I found that more engrossing and interesting.
What I found most interesting was the description of life in 2040. I found the technology described believable and a reasonable extrapolation from today. This is something rare in an SF book. The plot itself doesn't require this technology. It could have been set in 2013, 1993, or even 1793. So it is an SF book by virtue of the technology in the book, but the story itself could be placed in any era.
The second half of the book is a fairly good police mystery story. Someone is killed and the protagonist has to figure out who did it. I found that more engrossing and interesting.
What I found most interesting was the description of life in 2040. I found the technology described believable and a reasonable extrapolation from today. This is something rare in an SF book. The plot itself doesn't require this technology. It could have been set in 2013, 1993, or even 1793. So it is an SF book by virtue of the technology in the book, but the story itself could be placed in any era.
January 3, 2011
This science fiction novel, Buyout, was a lot better than I expected. The what-if question driving this book's premise: what if a prisoner with a life sentence could volunteer to be executed and give the money that would have been spent on his incarceration to his family and community instead? I use the pronoun "he" intentionally because this book only addresses male prisoners.
The main characters are Martin and Charlie, best friends who work for the Nautilus corporation. Martin is sort of the PR guy, and he's going through a divorce, and has to solve the murder of his brother.
This book isn't especially visionary or even very critical of the criminal justice system or incarceration for corporate profit, but I actually kind of enjoyed reading a book from the perspective of law enforcement and corrections officers. Their reactions to protesters (who I obviously identify with) made me laugh... and it was a bit insightful to see how they see us.
The main characters are Martin and Charlie, best friends who work for the Nautilus corporation. Martin is sort of the PR guy, and he's going through a divorce, and has to solve the murder of his brother.
This book isn't especially visionary or even very critical of the criminal justice system or incarceration for corporate profit, but I actually kind of enjoyed reading a book from the perspective of law enforcement and corrections officers. Their reactions to protesters (who I obviously identify with) made me laugh... and it was a bit insightful to see how they see us.
July 7, 2009
Alexander Irvine is an absolutely unique voice in speculative fiction. So many of the great voices in the genre are rooted in the action/adventure mold that the few who dare not to have sexy cyborgs or interplanetary warfare or awesome time travel tend to get lost on book shelves. Irvine’s latest, BUYOUT, even has a cover reminiscent of Richard K. Morgan’s MARKET FORCES, even though murderous car-to-car combat is about the furthest thing from what BUYOUT’s about.
Like THE NARROWS before it and, really, all of Irvine’s books, BUYOUT is a story about morality, ethics and personal relationships — friendship, family and marriage.
http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-f...
Like THE NARROWS before it and, really, all of Irvine’s books, BUYOUT is a story about morality, ethics and personal relationships — friendship, family and marriage.
http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-f...
July 1, 2010
It was more interesting to me as 1) a meditation on principles versus humanity and 2) a warning not to ignore the present in favor of a possible future (the warnings for writing SF are obvious here). Irvine chooses to write omniscient 3rd person, which allows him to have some good one-liners and turns of phrase but also feels oddly disconnected. So mixed emotions on this one.
February 17, 2011
An interesting premise, instead of letting people die of old age on death row, you offer them the chance to give out a sum of cash, which is the present day value of what it would cost to feed and house them until they die. In exchange they die now. Wasn't too happy what happened to the main character at the end of the story, but sometimes Justice is messed up.
Read
April 24, 2013At first I really liked the book, then about halfway through I began wishing it would be over. There are no likable characters in this book. It's an interesting premise, paying a prisoner a buyout for his death, but I think it would have made a better novella or short story. I felt no empathy for any of the characters, based on this book I probably won't read any of his other works.
May 20, 2009
A provocative premise, but over one hundred pages in (for weeks now), I just keep choosing to go to other books. Several sources mention a change in tone half-way through, so perhaps I'll try again during a less chaotic time.
October 7, 2013
The concept is very interesting and thought-provoking, and the author weaves in a nice subplot about the protagonist's personal life, but some of the details do not quite seem to come together, as in "Huh? Why would THIS make him conclude THAT?"
October 9, 2013
Ugh. Depressing story, unlikeable characters. I'd give it an extra half star for the occasional well-worded bit of social commentary, but that was sure not worth the price of admission. Ugh.
January 31, 2013
Nothing too inspired.
January 5, 2014
This book is too seriously awful to finish.
December 9, 2010
not as SF as i hoped.
June 30, 2016
In the end, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews