Animal Instinct : David Rosenfelt

Animal Instinct : David Rosenfelt

When your past catches up to your present and you are haunted by an action that you did not take what do you do? Corey Douglas comes face to face with a situation that has bothered him for years and more to come. A call to 911 was sent and the operator dispatched him to the home of Gerald Kline where he observed and saw that Lisa Yates was physically abused. The interaction between Corey and Kline was intense and the result she did not press charges against him. So, why does he feel guilty now and why does he feel he should have checked up on her to make sure she was okay? Lisa Yates was killed, and her murder is on the top of his list to solve feeling she deserves justice. The K9 team including his dog, Simon, Laurie, Marcus and Sam the computer genius act and decide how to proceed. But mistakes are made and even after speaking with Lisa’s friends after her funeral you get the impression that she was not that close to anyone for a while, did not confide even in her sister that she quit her job and broke up with Kline. Looking into her job we learn what her duties were and how she was placed in the position. Will answers come from knowing that?
Face off with Kline does not go as expected, we hear the voice of someone else that Kline calls and realize that Lisa’s death has nothing to do with domestic violence and that money might be involved but who is on the phone when Kline spills that Corey came to see him and why? Kline then calls Corey not realizing that he might be being set up for something else, agrees to see him at this apartment only to find him dead.

Things get complicated when the team learns through same about three women that Lisa encountered through emails and phone calls before she was killed. The link might have to do with her job or something else. Then another death happens when they find out who was responsible for killing both Lisa and Gabriel, but Corey has been arrested for his murder and now Andy Carpenter must prove his innocence can he?

Lisa Gates worked for a company that kept medical records up to date or so she thought. You sign a form at your doctor’s office and the information is sent to your insurance company and you signed away your privacy.
When someone reports to his higher up about Corey being on their tail and how he dealt with him the boss wants him to take Corey out and dare not fail but not everything goes as planned and Simon takes this one for Corey and then another murder is added to his list but this time it is self-defense.

With Sam hacking into phone records, dealing and learning more about the Medical company that Lisa worked for and how personal information about your medical history can be stolen, the plot gets more complicated, the players more dangerous and Corey and his girlfriend Dani face off with a killer before he takes him out. With Sam hacking into emails and phone records what they come up with is outlandish and the phone calls Corey makes to someone named Carlos several others that worked with Lisa and other insurance companies a conspiracy is uncovered but will they uncover the real mastermind before Corey gets a guilty verdict and can Andy pull the miracle out of his hat one more time?

Throughout the novel we hear Corey’s voice as our narrator and director of the events that happen including the various murders. Using resources l Corey used Gerry Barnes someone he worked with an DEA agent Corey tries to uncover who the mysterious Rico might be. Thinking he found this person who has his own drug corner and organized business takes him down, but he is not the person in question. At the core of this novel is insurance fraud and more. There is personal information that the companies are dealing with including the one that is behind the fraud. There are things that people would rather have not brought out or known. There are things that people would rather stay hidden from spouses and employers. What if you are applying for a job as a minster for example and you want to have certain information not known? What about mental stuff in there you do not want your employer or potential employer to know you have an arrest record or other treatments you have undergone that would cloud their decision to hire you.

The company in question is Ardmore Medical Systems and the CEO and other executives are playing a dangerous game and lives are expendable to them when anyone gets in their way of their ultimate goals. The players are many, but focus is on Lisa Yates, Juana Mitchell and Carlos Evaldi who have been killed along with Kline. Just who is manipulating the events and Lisa’ death they can get their information on but why was she killed. Did Kline kill her and who took him out? Don Crystal was fired form Ardmore so why is he willing to feed the defense with information mainly Corey and who was behind the attempted murder in his home? Whatever is being done focuses on a huge group of blackmailers. Ardmore is adjusting medical records to help people get insurance at a lower rate. Not only that some of those insured do not even exist and a non-existing person is getting their insurance money and more. If the insurance company sees the patient as a higher risk more money when they die. They can even change the premium. Did Ardmore or could they take out a policy naming one of their own as beneficiary? That person would have an early death at their hand. Added in the health risks and the higher the change a person who is terminal would someone speed it up? Added in who is Doris Landry and who is this man claiming to be her son?
Courtroom scenes that are filled with humor, suspense and Andy’s brand of cross examination and a Prosecutor that has no chance against him. But, when the trial is over, and the verdict is going to be read why does Corey say he won’t be in court and what will the judge do? An ending filled with tension, shocks and surprises and the truth about who is behind the deaths is revealed as someone is blindsided for a while and Corey Douglas and Simon prove once again never to underestimate either one of them. What is Corey’s verdict? Who faces off with the killer and what is the result? The only one who really knows is the one character that would be Simon who as perfect ANIMAL INSTINCT!

Fran Lewis: Just reviews