Wolves and dodgy insurance salesmen come together in a thriller about a mentally ill young man who takes up a post as an intern at a company specializing in purchasing life insurance policies from the terminally ill and then collecting on them when those individuals die.
Two ravens greet Quin Lighthorn when he turns up for work on his first day as an intern at Safe Haven. Quin, we learn, has been released from a mental institution in order to help the FBI investigate Safe Haven, but as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems and before long Quin finds that murder is part and parcel of the modus operandi of his new employer.
Safe Haven has many types of “wolf” in its sales force and they prey as a pack to seek out the weak and the wealthy at hospitals and hospices building their list of prospects as they seek to make financial killings.
Before long, Quin has witnessed a murder and from that point on knowing who and what to believe becomes increasingly tricky. Quin, though a likeable character is too trusting — possibly because of his mental illness — and this makes him a somewhat unreliable narrator.
While some of the twists and turns in the plot may stretch belief In the Company of Wolves is an entertaining and exciting read with moments that are genuinely scary. I liked it a lot.
[Disclosure: An Advance Readers Copy (ARC) of In the Company of Wolves by James Michael Larranga, published by CreateSpace, was provided via Netgalley. ISBN 9781478320418. Expected date of publication 1 September 2013.]