Paperless

Paperless is a crime novel inspired by the atrocities against children and their families that took place between 1988 and 1996 in the United Kingdom. The national outrage emanating from what became known as the Alder Hey Organ Scandal, resulted in the U.K. Human Tissues Act of 2004. Emotionally charged from the outset and fast-paced throughout, the story involves aviation, computer technology, health care fraud and the persistence, in the face of personal sacrifice, of two very different people in their pursuit of justice for those who could not speak for themselves. Julius Barlow, a well-respected computer engineer, inadvertently accesses, from a local children's hospital, electronic records that suggest doctors are manipulating billing data. Learning his scheme may be threatened, the ring leader, Dr. Atchley, hires assassins to eliminate Barlow – a hunt that begins in the Texas skies and moves swiftly to a murky bayou. A fatal car crash prods Julius to confess his actions to Rikki, a local detective. Together, with the help of Huri, the 'secret weapon' of an insurance investigative group, they begin to unravel the health care fraud which leads to the arrest of Dr. Atchley, but not before they find themselves immersed in a ring of human organ traffickers. Set in a hospital dedicated to the welfare of children, this novel explores the vulnerability of modern technology, the seedy realm of health care fraud and the intrigue of human organ trafficking. Meanwhile Julius' wife, Cora, is dying from a rare disease that only one doctor understands and he may be involved in the fraud ... or something worse. Julius must choose between the welfare of his wife and justice for strangers.