The Price of Life

A Radio 4 Book of the Week'Jon Ronson meets Louis Theroux in the style of Joan Didion' - Telegraph'Riveting . . .human stories that make the impersonal intelligible' - The GuardianIn surprising stories that take us into the worlds of hitmen, insurance frauds and modern-day slaves, Jenny Kleeman explores the value of human life. We say that life is priceless. Yet the cost of saving a life, creating a life or compensating for a life taken is routinely calculated and put into practice.For philanthropists, judges, criminals and healthcare providers, it's just part of the job. In The Price of Life, journalist, broadcaster and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman takes us on an adventure to meet some of the people who decide what we're worth. In a series of extraordinary encounters – with people who have faked their own death or lost a loved one to terrorism, with hitmen and with modern-day slaves – she discovers more questions than answers.What happens when we take human emotions out of the equation? Are some lives really worth more than others? In a world in love with data, what do we lose and what do we gain by leaving the judgments that really matter up to cold, hard logic?_____'Compelling' - Literary Review'Reframes how you think about the world' - Sophie Elmhirst, author of Maurice and Maralyn'Gripping' - Daily Mail'Writing, thinking and storytelling at its best' - Ben Judah, author of This Is Europe