The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy) (edition 2012)

by Thomas Perry

Series: The Butcher's Boy (3)

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294	11	89,376	(4.02)	6
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: *"A master class in thriller writing" from the New York Times* bestselling author of The Butcher's Boy and Sleeping Dogs (Los Angeles Times).** In Thomas Perry's Edgar Award�??winning debut The Butcher's Boy, a professional killer betrayed by the Mafia leaves countless mobsters dead and then disappears. Justice Department official Elizabeth Waring is the only one who believes he ever existed. Many years later, the Butcher's Boy finds his peaceful life threatened when a Mafia hit team finally catches up with him. He knows they won't stop coming and decides to take the fight to their door. Soon Waring, now high up in the Organized Crime Division of the Justice Department, receives a surprise late-night visit from the Butcher's Boy. Knowing she keeps track of the Mafia, he asks her whom his attackers worked for, offering information that will help her crack an unsolved murder in return. So begins a new assault on organized crime and an uneasy alliance between opposite sides of the law. As the Butcher's Boy works his way ever closer to his quarry in an effort to protect his new way of life, Waring is in a race against time, either to convince him to become a protected informant�??or to take him out of commission for good. "Accentuates the best of Mr. Perry's gift for using pure logic and gamesmanship to generate breathless nonstop suspense."�??The New York Times "No one makes killing bad guys more fun, no one is smarter at blending research and invention, and no one offers a higher body count of ingenious hits."�??Library Journal (starred… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	Mark.Rubinstein
Title:	The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy)
Authors:	Thomas Perry
Info:	Mariner Books (2012), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 336 pages
Collections:	Thrillers & Suspense, Crime fiction, Your library
Rating:
Tags:	crime, suspense, thriller, hitman, hit man, assassin

Work Information

The Informant by Thomas Perry

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Hit Man by Lawrence Block (crazybatcow)
crazybatcow: Very similar main characters. Similar sense of "justice" being delivered.

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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)

This three-book series was excellent. (

)

glennon1 | Feb 7, 2022 |

The Butcher Boy is back. This time he's after the Mafia boss who put a hit out on him. Elizabeth Waring of the Justice Department wants the Butcher Boy to turn informant, but he's bent on eliminating as many Mafia bosses as he can after they agreed to put a hit out on him. This book has enough action and tension to keep you turning the pages. (

)

lewilliams | Dec 27, 2021 |

The last book in the Butcher's Boy trilogy, and my favorite. Drawn out of a laconic retirement in the last book by a chance encounter, the Butcher's Boy decides it's time to finish things one way or the other. He returns to America, reconnects with the Justice Department's Mafioso expert, Elizabeth Waring, to find out who's running things now. Then he goes off to kill some of the leaders, enough to force them to meet and discuss cooperating to eliminate their pest problem (i.e., him.) Perry does a nice job of weaving in backstory, such as learning the assassin trade and the unorthodox nature of his marriage to a British aristocrat. I especially liked the book's ending, which happened in a most unexpected way. (

)

skipstern | Jul 11, 2021 |

Thomas Perry respects his characters so much. They are never sappy or predictable or sentimental. They are strong and smart and sharp. In this story he brings back the Butcher's Boy from his earlier books and matches him up with Elizabeth Waring of the Justice Department. It's a brilliant match and a great story. (

)

susandennis | Jun 5, 2020 |

Ok, the Butcher's Boy is back.

The whole time I was reading this book, I felt snippets of Michael Mann's film, Heat, playing in the back of my mind. You know, where the good guy and bad guy had this unique connection throughout their encounters. In this book, Elizabeth Waring from the Justice Dept is back, and solving mafia-related murders which are linked to the unknown and never-before-apprehended killer who she encountered over 10 years ago, in Perry's other Butcher's Boy books.

I love the pace, dialogue and characterization in this novel, more than some of his other recent ones. I esp liked the thoughts in the mind of the killer, who, after all, is just trying to live out the rest of his days peacefully in rural England, finally married to a semi-aristocrat he hooked up with in the previous book, until the dang mafia showed up again, in his world, to attempt to kill him.

This is a good stand alone, but is a far richer reading experience if you've read the earlier 2 novels as well.
(

)

cjazzlee | Nov 13, 2015 |

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The Butcher's Boy (3)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Barry Award (Winner – Thriller – 2012)

Hammett Prize (Nominee – 2011)

Distinctions

Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Thrillers – 2011)

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The Informant

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Thomas Perry (author)

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:

"A master class in thriller writing" from the New York Times bestselling author of The Butcher's Boy and Sleeping Dogs (Los Angeles Times).

In Thomas Perry's Edgar Award�??winning debut The Butcher's Boy, a professional killer betrayed by the Mafia leaves countless mobsters dead and then disappears. Justice Department official Elizabeth Waring is the only one who believes he ever existed.

Many years later, the Butcher's Boy finds his peaceful life threatened when a Mafia hit team finally catches up with him. He knows they won't stop coming and decides to take the fight to their door. Soon Waring, now high up in the Organized Crime Division of the Justice Department, receives a surprise late-night visit from the Butcher's Boy. Knowing she keeps track of the Mafia, he asks her whom his attackers worked for, offering information that will help her crack an unsolved murder in return.

So begins a new assault on organized crime and an uneasy alliance between opposite sides of the law. As the Butcher's Boy works his way ever closer to his quarry in an effort to protect his new way of life, Waring is in a race against time, either to convince him to become a protected informant�??or to take him out of commission for good.

"Accentuates the best of Mr. Perry's gift for using pure logic and gamesmanship to generate breathless nonstop suspense."�??The New York Times

"No one makes killing bad guys more fun, no one is smarter at blending research and invention, and no one offers a higher body count of ingenious hits."�??Library Journal (starred