Thomas Perry (1) (1947–2025)

Relentless
Review of the upcoming Mysterious Press hardcover/audiobook/eBook (January 16, 2024) via the Net Galley Kindle ARC (downloaded November 3, 2023).

Thomas Perry is the master of the ‘hunt and hide’ / ‘pursuit and evade’ sub-genre of suspense thrillers. He crafts his books to show two points of view, the pursuer and the runner. He varies the process with the pursuer sometimes as the villain or the hero. The novels are cat and mouse games where sometimes the mouse turns the show more tables on the cat.

The ‘hero’ in this book is personal security guard Justine Poole who has risen in the ranks and esteem of her co-workers from what was initially an office job. Through training and mentorship she is now one of their elite agents. The agency is working personal security for high-profile clients in an effort to prevent ‘home follow’ assaults and robberies. In one such protection mission, she exchanges gunfire with a carload of criminals who had followed home a Hollywood producer & his wife from a gala event. Two of the criminals are shot dead by Poole.

The crime lord behind the various robbery gangs decides that an example must be made of Poole in order to ensure the loyalty of his underlings. A relentless hitman named Leo Sealy is tasked with the job for a fee of $100,000. It does not take very long for Poole to realize she is being hunted, but not all her supposed allies will step up for her protection. The media is even being manipulated to turn on her. She is uncertain as to whom to turn to and to trust. Meanwhile Sealy is closing in and will not stop regardless of whatever innocents might get in the way.

Hero is a compelling read which you will find hard to put down. The methodical steps taken by both hunter and pursued are laid out in exacting details which draw you in to the action without pause. This is one highly recommended suspense thriller!

My thanks to publisher Mysterious Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review. show less

** spoiler alert ** One of the great things about Perry is that he doesn't feel the need to temper his protagonists' devilish deeds with morally based mitigations, like some films and books do. For example, in many stories, the hero is not allowed to kill the bad guy before the bad guy threatens the hero's life, thereby preserving the hero's moral superiority. Perry has no such imperative. Leah Hawkins knows from the outset that she is going to commit murder, and she's fine with that. And, show more devilishly, the reader is all in. It's a fun ride. I have one major implausibility problem, however: her bosses and the town bigshots know exactly what she is planning, and not only do they look the other way, but they enable her with the money the feds have given the town and employ a "don't ask don't tell" policy about how she reaches her goals. They're on board with the cold blooded murders but don't want to know the details. Otherwise, a fun ride. show less

I quite liked the first book im the series but i found this boring and disjointed and wildly sexist (which I am generally cool with in books, especially those written in the 20th century, but this was serially and outlandishly offensive). I dnf'ed at 37%. There is this scene where a judge meets Jane (who is a prisoner at this moment and who was recently beaten up and the results of that battery are visible on her face) and notes that she looks like a model, all angular and cool but that he show more prefers softer plainer women like his late wife and like the guard who has escorted Jane from the jail to his chambers. This is supposed to make us like the judge, I think. Ew! This is a judge, trying to get the information he needs to decide the fate of an 8-year-old boy and he is thinking about the fuckability of the officer present in her official capacity and the prisoner before him. No. There is plenty more toxic sludge where that came from, and also general right-wing crap. There is a reference to someone who gets a life sentence for murder but will only serve 5 or 6 years because of the broken system. It is that kind of completely wrong "criminals are roaming the streets" conspiracy theory crap that led us to our current prison industrial complex. In most states, one cannot come up for parole for a life sentence until they have served at least 25 years (not counting compassionate release when someone is dying.)

The only way I was finishing this was as a hate read, and I don't have time for those. show less

Action packed and fast paced legal thriller.

How I love a good story that involves lawyers and clients in distress. It’s even better when the attorney isn’t sleazy but instead is smart and well-intentioned. This fit the bill for me as I was really in the mood for some legal machinations and clever maneuvers on the right side of the law.

Loved the character of Charles Warren, a lawyer and CPA whose expertise, beyond the typical divorces and other civil litigation, was in financial crimes. show more He had a great backstory to explain why he wanted to help victims of con men stealing money and that explained his motivation to help Vesper Ellis. She was another great character along with many others in the book.

There was lots of action, excellent writing, and even when some situations strained to the point of credulity, I still enjoyed reading and the narrative kept me glued to the pages. There was a little romance and a lot of info about bad actors embezzling money from their clients.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator did a great job voicing the characters and bringing an appropriate amount of dramatic flair to the story. I definitely enjoyed this one as I have most of this author’s other books. I’m a sucker for a good legal thriller and this hit all the marks. show less