The Boyfriend

Thomas Perry has always been one of my favourite suspense authors. This is especially so when he is writing in his specialized niche of 'hunt and evade' thrillers. Some of these have been one-off novels such as "Pursuit" or "Death Benefits", and some have made for excellent series characters such as the Jane Whitefield or the Butcher's Boy series. With "The Boyfriend" we now have the 2nd of the Jack Till books, the 1st being 2007's "Silence", thus turning Till into a further series character. So why such a relatively low rating of 3 for "The Boyfriend"? For a favourite author you'd expect to give at least or 4 or 5 usually.

I had too much the sense of recycled plot ideas in this novel, probably esp. from the Butcher's Boy, with the show more scenes of a veteran hit-man teaching a novice the trade. Also, the 'hunt' element just seemed too unbelievable. Jack Till is able to single-handedly identify the patterns of a serial killer and hit-man and is able to start predicting and tracking down future victims when the entire police services of several major cities and that of state and federal authorities were completely clueless to these things. Of course, there would be no novel if this wasn't the case, but you hope for a bit more cleverness, a bit more outside-the-box thinking, to propel the hero over the regular crowd, and i just didn't feel that sort of kick from the steps that Jack Till takes to track down the killer. It all seems to come remarkably easily to him, even if he is often a step behind where he needs to be (and he has to be or the book would end too quickly). Lastly, especially from Thomas Perry, who has written strong female characters in the past, this book's recurring victimhood of a series of otherwise sharp self-employed call-girls was another distressing element.

Of course I finished it within a few days, Perry has not lost his knack for writing compulsive reads. It just didn't win me over. The women are sadly interchangeable victims, the Jack Till character is just too bland and you aren't exactly going to side with the sociopathic killer, so who is there left to root for? show less

My opinion of any Thomas Perry book should be given no credence whatsoever. I've read every one of his books and enjoyed them all. This one may be one of the very best. The Boyfriend is an assassin who has a big contract to off a bunch of different people around the country. His MO is to find a high priced hooker and become her Boyfriend. This is just a great story, really nicely told. I hope Perry writes a million more books. I'll buy them all right now.

Those familiar with Thomas Perry's best selling 'butcher boy' series will remember Jack Till, retired LAPD homicide detective turned private investigator. He's an appealing protagonist – middle-aged, attractive, caring father of a Downs Syndrome adult daughter, and clever and sharp as only a Perry hero can be.

Till, who had only a supporting role in Perry's 'Silence' steps to the fore in 'The Boyfriend,' where he finds himself on the track of a call-girl murdering psychopath.

The personals ad might read 'beautiful very agreeable strawberry blonde seeks man who has needs to be met....if you've got the money I've got the time.' But perhaps unfortunately for them, these lovely blondes are also lonely young women isolated by their calling show more and easy prey for a handsome stranger looking for a place to stay that's 'off the books.' What better way for a professional killer to stay in a strange city while he arranges his next hit? It's a free lodging with multiple benefits. Unfortunately, of course, at the end of his stay, the only person who can describe him must be dispatched.

As usual, Perry's novel is divided between hunter and prey. Chapters describe Till's hunt and the planning and execution of the killer's agenda.

Perry's novels are usually a bit more gripping than 'The Boyfriend.' Here there's just a tad too much recitation of everyday events to achieve the needed fast pace. There was no point at which I couldn't have walked away from the novel if a better book had come along.

Perry is an able writer and 'The Boyfriend' is far better than many other mysteries currently on the market, but it's not Perry at his best.

(A free reviewer copy was provided.) show less

This is a smart, straight forward, detective, action, thriller novel, highlighted by an intelligent P.I. and equally intelligent and deadly criminal. These two face off in a book that will hold you hostage till the last page. The savvy ex-cop turned private investigator, Jack Till, reluctantly takes a case that the police don't seem to have time for. The parents of a murdered young woman want Till to find her killer. The problem is, she was a highly paid prostitute working on her own using the internet to score her john's. The police seem to see it as a low priority case and are not pushing to solve it. Till knows it will take lots of time and money to track down this girl's killer. What he doesn't know is she is not the killer's first show more victim. As it turns out, she is only collateral damage for a highly paid, highly skilled assassin. This is my first introduction to Thomas Perry's books, but it won't by my last. Book provided for review by Amazon Vine. show less

I do like Thomas Perry. I've read most of his other books (both the Butcher's Boy and Jane Whitfield series are excellent) and was pleased to get this one as an advanced reader copy. It introduces a new character, Jack Till, ex-homicide detective, who is hired (for a considerable amount of money, which, given what they already know about their daughter, surprised me they would want to discover more,) to find the killer of their high-priced escort daughter, Catherine.

The Boyfriend has all the ingredients of a first rate thriller: a competent assassin, beautiful escorts who are getting killed as cover for the assassin's work (we learn this, and the identity of the killer, early in the book so it's not a spoiler,) and a driven P.I., an show more ex-homicide cop. The chase is on. This book does not disappoint and lives up to Perry's other books. Very enjoyable.

One mild complaint. It would seem that each new detective has to have some personal travail. In Jack's case, it's his Down Syndrome daughter with whom he has a charming relationship, but about whom he is totally freaked out paranoid that some monster he put in jail years before will take the trouble to hunt down and harm. I long for the days of just a good-old investigatory police procedural or detective story that focuses on the investigation without unnecessary and unrealistic baggage of dysfunctional families, personal threats to families, etc.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a free copy in return for my always independent reviews. show less

I am a great Thomas Perry fan and read this book in two days. The plot of a private detective pursuing the murderer of call girls who seem to be clones of each other is intriguing, especially when their deaths become linked to high profile assassinations. However, the entire plot unraveled in the last quarter of the book. There seemed to be a total disconnect with the previous events. I just don't think such a savey antagonist would have burdened himself with the two new characters he encounters.

Perry's writing is exciting so I think that the book is worth reading, but not worth rereading which I do with his other novels.

I've read a number of terrific reviews of this book and couldn't wait to read it. The book delivered and was a great read.

Retired LAPD homicide detective, Jack Till, is hired by the parents of their daughter who worked as a female escort.

Till discovers that there were other female escorts of the same description killed in other cities and in each city there was another murder. He surmises that the killer made friends with the escort, stayed at her place while planning his main target. Once that was accomplished, he murdered the escort so she couldn't identify him.

This is a well written story with good insight into Till's motivation and relentlessness to find the killer. He has a daughter the same age as many of the victims. His daughter show more lives at a group home with Down Syndrome.

The plot is carefully laid out and the story will catch the reader's attention from page one. show less