Runner

Jane Whitefield is married to Carey McKinnon, a surgeon, lives in a nice part of town, and enjoys a good life. She and Carey are trying to get pregnant. It hasn't happened yet, but they're not giving up. Then one night, in the middle of a fundraiser at Carey's hospital, a young woman comes looking for help, and everything changes because a surgeon's wife is not all Jane is. She is a person who takes other people out of this world to make them safer.

Christine is pregnant and fleeing her abusive boyfriend, who has hired six ruthless guns to track her down. After receiving Jane’s name from someone Jane once helped, Christine travels from San Diego to Buffalo in search of protection. From there, Perry leads readers into a nightmare where show more the ruthless prey on the vulnerable. Christine’s boyfriend, Richard, is a charming crook used to taking what he wants and discarding it when he loses interest. He does not really want Christine, but he fears she knows too much about his business. He does not want the baby she is carrying either, though his parents do. Together, they will do anything to claim Richard’s child. But they are not prepared for Jane—and they never see her coming.

Tense and suspenseful, this was one I couldn't put down until the last page. show less

Happy, happy, joy, joy; Jane Whitefield is back! Sincere thanks to Mr. Perry for giving in to the pleas of her many fans (and probably to her strong, distinctive voice calmy insisting in his head that she really, really needed another outing). But, whatever the reason for her return, the result is excellent.

I was particularly fascinated by her adaptation to the five years (her time) of technological change since last she guided somebody out of their dangerous world. I also appreciated the significant growth in both her character and her efforts to address the serious conflicts between her work (actually, her vocation) and her marital relationship. She's stronger... a little darker... more determined...

Most of all, I loved the ending. show more It screams "more is coming!" Bring it on. show less

It's been quite a while since I read the previous entries in the Jane Whitefield series. In Runner, Jane has taken on a new case five years after her retirement to the quiet life of a doctor's wife. When a pregnant girl asks for her help, Jane, who's been worried about her and her husband's failure to conceive, can't help but assist her to escape those who are seeking her.
Jane must deal with 21st century technology and the increased security that followed 0/11. When things start to go sour, it's because she doesn't really know how her 20-year-old charge will behave, and doesn't warn her against every possible slip.
Perhaps my memory is faulty, but I found this book had more violence -- some carried out by Jane herself -- that I recalled show more from earlier books. I also felt more aware of the moral ambiguity inherent in Jane's use of illegal means to help more-or-less deserving fugitives. But I was glad to have Jane Whitefield back.
Something else new was that I listened to Runner on Audible. The reader (Joyce Bean) was excellent and I look forward to hearing her read Poison Flower, the next book in the series. show less

BOTTOM-LINE:
Surprising mix of depth and misplaced action
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
Jane is retired, ready to give advice if need be to would-be runners looking for her help, but she spends her days being the dutiful supportive wife of her surgeon husband. At a fundraiser for the hospital, a bomb explodes to hide the activities of a group of hunters determined to capture a pregnant girl before she can get to Jane.
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WHAT I LIKED:
As always, Jane is going to help. If she doesn't, there's no book, right? So yes, she helps the runner, gets her away, finds a way to get her safe, and Jane does some other sleuthing to help her stay hidden. I liked the "lull" in the action so to speak as Jane tries to return to her normal life after helping the girl, show more giving her some time to get ready for birth etc., and there is a surprisingly deep storyline about the fact Jane has been trying to have a baby of her own with no luck conceiving.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
There are two elements in the story that I found a bit strained. First, Jane gets her away, gets her safe, and is helping her "get ready" for the birth. Annnnnd then just says, "See you later, I'll be back before the due date". Why does she leave? No real reason, it's stupid. With predictable results. Equally, the final parts of the novel seem more like Die Hard than a Jane Whitefield novel.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media. show less

Thomas Perry, shame on you for leaving the character without a follow up book for so many years. Jane Whitefield is not the average character, she is so interesting and there is so much depth to her, including what she does.

Jane Whitefield is a "guide" she helps people who have no body to turn to, and no "legal" witness protection program that will help them. It is not a profession for her, it is a calling.
Several years ago I read the first 5 books about this character, and as the years passed, I was disappointed when she did not return.

This book has all the elements needed to make it a don't put down page turning thriller.

I finished listening to this book today (I downloaded it from Audible). Things I liked:I really wanted to come back to reading this each time I stopped. I liked revisiting Jane Whitefield and seeing how her life had changed. She seemed to mature in a fairly realistic way. This book examined the consequences to her life in a more thorough way than I remember from previous books (although it has been years, my memory is fuzzy). I found the "runner" in this book to be a frustratingly realistic character at times. The bad guys were satisfyingly bad.The biggest problem I had with this book may have been less of an issue for me if I read it on paper rather than audio. I found the breaks between chapters choppy, and they frequently left me show more wondering if I had tuned out and missed something (Usually I hadn't. Once I had.There was a lot of the usual suspension of disbelief that things could really unfold the way they did, but no worse than any other thriller.All in all, an enjoyable read. show less

Perry is one of my favorite authors, and I have loved the Jane Whitefield series, about a woman who helps people in trouble disappear. This is the first in the series in a number of years; Perry wrote a number of excellent stand alones in between.

Jane takes her first case in over five years, as she feels she cannot turn away the young pregnant woman escaping a dangerous and abusive boyfriend.

I liked this book quite a lot, but it isn't, in my mind as good as some of the others in the series. My favorite was the one in which Jane and a couple of others gave away billions of Mafia money to charities.

It is a terrific series, though I'd start with some of the earlier ones and savor your way through all of them.