These are great days to be a fan of thrillers. With folks like Jeffery Deaver, Harlan Coben, and John Sandford consistently publishing high-quality nail-biters, those of us who want ticking bombs and brilliant bad guys are in heaven.
But what happens after you’ve read the big names? What’s a thriller fan to do? Stopping by the reference desk for some quality book-talkin’ is a good idea, but in the meantime, let me turn you on to a guy named Thomas Perry. He’s popular, but he doesn’t have the mega-big-name pull of the Deavers of the world. I apologize if you already know him; in that case, maybe try David L. Lindsey, and if you already know him, I demand that you come to the Adult Services Reference desk so that I can find you a new thriller writer. So help me God, I’ll do it.
But for those of you who haven’t discovered Thomas Perry, oh are you in for a treat. He’s written lots of good standalone titles, but the one we’re gonna talk about here is Vanishing Act, the first in the Jane Whitefield series.
Jane Whitefield disappears people.
(Ooh, I’m getting a shiver just thinking about it.)
When the Feds can’t protect you, when the bad guys are close and getting closer, when there is no place left to turn, you try to find Jane Whitefield. She’s not an easy woman to locate. She values her privacy very much, which makes sense, considering the number of people who want her dead. But if you find her, she will make you vanish. She’ll get you the new IDs, the new apartment, the new job, the new city. This woman means business.
Jane is half white and half Seneca. The Native American background quickly makes itself apparent in Vanishing Act, when Jane is forced to run through fields and traverse a lake to rescue an ex-cop named John Felker. The adventure heats up from there, along with a bit of romance, a lot of betrayal, and a jaw-dropping, knock-your-socks-off finale.
I loved this book. The entire series is great. So are Perry’s standalones. What I liked most about this series is readers DO NOT have to read these books in order! Grab them off the shelf as you find them. Now. Stop reading me. Go read Thomas Perry.
I enthusiastically recommend the Jane Whitefield. Unlike MarianLibrarian, I think they should be read in order. Jane develops as a character, there are relationships, etc.
Yeah, I kinda wish I hadn’t accidentally started the series with the fourth book. I tend to agree with Max: read the series in order. If the first one isn’t checked in, read one of Perry stand-alones during the wait…
I was on my first trip to the Philippines when I saw Vanishing Act in one of the bookstores there. It was December of 1996 and since then, I loved T.P.’s novels.
The books grip and leave you breathless.