October 5, 2015
Not much fazes the aptly named Abels, husband and wife Sid and Ronnie—sharpshooting retired former LAPD detectives turned PIs—in this propulsive, darkly humorous thriller from Edgar-winner Perry (Strip). Dodging bullets is certainly not what the couple anticipates when they agree to a research corporation’s request to look into to the execution-style shooting murder the previous year of one of their scientists, chemist James Ballantine, whose body was found in a North Hollywood storm drain. But no sooner does Ronnie post a $25,000 reward for information than the fireworks—or more accurately firefights—start. What the Abels don’t know, but readers do, is that they’re dealing with Ed and Nicole Hoyt, sociopathic hired guns based in the San Fernando Valley who aren’t going to let anything get in the way of a lucrative payday. As the likable, series-worthy Abels struggle to survive at least long enough to solve Ballantine’s murder, Perry tosses in several hairpin plot twists that culminate in a satisfyingly surprising conclusion. Agent: Mel Berger, WME.
October 15, 2015
Is Perry mellowing with age? Just as he took off the edge in his latest case for disappearance specialist Jane Whitefield (A String of Beads, 2014, etc.), he almost relaxes in this tale of a husband-and-wife detective duo pursuing a husband-and-wife pair of killers. Not that there isn't a high body count, beginning with James Ballantine, a research chemist who was killed a year ago, his body dumped into a North Hollywood storm drain. Absent any police progress, Ballantine's firm, the Intercelleron Corporation, hires Sid and Veronica Abel to work the case. It's an excellent choice, because Sid and Ronnie, both formerly of the LAPD, are brainy, thorough, and resourceful. They'll need every bit of that resourcefulness once their offer of a $25,000 reward for information leads not to an arrest and conviction but to several increasingly determined attempts on their lives. The would-be killers, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, are the kind of people Perry knows like the back of his hand: coldhearted, businesslike, and consummately successful--except this time. Soon enough, Vincent Boylan, the client who hired them to kill the Abels, comes after the Hoyts himself, and they leave him dead. Meanwhile, the Abels get leads on Ballantine's adulterous girlfriends, each of whom has a sadly, amusingly distinctive story to tell. Eventually all four of the principals lift their sights from annihilating each other to tracking and neutralizing Boylan's paymasters, who give the story its title. It's still entertaining and suspenseful to watch Sid and Ronnie and Ed and Nicole hatch plots to protect themselves by eliminating the shadowy figures who've been calling the shots, but their alliance strains belief, and 40 thieves turn out to be too many even for a writer as gifted as Perry to bring to life.
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Starred review from December 1, 2015
Forced to decide whether they prefer Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield novels or his varied but equally entrancing stand-alones, most fans of this multitalented author would be forced to punt. It's an unanswerable question, really, leaving the Perry devotee no choice but to pick whichever kind of novela Whitefield or a stand-alonehe or she has read most recently. Following last year's String of Beads, an outstanding Whitefield adventure, Perry now jumps from one horse to another with all the agility of a rodeo rider. This stand-alone caper smoothly mixes high-octane thrills with comic capering, as two married couplesone a PI team, the other a hit couple for hirespar with one another, the latter attempting to eliminate the former, until they both find themselves in the crosshairs of a lethal gang of Russian jewel thieves. Along the way to a knockout finale, in which everyone is shooting at everyone, at least for a while, Perry offers a master class in narrative sleight of handjust as we think we've decided this novel is all about action and narrative drive, he throws us headlong into the wacky personal lives of his characters and lulls us into thinking the pressure is off. But the pressure is never off in a Perry novel, just as the people are never merely action figures. Like the work of the late, great Ross Thomasthe crime writer Perry most resemblesPerry's books, whether series or stand-alone, absolutely resist easy categorization, thoroughly melding character and plot, light and dark, and totally immersing the reader in the irresistible narrative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
November 15, 2015
Sid and Ronnie Abel, both former LAPD detectives, are now highly regarded PIs specializing in solving cold cases. The couple has been hired to investigate a corporate employee's suspicious death a year earlier. Concurrently, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, married assassins-for-hire team, is on a different client's payroll to do damage control on the demise of the African American research scientist before the Abels learn too much. Sid and Ronnie's exhaustive, meticulous investigation coincides with the extreme measures taken by the Hoyts to prevent the Abels from discovering the truth. VERDICT Perry's (A String of Beads; The Butcher's Boy) fantastic stand-alone thriller presents two intriguing couples whose relationships are as compelling as the action that drives them. The novel speeds to a surprising conclusion that will satisfy Perry's many followers and generate new fans. [See Prepub Alert, 7/13/15.]--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2015
When do in-demand husband-and-wife detective team Sid and Ronnie Abel cross paths with in-demand assassins-for-hire Ed and Nicole Hoyt? With the murder of middle-aged African American research scientist James Ballantine. The Abels are called in by the victim's company when the police investigation falters, while the Hoyts are called by perpetrators of the crime to make sure the Abels fail in their quest.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 29, 2016
Perry’s novels are enhanced by a sardonic, slyly humorous approach. Reader Berkrot smoothly conveys this with a voice that sounds street-smart but literate, frequently amused and never terribly ruffled, even when the plot takes one of its frequent surprising twists. The novel concerns two married couples. Sid and Ronnie Abel are LAPD detectives turned private sleuths, hired by a corporation to find out who killed one of its scientists. Nicole and Ed Hoyt are assassins hired to stop the Abels’
investigation, who, after several unsuccessful attempts, wind up on their Russian clients’ hit list. Berkrot executes Sid and Ronnie’s rapid-fire exchanges with perfect timing, sounding loving yet critical, exactly what you’d expect from seasoned long-married sleuths. He presents Nichole and Ed with Texan drawls even though the author is vague about their origins, giving them an easy-going geniality that seems off until it’s justified by the ever-inventive plot. As for the cadre of unequivocal Russian villains, they are plentiful, yet Berkrot has devised a distinguishing gravelly croak for each male and an oddly sexy, consonant-rich growl for the group’s ultra-deceptive female. A Grove/Atlantic/Mysterious hardcover.