Sat 13 Jul 2019
THOMAS PERRY – Vanishing Act. Jane Whitefield #1. Random House, hardcover, 1995. Ballantine, paperback, 1996.
The Butcher’s Boy is one of my favorite books, with Metzger’s Dog not far behind. I’m always glad to see a new one by Perry.
Jane Whitefield is a young woman who is part Seneca by blood, all by heritage. She lives in upstate New York, and is a guide. Not the kind of guide you may be thinking of, though; she guides people who need to be lost, people who have other people looking for them. Jane puts them on the road to not being found, and teaches them how to walk it.
And then one day a man named John Felker shows up at her door. He says he’s an ex-cop, that he’s been framed, and that there’s a contract out on him. There are people after him, all right, as Jane finds as they set out on the road to anonymity, but he’s not exactly what he seems. A different road lies ahead, with a different destination.
Two things you can depend on with Perry: he’ll have a strong, somewhat off-beat central character, or characters, and he’ll tell a hell of a good story. Jane Whitefield is one of his more memorable leads, and the story is a fast-moving thriller that will drag you right along.
There’s a good deal of Native American lore and history interspersed in the third person narrative, about the verisimilitude of which I have no idea at all, but which certainly enhances the story and fits in well with it. Perry seldom writes the same book twice, but he always writes a good one, and this one is very good.
July 13th, 2019 at 10:53 pm
I put the paperback edition of this on my TBR pile as soon as I bought it. That was in 1996, and it is still there, some 23 years later.
I hope I get to it soon!
PS. There are seven more in the Jane Whitefield series. I also hope some of you are doing better than me.
July 14th, 2019 at 8:02 am
I haven’t even gotten that far! I keep meaning to pick it up, but still haven’t.
July 14th, 2019 at 6:42 pm
I have read all the Jane Whitefield stories and have enjoyed them all. Metzger’s Dog is one of my all time favorites.
SPOILER ALERT:
You have to love it when someone decides to blackmail the CIA.
July 14th, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Perry is still going strong. A few years ago he even penned a couple of the Sam and Remi Fargo books under the Clive Cussler by-line and has done new non series books since then.
I enjoyed the Whitfield books and all his non series fiction, Perry was a continues to be one of the few writers whose work I still buy on his name alone.
July 15th, 2019 at 9:06 am
The Butcher’s Boy and Metzgar’s Dog remain my favorites.
July 20th, 2019 at 9:40 am
I’ve read a few Jane Whitefield novels. Thomas Perry grew up in Western NY so the local settings are very authentic.. I think Perry now lives in California.
July 20th, 2019 at 10:49 am
And luckily for all his fans, he’s still writing. His latest, THE BURGLAR, just came out this year. a non-series book. Here’s a summary:
“Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. But Elle is no petty thief–with just the right combination of smarts, looks, and skills, she can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home for plucking the most valuable items. This is how Elle has always gotten by–she is good at it, and she thrives on the thrill. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around. Somebody is searching for her.”