- Hardcover: 337 pages
- Publisher: Random House (April 21 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0679410643
- ISBN-13: 978-0679410645
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #920,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Much of the action in Perry's disappointing follow-up to The Butcher's Boy remains jumpy and disjointed as former hitman Michael Schaeffer, aka Charles Frederick Ackerman, William Wolf or Butcher's Boy, is brought out of hiding in England. Ten years have passed since Schaeffer foiled the attempt of mob employer Carlo Balacontano to have him killed in lieu of payment and then framed the Mafia boss for a particularly grisly murder. As this story opens, Schaeffer avoids an assassination attempt at the Brighton racetrack and realizes his cover has been blown. He returns to New York to find out who ordered the hit and how many bad guys may still be after him. Despite the lurid fascination of the characters' pasts, the plot seems more to congeal than thicken as Schaeffer tries to dispose of or evade all who might be on his trail, including Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Waring, so that he can retire again to the English countryside. With heroes and villains so easily interchangeable, readers may wonder who they should root for, and why. 50,000 first printing.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Perry is the author of four previous novels: Island ( LJ 1/88), Big Fish ( LJ 3/15/85), The Butcher's Boy ( LJ 8/82), and Metzger's Dog ( LJ 9/15/83). His new work brings Charles Ackerman--a.k.a., the Butcher's Boy, a killing-machine-for-hire--out of retirement in England and back to the United States to silence those people he mistakenly thinks have discovered his whereabouts. The story follows Ackerman as he travels coast to coast slaughtering one crime family's head honchos. Perry's book is well written, moves rapidly, and thankfully keeps the gore minimal. But reading it is an uneasy experience--a vicious hitman is not attractive as a main character. Buy where the author's earlier works are popular. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/91.
- A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
"On August 14 at three in the afternoon, Michael Schaeffer noticed a small poster on a board inside the front window of a small teahouse." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
"On August 14 at three in the afternoon, Michael Schaeffer noticed a small poster on a board inside the front window of a small teahouse." Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Much Work!!!,
By
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
I read and loved The Butcher's Boy, Perry's first novel. I was really looking forward to this one, but it disappointed me.In the first book, Perry was straightforward and to the point. In Sleeping Dogs, it's almost as if Perry was told by someone that you have to explain every detail of every character. This includes people who are just about to be killed. So with every new character he brings in, we get a few pages of history on the person, only to have them get killed a second later, or leave the plot line never to be heard from again. The ending was a real disappointment. The method Perry uses to allow The Butcher's Boy to get away is very poor. I really felt cheated. So my advice is read the first one, and skip the second.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flawless,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
Sleeping Dogs, I admit, was the first book I read by Thomas Perry. I have since read and enjoyed, to varying degrees, all his other works. I always come back to Sleeping Dogs though. It is definitely my favorite book, and when ever I read it, it's as if I've come home again. I realize it's almost scary to have a person sympathize with the Butcher's Boy as much as I do, but I constantly admire, appreciate, and understand his ruthless and logical approach to solving problems. I also felt that the "villains" in the book were incredibly fun, and provided a good balance. it's difficult to pick favorites, but Fratelli, the one who is infuriated more and more while trying to escape the Butcher's Boy, and shake off the clingy paranoid bank manager, as well As Bala himself with his unbelievable losing streak against his Gin partner in prison are definite stand outs to me. Also Jack Hamp, I felt, was a wonderful addition as the flip side of the coin to the Butcher's Boy. And of course, I fell in love with the Honourable Meg as well. Overall, I just feel this book is exciting, amusing, ironic, and just thoroughly enjoyable. The only fault I can find is that Perry's Mafia structure doesn't quite jive with reality, but it really doesn't matter. I keep trying to figure out if certain people are from New York, or if they're Chicago, but in Perry's world it seems like Mafia is Mafia, with no real seperation. And that doesn't ultimately matter. To sum up, I feel this book is flawless, and will probably continue to read it once a month until my eyes go.
2.0 out of 5 stars
boring and predictable, but well written,
By Does Not Matter (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
- nothing else to say about this unremarkable book.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
