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4.0étoiles sur 5
One of Perry's best, Mars 4 2004
Thomas Perry is very well known for his riveting thrillers. In some ways, he is highly underrated in that his books are so good, he should be a very well known best-selling author. He has been putting out quality work for years. His latest is no exception and is, in fact, one of his best in quite some time.
PURSUIT, as the title aptly describes, is a novel about a cat and mouse chase between two killers. Both of them are professionals for hire. However, one of them works for the good guys, the other is a true monster. When thirteen bodies turn up dead in an intimate restaurant, Daniel Milliken, ex-detective and current professor of criminology, realizes one of the dead customers was the target of a highly skilled and dangerous assassin. He has one of the victim's families hire Roy Prescott, who specializes in hunting down murderers and, in most instances, killing them. Prescott's target is James Varney, an assassin for hire who has no regard for human life. Prescott sets up one trap after another to ensnare Varney. However, Varney eventually starts setting traps of his own.
Perry specializes in novels about hide and seek. His series character, Jane Whitefield, makes people disappear by changing their identity. This standalone is again about people trying to disappear. The book takes off from page one and rarely pauses for breath. These types of books make for some fun reading and this one is definitely no exception. Not only does Perry take great care in the construction of the plot of this novel, but, he uses the same care in the creation of his characters. Varney, Prescott and Milliken are all real to the reader by the conclusion of this ingenious work.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
Truth in Advertising, Mars 1 2004
I've been a fan of Thomas Perry's since his first published novels, Metzger's Dogs and The Butcher's Boy (both of which I strongly recommend). He seemed to have disappeared for a bit, then returned with the Jane Whitefield series, which, although enjoyable, didn't have the same edge for me as the earlier works. But after a few of those, Perry turned back to stand-alone novels, and Pursuit is one of those. It's a decent entry into a real standby of crime fiction, the duel between two equally strong adversaries in which "the hunter becomes the hunted". Perry's weakness here lies in the very nature of the genre itself--the outcome must be predictable or the story will be unsatisfying or incomplete. The story moves forward with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy. But his strength, here and in the Whitefield series, is the rich detail of the hunt, of pursuit and escape. The situations his characters find themselves in, their actions and reactions, are engrossing, and the characters themselves, especially the villian James Varney, are fascinating. And Perry's pacing is excellent, too. The novel contains a number of stories from the characters's pasts, and just when I was at the point of thinking, "The book's almost over and I still don't know much about what really motivates the hero," that issue was immediately addressed. "Pursuit" is exactly what it says it is, and well worth a read.
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1.0étoiles sur 5
Avoid This Chase: Pursuit by Thomas Perry, Fév 9 2004
This novel from Thomas Perry is an extremely disappointing and emotionally flat read where there is little difference between the hunter and the hunted. As the novel opens, a killer has managed to kill thirteen people inside a restaurant in order to confuse the police over who was his actual intended victim. But, ex-cop and now Criminology Professor Daniel Millikan is invited in to the crime scene by the local police and quickly figures out who the target was. Robert Cushner was the intended target and the killer killed everyone around not only to confuse the issue but also to prove that he could do it and get away with it.Professor Millikan soon flies home to Los Angles from Louisville after helping the Police all he can to find this special unfeeling professional killer. But, after the Police prove that they can't, the son's father, also going by the name of Robert Cushner contacts Millikan. The boy's father is wondering if Millikan can put him in touch with someone who might be able, not to get justice and bring the killer to trial, but to seek vengeance and make sure this never happens again. Millikan knows such a man and his name is Prescott. Prescott takes the job, because that is what he does for a living. Prescott begins an elaborate chess game with the killer and soon other people are dying as Prescott and the killer each try to prove his manhood. Neither wants to admit the possibility that the other is better or going to win the game of death. An elaborate chase across the country and back again, weaves through this 370-page novel leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. This is an extremely flat book where there is virtually no emotion coming through the work. These cardboard characters emote through various descriptions but at such distance from the reader that it never comes through. What does come through is the fact that there is little difference between the two and virtually no feelings over the steadily rising body count as Prescott baits the killer over and over again. This novel becomes an extremely boring piece of work and a real disappointment to this Thomas Perry fan. Fortunately, he has written some very good stuff in the past so check out some of his older titles and take a wide pass on this one.
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