Thursday, February 23, 2023

Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry

 


(pb; 1995: first book in the Jane Whitefield series)

From the back cover

“Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness—not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fool any pursuer, cover any trail, and then provide her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. Jane knows all the tricks, ancient and modern; in fact, she has invented several of them herself.

“So she is only mildly surprised to find an intruder waiting for her when she returns home one day. An ex-cop suspected of embezzling, John Felker wants Jane to do for him what she did for his buddy Harry Kemple: make him vanish. But as Jane opens a door out of the world for Felker, she walks into a trap that will take all her heritage and cunning to escape.”

 

Review

Vanishing is an excellent thriller, one of the best works I’ve read from Perry thus far. His slick, well-edited action and usual solid characterization is on display, the latter taken to a new level through a touch of mysticism and his deep-dive, main-protagonist’s knowledge of her multi-tribal-integral knowledge of her peoples’ history, practices and skills (thus making Vanishing an edutaining and effectively heartfelt-but-not-sappy read). Standout novel from a standout writer, worth owning. Followed by Dance for the Dead.

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