Pursuit

December 3, 2001
The massacre of 13 people in a Louisville restaurant opens Perry's latest psychological thriller (after Death Benefits). Criminologist Daniel Millikan determines that this was no random occurrence, but an assassination carried out by a ruthless, methodical predator—but who was the target? The killer, James Varney, is a cold-blooded psychopath who claimed his first victim—his aunt—at the age of 11; a loner, he later turned to robbery and murder for hire. Against his better judgment, Millikan supplies the father of one of the victims with the name of someone who might be able to help: shady operator Roy Prescott. Prescott's past is dark enough to enable him to get inside the mind of the killer and, with Millikan's help, he sets in motion an elaborate cat-and-mouse game that moves from city to city, with each man trying to anticipate the other's every move as the body count continues to rise. The traps Prescott devises to catch his prey—and the ways in which Varney eludes them—are fascinating, albeit a bit far-fetched, and Perry supplies just enough background to give the two leads depth with a minimum of psychobabble. The female characters, while essential to the plot, are thinly drawn by comparison, and the book loses momentum about halfway through, when Varney goes into hiding and Prescott tries to determine who hired him to commit the initial murders—but Perry definitely comes through in the end, expertly tying the threads together. Agent, Lescher and Lescher. 6-city author tour.

September 1, 2001
From Edgar Award winner Perry: retired police officer Daniel Millikan finds himself-investigating the horrendous murder of 13 people at a Kentucky restaurant. What's more, he's brought in a hit man he once put in jail to help track the killer.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2001
Another unrelentingly suspenseful tale by the talented Perry. This time he insinuates himself into the minds of not one but two contract killers--James Varney, a man whose most recent crime is a coldly calculated mass slaying in a Louisville restaurant, and Roy Prescott, a private homicide investigator hired by the father of one of the victims. Prescott ostensibly works on the side of the law, but everyone in the field knows that the villains he tracks down never survive to face trial. These are men who pride themselves on being the best at what they do, and what they do is not all that dissimilar. A diabolical chase ensues as each uses every well-honed physical and mental skill in his arsenal to ensnare the other, catching more victims in the crossfire. The whodunit element--Who hired Varney to kill in the first place?--is an added intriguing bonus in this battle of wills. A compulsive page-turner populated with characters living amid the shades of gray that surround right and wrong.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)