The Old Man

October 17, 2016
Former army intelligence officer Dan Chase, the hero of this engrossing if not flawless thriller from bestseller Perry (Forty Thieves), has lived in a small Vermont town with his two dogs for 35 years. A widower, he’s been in hiding after allegedly stealing $20 million during a mission in Libya. After assassins fail to kill the “old man” (he’s 60), Chase—who has been preparing for such a situation for decades—goes on the run. With numerous false identities and bank accounts across the country, Chase attempts to stay alive long enough to identify exactly who is trying to kill him. Are his pursuers agents of the U.S. government, Libyan operatives, or some other force that has developed an interest in him and the missing money? The unconventionality of the older action hero is refreshing, and the tension throughout is palpable, but the back story of a secondary character—his landlady in the Chicago area—comes across as contrived and unnecessary. Still, readers will eagerly keep turning the pages. Agent: Mel Berger, WME.

October 15, 2016
Perry (Forty Thieves, 2016, etc.) drives deep into Jack Reacher territory in this stand-alone about a long-ago Army intelligence officer whose less-than-grateful nation just won't let him be.Dispatched to Libya a generation ago to deliver $20 million to Faris Hamzah for distribution to rebel fighters, Michael Kohler watched as Hamzah sat on the money, purchasing a Rolls-Royce, financing a cadre of personal bodyguards, and doing everything except pass the bundle to the intended recipients. So Kohler grabbed the rest of the money and hightailed it back to the USA. His offers to return the money to the National Security Agency fell on the deaf ears of bureaucrats who informed him that he was a wanted criminal who'd better turn himself in and face the music. So Kohler went off the grid as Dan Chase, of Norwich, Vermont, invested the money cautiously, and set up several false identities, just in case. Ten years after his wife died, his past catches up with him in the shape of two Arab-looking men who break into his house while he's supposed to be asleep. After taking care of business with brutal efficiency, he goes on the lam once more. As Peter Caldwell he drives to Chicago, where he meets Zoe McDonald, who's quickly drawn to him. They make some sweet memories together as Henry and Marcia Dixon; then it's time once more for Henry to leave. Julian Carson, the special ops contractor assigned to locate Dixon and set him up for the kill, ends up sympathizing with him instead--especially after he helps arrange the return of the $20 million and sees that it doesn't lessen the pressure on Dixon--and passes on the information that allows the Dixons to escape, though it doesn't exactly feel like an escape to Marcia. They retreat to an isolated cabin in Big Bear; Carson quits the assignment and marries his Arkansas sweetheart. Both men wait for the inevitable, and in the fullness of time, it arrives with guns ablaze. Swift, unsentimental, and deeply satisfying. Liam Neeson would be perfect in the title role.

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Starred review from January 1, 2017
There are thriller heroes like Lee Child's Jack Reacher or Alex Berenson's John Wells whose combination of cunning and physical prowess makes them intensely appealing fantasy figures. And then there are thriller heroes like Thomas Perry's Old Man, who, at 60, has lost most of whatever physical attributes he once possessed but who can still think his way out of jams that would leave the rest of us whimpering for mercy. This is hardly the first time that Perry has written about a seeming Everyman with a hidden wealth of special training and ratiocinative ability, but the Old Man, who has many names on call and changes them as situations dictate, is surely one of the most appealing. A long time ago, he found himself in an untenable position in the Middle East but managed to escape with his life and a pot of CIA money. Hiding was his only way to stay alive, and so he has managed to do, until now. After decades of eluding but never exhausting his would-be assassins, the Old Man realizes he has no choice but to go on the offensive. This one's all about suspense and narrative propulsion, but the Old Man will remind Perry devotees of Chinese Gordon, the wacky hero of Metzger's Dog (1983), Perry's Edgar-winning comic caper novel. Both men are crazy good thinkers and planners and improvisers, and it's pure pleasure to watch them at work. Another delight from a writer who never disappoints.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2016

Dan Chase might seem like just another Vermont retiree, but he's a man on the run with two Beretta Nanos in his closet. As a young U.S. Army intelligence officer tasked with surreptitiously helping a rebel army in Libya, he made what he considered the right decision when things went wrong, instantly creating enemies. From the Edgar Award winner.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2016

About 30 years ago, an American operative transferred $20 million to a Libyan strongman obliged to send it on to rebels in Libya. The strongman reneged; the American clawed back the cash. His army intel contacts cut him off and the man disappeared off the grid. A reckoning comes calling in small-town Vermont where he now lives as Dan Chassen, an apparent retiree with two dogs and a grown daughter. Thriller junkies will relish the smart and slippery plotting of this baby boomer hero. Fit, strong, a dog lover, and a family man, Chassen outthinks and outfights his enemies. VERDICT Revered as a master of suspense with many best sellers (Forty Thieves) and an Edgar Award (for The Butcher's Boy), Perry plays his plot with virtuosic deftness, thrilling readers to the core. [See Prepub Alert, 7/18/16; nine-city tour; library marketing.]--Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.