Fidelity

By: Thomas Perry

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

When Phil Kramer is shot dead on a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night, his wife, Emily, is left with an emptied bank account and a lot of questions. How could Phil leave her penniless? What was he going to do with the money? And, most of all, who was he if he wasn't the man she thought she married?

Jerry Hobart has some questions of his own. It's none of his business why he was hired to kill Phil Kramer. But now that he's been ordered to take out Kramer's widow, he figures there's a bigger secret at work---and maybe a bigger payoff.

As they race to find the secret Phil Kramer so masterfully hid, both Hobart and Emily must question where their true loyalties lie and how much they owe those who have been unfaithful to them. In Fidelity, Thomas Perry delivers another riveting thriller.

©2008 Thomas Perry (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Perry intrigues as always with spare, intelligent prose." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A spunky but believable heroine, an emotionally conflicted killer, a plot whose twists you will not anticipate.... Fidelity is a winner." ( Library Journal

Good plot and narrator - a bit too long

Good story with some twists - just a bit too long
Good narration, ending a bit too quick

Fidelity

holds your attention and is good reading

Another Great Thomas Perry Book!

I will keep reading as long as he keeps writing. Looking forward to the next one.

Evil verses evil

I would have liked more twists and turns in this story but it otherwise was an excellent listen for this genre. You have a couple of evil characters working against each other and the forces of good. You have a hero who we only get to know after he dies at the very beginning of the book. You have characters who could very easily be real people. And Perry tells the story in a most effective manner. Listeners will probably be able to guess what's going to happen but often this is better than implausible twists that come out of nowhere. The book comes to a satisfying conclusion but I think Perry missed the opportunity to add a final twist. I kept waiting for one but it never materialized. Michael Kramer was good, if a bit monotoned. He portrays evil much better than he portrays good. And that's the way most listeners would want it. All in all, a very good listen.

Another winner for Thomas Perry

I don’t know how Thomas Perry can keep creating such suspenseful stories but I hope he never stops. Even though this is one of his earlier books, it doesn’t fail to keep the reader totally engaged to see what will happen next. And Michael Kramer is the perfect reader for all of Perry’s books.

This is one of Thomas Perry’s best

Michael Kramer Is a great narrator as usual. I thoroughly enjoyed this book-a must read!

Capitvating and Amazing Story

Thomas Perry has easily become one of my favorites. He almost always weaves an interesting and action packed story that holds my attention utterly. In Fidelity we get to experience the impact of a crime on an unsuspecting wife who, through the course of the story becomes a survival warrior. So often stories are by and about men, but this one focuses on how a woman survives! Thank you Mr. Perry for realizing that women want to read about themselves sometimes!

In Fidelity, we also learn to appreciate a murderer, which is always an interesting turn around for a reader. But what I think I like the best in Perry's writing and in Michael Kramer's performance is that the reader feels like we are inside the head of the character.

Perry takes us step by step though the thinking of each character in a way that is detailed and nuanced but never tedious or predictable. The conclusion is an incredible "page turner." I have now listened to all of Perry's audiobooks and conclude that he is an amazing writer and the pairing of Perry with Michael Kramer as the reader is one of the best pairings I have heard in audio books. Kramer has an intimate vocal style that is both private and intense but also exciting and flexible He creates unique voice patterns for the various characters which is remarkably differentiated and yet never self conscious by drawing attention to itself.

I will listen to this book again and urge those who like a suspense and mystery stories to get this book!

Good but not outstanding

Reading Perry's latest, THE OLD MAN, prompted me to buy another by him --the one I am reviewing--FIDELITY. Interesting, but nowhere the twists of The Old Man. Fidelity wouldn't have made me look for others by the same author. Strangely, I found I already had another book by Perry in my own audible library (Forty Thieves), read it this weekend, and would have given it a five star rating, had I not already rated it earlier. The female voices in all of Perry's books are not the greatest (why don't they spend the extra $ and somebody--maybe even a female?-- who can do different female voices?).

Thomas Perry is, quite simply, brilliant.

The above is a quote from Robert B. Parker, a guy who should know. I am now in the process of reading all of Mr. Perry's novels, and I am sad to say that there are only a couple left. The man is remarkable, and again, Michael Kramer is the perfect voice for these amazing books. Mr. Perry is the opposite of formulaic. His creativity and inventiveness seem to know no bounds. This book starts with a killing, and takes almost the whole book to solve it. Through the book we get to know a number of people who are so much flesh and blood that we might actually know them in real life. The villains, however, are so scary that we are glad not to know them. Each time I listen to one of these, I just can't imagine how Mr. Perry is going to top this one, and yet, he does. At times here the suspense is literally unbearable. The plot quickens to the point where I had to put it down to make it last longer, if you understand. I was tempted to just sit and listen to the whole thing, but summoned up enough will power to let it be. Once again Mr. Perry writes with wit that is sometimes understated and sometimes just hilarious. He skewers a rich man who is also a monster, and also his sycophantic wife, and their lives of sheltered unreality. This man hires a killer to stalk the wife of the detective who dies at the beginning, and the contest between the two of them is a war of wills and wits. Emily is another extremely well drawn woman, something which Mr. Perry does easily while other male writers struggle with their inability to write nothing but cardboard women. At first I thought that The Butcher's Boy could not be topped. Now I know that Mr. Perry's talents are truly limitless. Enjoy yourselves. Mr. Perry cannot be beat.

Will keep you guessing.

I really like this book. Lots of interesting characters, suspensful,kept me guessing with an ending that I didn't see coming. I had a hard time turning this one off.