Fidelity

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.

Strange title... better one might have been "The Perfect Assassin."

Emily just lost her husband (a private detective,) finds out that he has cleaned out their savings account, was having an affair with his secretary, and her life is now being threatened by a professional assassin who wants to find a secret her husband left behind. That's just the beginning of this story.

Woven into this intrigue is an in-depth look at the life of a professional assassin who has a conscience, (as much as an assassin can) and really just wants to win back the love of his high school sweetheart, leave the life of crime, and settle down. However, lest you think this might lack the necessary edginess of a good thriller, this man is a professional, and the descriptions of his business are fascinating (even if this fascination is slightly twisted.) It is a very believable look at a dark line of work.

Helping Emily through her woes are the three private detectives who worked at her husband's business, but Emily is one gutsy lady who makes for a strong female protagonist. One thing I really enjoyed about this story is that is was satisfying. There weren't those moments of "oh, please... no one would really do that!" I found it compelling, riveting, and was pleasantly surprised by my first read of this author.

I liked the narrator, but I could see how he could be loved or hated. He read the story with very little inflection in his voice, hardly any change in his narration of different characters... mostly just read the story. I would recommend giving a serious listen to the sample of the narrator before buying the book. On the one hand he has a mysterious, almost seductive sound to his reading. On the other, it could be interpreted as monotone, and listless. Strictly personal opinion, but I would listen to him again.

Overall a very pleasant surprise, and a good mystery/thriller combination. Just a solid, entertaining listen.

I wholeheartedly endorse this author as a first-class talent in the thriller genre. I've "read" his other audible.com downloads and find this latest one to be equally engrossing. Mr. Perry knows how to keep the narrative moving forward without losing any of the tension. Even in the words he chooses, Perry comes across as a storyteller of extraordinary abilities. This fact along with a credible narration makes it easy to be faithful to this Fidelity!

I don't usually select books from this genre but this listen was over the top. Lean, spare prose combined with perceptive insight. Good job Perry!

The only downer was that initially the narrator's deep, grainy vocal textures got in the way for me but I eventually acclimated.

This was my first Thomas Perry book; I can't say I would go out of my way to read or listen to another one. I certainly wouldn't pay money to do so. The story had a lot of potential but in the end, it was just too bloated with characters speculating on how another character felt, what they saw, how an event might play out or did play out. The ending was less than predictable, it just trailed off to the last word of the last paragraph.

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.

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.

The is a good story, the wife is strong and solves the mystery with the help of her Private Decetives that work for her --
Her husband ran the business and then disappeared -

This is the first Thomas Perry book I've read. At first I thought the narrator's bland tone was distracting, but after a while I realized it fit perfect with Jerry Hobart's personality.

The story was very good, very satisfying and I would highly recommend it.

There was just no originality at the end of this book. After some of the earlier suspense, I was hoping for a twist at the end and it just didn't happen. I was so disappointed.