Pursuit: A Novel

This book is full of details that lead to an incredible ending. The author's ability to describe each character's logic, emotions, and skillset is profound.

I recommend listening to this.

This is a stand-alone novel. Hard to follow a first act like the Butcher's Boy. The villain here is unambiguously evil. His name is Varney. He will kill anyone for any amount. There are two good guys: Milliken is a cop, Prescott is an ex-cop who teaches law-enforcement. Prescott does things which are marginally legal but effective. Thirteen people are killed in a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. Prescott is called in. In the end the mouse finally cannot escape. The last four or five chapters will have you biting your fingernails, I guarantee it. Although you can predict the outcome, nonetheless the book is riveting. Prescott is trying to match minds with Varney, trying to match locations with him, and setting traps for the mouse. Prescott tries to anticipate where Varney will go and how he thinks. Varney goes to extremes to disguise himself. A separate trap is set for Varney, involving a woman named May.
Tom Weiner matches skills with Mr. Perry, which is saying something indeed. His pace is fast when it should be, and tantalizing when it needs to be. Some readers will recognize locations in Buffalo and in LA from other books.There is a bit less humor here than in prior works, but Mr. Perry has set the bar so high for himself that we hardly notice that. I loved this book. I am now in Mr. Perry's clutches. I will go anywhere he wants to take me. I hope that you can jump on the train, too.

Great story, Perry leads the reader down many paths, all of which you want to follow down. The ending is like nothing else I have ever read. The hero gets paid a lot for his services and clearly needs all the money to trap this vilian. It is great praise when I compare anything to Lee Child's Jack Reacher stuff.

This only my second Perry book. I liked - not loved - the first one but Having listened to Pursuit, Im now an official fan and will be getting all his books. This book is equal parts character development and plot and both are done extremely well. I'm a huge Jack Reacher fan (have them all, both audio and paper) and this book comes darn close. I hope the rest of his books measure up AND hope he continues the story line.

If you don't like this book you need to stop reading murder mysteries and maybe avoid fiction in general.

I didn't know how Perry was going to sustain my interest for such a relatively long time, but he did. It's always fun to watch the hunter pursue the victim and then have the tables turn. In this case, the 'good' guy is only relative to an extremely depraved bad guy, (which can be traced to bad mothering) so our ending could never be in doubt. Still, a wily Chess game is always more enjoyable then Checkers. (Any good game metaphor works, excepted perhaps Bridge.)

I enjoyed this book and feel it deserves four stars. It was a different type story and made me think about how officials should look at crime scenes to get into the heads of the murderer(s). Also made me aware of how a person acts/dresses to "blend in" and not be noticed. A different premise than most action/detective type books.

This will be a short review but I like all of Perry's books and thought I should say so. He has a way of telling a story and making it interesting. I like first person narratives ie; I felt this, not he felt this. Perry has a lot of this in his books. This is a good murder mystery without much mystery, but a lot of suspense. I got a bit angry that the murderer got away so many times to commit more murders when he was cornered and given too many chances. It did hold my attention though and I give it four stars.

I found the basic plot of this book to be good but it was so slow moving I almost gave up on finishing it.

I've enjoyed Thomas Perry's books, starting with the Butcher's Boy, and continuing through the different series. Perry often introduces a non-typical hero, sometimes unlikeable and occasionally even the "bad guy". Perry's ability to make these characters sympathetic enough for us to want to find out what happens to them is remarkable, particularly as he does it without watering down their personalities. Each one is an individual.

Another thing Perry does very well is craft an exciting story. He does it again here.