The Boyfriend

By: Thomas Perry

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Jack Till, who has retired from the LAPD after a respected career as a homicide detective, now works as a private investigator, comfortable chasing down routine cases while visiting his 24-year-old daughter, Holly, who has Down Syndrome. But when the parents of a recently murdered young girl, about Holly's age, ask for his help when the police come up empty, Till reluctantly takes the case.

It was discovered after her death that the victim had been working as a high-class prostitute, and the police are content to assume she was killed by a client, common in such a dangerous line of work. Yet as Till digs deeper, he realizes that the victim is just one of several young female escorts killed in different cities in the exact same way - all had strawberry blonde hair, and all were shot with a 9mm handgun in the sanctity of their apartments.

Till must find his way around the tawdry and secretive online escort business, and decode ads placed by young women who all use false names, sometimes advertise using other women's pictures, and move from city to city every few months. Yet when Till is finally able to catch up with the killer, he finds that the man he's after is far more dangerous and volatile than he ever could have imagined. As the body count rises, Till must risk his life to find this seductive and ruthless killer whose murderous spree masks a far deadlier agenda.

©2013 Thomas Perry (P)2013 Tantor

FANTASTIC from start to finish!

Where does The Boyfriend rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the most suspenseful books I've ever listened to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved the characters.

Which character – as performed by Robertson Dean – was your favorite?

Robertson Dean's performance was SUPERB!

I enjoyed this

Thomas Perry is a must listen for me. This one is a bit unusual; a view into the mind of a killer,not creepy but so practical, and the mind of a private detective. There are many logistical details some might find boring, that I found fascinating. The reader was excellent.

Typical Thomas Perry

A typical Thomas Perry novel, similar in plot and form to Pursuit (which is slightly superior) and featuring Jack Till, the detective from Silence. The writing is solid without being showy or demanding, the characters hold one's attention, and the plot is suspenseful but not twisty. This is fine, but I rate it a notch below Perry's best books (such as Strip).

Worth a listen

The story is engaging and held my interest. The ending is rather abrupt. My problem with the performance is when the reader tries to change is voice for other characters especially female ones. I don't know why they think that is necessary. Sometimes it sounds plain silly. However, it was only a minor distraction in this book.

Better than expected!

I have read Thomas Perry before, and have long thought of him as an average writer. Someone I do enjoy reading, but not someone I get overly excited about. I did, however, really enjoy this book. I'm sure that the subject matter went quite a way towards my enjoyment, but the writing was also quite good. I felt that the premise was unique and creative enough to really intrigue me, and that is a great start!

The characters were very well developed and I found myself caring for them and becoming interested in their outcome. The protagonist is the typical super cop/Boy Scout that a lot of authors default to, but I did enjoy his character as well.

The narrator was not my favorite, but he did not detract excessively from the book. I thought he got a little too cliche with some of his voicings, and a bit lazy at times, but I would listen to him again as I have heard much worse.

Overall a great read!