- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (Dec 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679453067
- ISBN-13: 978-0679453062
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 15 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 414,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Thirteen bodies are discovered inside a small Louisville restaurant just after closing time. The ferocity and apparent randomness of the crime prompt the police to call in criminology professor Daniel Millikan-they want a profile of the murderer. Millikan determines that the crime was committed not by a psychopath but by a professional killer of consummate skill and total lack of feeling: “I think that the one who did it is one of the special cases. He’s somebody we can’t afford to have walking down a street where our families walk.” When Millikan learns that the investigation has come to a complete standstill, he commits himself to an unorthodox decision. The only hope of stopping this killer and ending the bloodshed is to employ Roy Prescott, an expert in the narrow specialty of hunting down murderers through methods the police can’t-and wouldn’t-use.
And so begins a stunning novel by Thomas Perry, “one of the most thoroughly satisfying writers around” (Lawrence Block), a death match fought from one end of the country to the other by two enemies who both understand that only one of them will be alive at the end.
And so begins a stunning novel by Thomas Perry, “one of the most thoroughly satisfying writers around” (Lawrence Block), a death match fought from one end of the country to the other by two enemies who both understand that only one of them will be alive at the end.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
... Perry has intricately woven a plot where all the pieces in the puzzle are so carefully chiseled leaving no room for error on the part of the protagonist.
The story starts off with a bang....well, actually thirteen of them as nine diners and four employees in a restaurant are all gunned down by a lunatic psychopath. While some might have called this the random work of a madman, Daniel Millikan, homicide detective turned criminology professor, knows better once he's viewed the crime scene. He realizes there was a target and the hit man killed the other twelve people in the restaurant just to make the police work even harder to figure it out. The wealthy father of one of the victims hires Roy Prescott to find his son's killer. Perry writes, "Revenge is not sweet, it's a luxury. It's a necessary restoration of balance in the universe." Since Prescott has a reputation for working outside of the law, usually leaving no prisoners, he's the perfect one to restore this balance.
This book was better than any National Geographic episode where the hunter tracks down his prey. In this case, the hunter is Roy Prescott and the prey is hit man Jim Varney....someone who is almost as smart and cunning as Prescott but not quite. This will be a chase to beat all chases.
Right from the beginning, Perry lets the reader know who the killer is thereby allowing us not only to get into Prescott's head but also into Varney's as he tells the story through both viewpoints. This is sometimes a dangerous technique but one Perry masterfully employs and one I very much enjoy. So many authors lead you through 300 pages, while you try to figure out who the killer is, only to be disappointed in the end. Since you already know who the killer is here, you'll read on just to find out if Prescott's pursuit is successful. I guarantee you it's one of the best cat and mouse chases you'll read with Prescott coming up with some ingenious plots to capture the very elusive Varney.
Towards the end of this book, you'll be forcing yourself to avert your eyes from the next page, the next paragraph, the next sentence dragging out the inevitable climax just a little bit longer. You'll want to read ahead as quickly as possible because, by this time, you'll know that Varney cannot be allowed to live.
Roy Prescott is just the type of guy you'd want to hire if you were seeking revenge. A dream book for me would be to see Roy Prescott teamed up with Perry's other recurring character, Jane Whitefield....also someone who enjoys working outside the law. Well, one can only dream.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
There are zillions of American hard-boiled crime novels on the market.Why 'Pursuit' is so different is that it is like a meditation on reality - what makes things tick; the hidden identities behind the illusions of the consumer society; the 'minimal selves' of characters like Roy Prescott - who hunts killers - and Jim Varney - who sees himself as an 'adventurer' rather than a contract killer.
There is a silence at the centre of the book, the 'eye of the hurricane', while the actual plot and narrative swirl you along in total suspense and anxiety. There is no other author I've read who does this quite like Thomas Perry. He makes you think about the nature of the real world while moving you along on a speeding conveyor belt of thrills and plot twists.
And he can emotionally devastate you with just one sentence.
I didn't want this book to end. I didn't want the pursuit to reach a conclusion.
There is a silence at the centre of the book, the 'eye of the hurricane', while the actual plot and narrative swirl you along in total suspense and anxiety. There is no other author I've read who does this quite like Thomas Perry. He makes you think about the nature of the real world while moving you along on a speeding conveyor belt of thrills and plot twists.
And he can emotionally devastate you with just one sentence.
I didn't want this book to end. I didn't want the pursuit to reach a conclusion.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I don't normally read this type of book, and bought it only because Amazonrecommended it to me and it looked interesting; and interesting it was! Icouldn't put it down. It was exciting, and had all the hallmarks of a goodthriller with none of the cliches. I found the ending a little abrupt, butit was a reasonably satisfying finish to what was a great novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hard act to follow
This is one of that genre, like the Lion's Game, Day of the Jackal etc that only come along every so often. Read more
Published on 21 May 2010 by John Coffey
thomas perry
completely different to his other books i have read, in this you soon know the name of the killer..... then the chase begins
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by Mr. P. A. Dodsworth
Thomas Perry - Inventor
Hi once again Tom has written a really riveting book, you are hooked, and its nice to have the good and the bad featured so you get both there viewpoints, guys who are adrenaline... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2007 by Jeremy P. Garnett
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