Silence

by: Thomas Perry

Published by: Harcourt

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Former police officer turned private investigator, Jack Till, helped restaurateur, Wendy Harper, disappear following a beating that nearly killed her. He taught her how to stay lost and avoid detection by the people who are looking for her. She was a good pupil who makes it difficult, six years later, to find her when evidence of her murder surfaces and her ex-finance, Chef Eric Fuller is arrested.

Till informs the prosecutor that Harper is alive and in hiding, but the attorney refuses to believe Jack. Unless the attorney sees Wendy with her own eyes, Fuller is going on trial for her murder.

After personal ads, placed in newspapers that Harper likes, fails to bring her forward, Till begins his hunt for the woman he carefully taught how to stay hidden. Till understands that the evidence against Fuller has been planted to draw Harper out of hiding, which means her life is still in danger.

The man who is after Harper has directed his attorney to hire a husband and wife ‘hit’ team, Paul and Sylvie Turner. The couple kills people and then, to relax, they study ballroom dance.

Paul and Sylvie begin to track Till (through his car rentals) as he searches for Harper. Their travels take them from Las Vegas to northern California. Till stays one step ahead of the assassins, but when Till locates Harper, the stakes are raised. The case becomes messy for the professionals and Till and Harper may not make it to L.A. alive. And even if they do, people are not whom they seem to be and the most dangerous might just be those who are expected to uphold the law.

Perry is a favorite of mine. I’d read a cereal box if he wrote it. Silence is another winner in the long line of Perry winners. I loved the premise and enjoyed the fast-paced action. Till is an endearing character and one anyone would trust with their life.

While I enjoyed the back stories of the characters, I felt it was a bit too much. Less might have been more. The long drawn-out histories occasionally detracted from the action.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want thrilling action with characters you care about and dislike, Silence is a good choice.

Author’s Web site: http://www.ThomasPerryAuthor.com