10/05/2015
Not much fazes the aptly named Abels, husband and wife Sid and Ronnie—sharpshooting retired former LAPD detectives turned PIs—in this propulsive, darkly humorous thriller from Edgar-winner Perry (Strip). Dodging bullets is certainly not what the couple anticipates when they agree to a research corporation’s request to look into to the execution-style shooting murder the previous year of one of their scientists, chemist James Ballantine, whose body was found in a North Hollywood storm drain. But no sooner does Ronnie post a $25,000 reward for information than the fireworks—or more accurately firefights—start. What the Abels don’t know, but readers do, is that they’re dealing with Ed and Nicole Hoyt, sociopathic hired guns based in the San Fernando Valley who aren’t going to let anything get in the way of a lucrative payday. As the likable, series-worthy Abels struggle to survive at least long enough to solve Ballantine’s murder, Perry tosses in several hairpin plot twists that culminate in a satisfyingly surprising conclusion. Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (Jan.)
Praise for Forty Thieves :
“Guns are ubiquitous in Thomas Perry’s breathtaking Forty Thieves , a double-barreled Southern California thriller that moves almost faster than a speeding bullet.” —Tom Dolan, Wall Street Journal
“With a rat-a-tat plot that's as violent as a video¬game, Perry follows two couples-one a pair of ex-LAPD officers and the other assassins-for¬ hire-who work opposite sides of the same case.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Nick and Nora Charles they’re not. But while Sid and Veronica Abel may be lacking in urbanity, these private investigators are no less brainy and far better marksmen. Appearing for the first time in Thomas Perry’s new thriller, Forty Thieves , these former Los Angeles police detectives have been married for over 30 years and have children and grandchildren. That confers on them the wisdom of the ancients, along with the cloak of invisibility in a youth-obsessed society, which suits them just fine . . . The tips you learn in a Perry novel are priceless.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“This stand-alone caper smoothly mixes high-octane thrills with comic capering, as two married couples—one a PI team, the other a hit couple for hire—spar with one another . . . until they both find themselves in the crosshairs of a lethal gang of Russian jewel thieves. Along the way to a knockout finale . . . Perry offers a master class in narrative sleight of hand . . . . Like the work of the late, great Ross Thomas—the crime writer Perry most resembles—Perry’s books, whether series or stand-alone, absolutely resist easy categorization, thoroughly melding character and plot, light and dark, and totally immersing the reader in the irresistible narrative.” — Booklist (starred review)
“ Forty Thieves is Thomas Perry at his best—equal parts exciting, ingenious and entertaining.” — Deadly Pleasures
“Sardonic humor is rare in American mysteries. It is the kind of humor that creeps up on you and suddenly your reaction is a wry smile as you read the double-edged melodrama which abounds in Thomas Perry’s work.” — Washington Times
“Propulsive, darkly humorous . . . As the likable, series-worthy Abels struggle to survive at least long enough to solve [the] murder, Perry tosses in several hairpin plot twists that culminate in a satisfyingly surprising conclusion.” — Publishers Weekly
“Sid and Ronnie, both formerly of the LAPD, are brainy, thorough, and resourceful . . . The would-be killers, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, are the kind of people Perry knows like the back of his hand: coldhearted, businesslike, and consummately successful . . . Entertaining and suspenseful.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A really solid suspense novel. One that gives you plenty of action, intriguing characters, but most of all, some real chills down the spine . . . You’ll read this until the wee hours.” — Globe and Mail (Toronto)
“Forty Thieves . . . is high-voltage Perry . . . In Perry’s world you’ll find no faces from Central Casting, and you’ll hear no dialogue that rings flat or familiar. He brings his superb thriller to a close with a confrontation between his two foes that is as astonishing as it is satisfying.” — Open Letters Monthly
11/15/2015
Sid and Ronnie Abel, both former LAPD detectives, are now highly regarded PIs specializing in solving cold cases. The couple has been hired to investigate a corporate employee's suspicious death a year earlier. Concurrently, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, married assassins-for-hire team, is on a different client's payroll to do damage control on the demise of the African American research scientist before the Abels learn too much. Sid and Ronnie's exhaustive, meticulous investigation coincides with the extreme measures taken by the Hoyts to prevent the Abels from discovering the truth. VERDICT Perry's (A String of Beads; The Butcher's Boy) fantastic stand-alone thriller presents two intriguing couples whose relationships are as compelling as the action that drives them. The novel speeds to a surprising conclusion that will satisfy Perry's many followers and generate new fans. [See Prepub Alert, 7/13/15.]—Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA
2015-10-01
Is Perry mellowing with age? Just as he took off the edge in his latest case for disappearance specialist Jane Whitefield (A String of Beads, 2014, etc.), he almost relaxes in this tale of a husband-and-wife detective duo pursuing a husband-and-wife pair of killers. Not that there isn't a high body count, beginning with James Ballantine, a research chemist who was killed a year ago, his body dumped into a North Hollywood storm drain. Absent any police progress, Ballantine's firm, the Intercelleron Corporation, hires Sid and Veronica Abel to work the case. It's an excellent choice, because Sid and Ronnie, both formerly of the LAPD, are brainy, thorough, and resourceful. They'll need every bit of that resourcefulness once their offer of a $25,000 reward for information leads not to an arrest and conviction but to several increasingly determined attempts on their lives. The would-be killers, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, are the kind of people Perry knows like the back of his hand: coldhearted, businesslike, and consummately successful—except this time. Soon enough, Vincent Boylan, the client who hired them to kill the Abels, comes after the Hoyts himself, and they leave him dead. Meanwhile, the Abels get leads on Ballantine's adulterous girlfriends, each of whom has a sadly, amusingly distinctive story to tell. Eventually all four of the principals lift their sights from annihilating each other to tracking and neutralizing Boylan's paymasters, who give the story its title. It's still entertaining and suspenseful to watch Sid and Ronnie and Ed and Nicole hatch plots to protect themselves by eliminating the shadowy figures who've been calling the shots, but their alliance strains belief, and 40 thieves turn out to be too many even for a writer as gifted as Perry to bring to life.
