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Jane Whitefield #5
Blood Money
Jane Whitefield leaves her quiet life as a newlywed to rescue a young girl fleeing a deadly mafioso and, to stop a growing evil, is forced into an uneasy alliance with a Mafia hitman with a photographic memory to steal a fortune from the mob.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
225 people are currently reading
859 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Perry
93 books1,704 followersThomas Perry was the author of 25 novels. He was born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester in 1974. He had worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and as a writer and producer of prime time network television shows.
Thomas Perry lived in Southern California.
Thomas Perry lived in Southern California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
January 24, 2016
Another decent addition to the series. Overall, it wasn't a great story, but it had some excellent moments. Perry slips some amazingly well crafted bits into every novel. The overall premise was kind of ridiculous, but allowing for that, the rest flowed pretty well. I loved the frustration that Jane had to feel with her charges at various times & the way paranoia flowed through the ranks of the enemy.
It was a shame he chose a chestnut as the tall, old tree. I wish.
My library has one more in this series & that will be the last of Perry's books that are available to me in audio through them. I'll probably listen to it soon.
It was a shame he chose a chestnut as the tall, old tree. I wish.
My library has one more in this series & that will be the last of Perry's books that are available to me in audio through them. I'll probably listen to it soon.
June 24, 2021
I was browsing through books I have read on this website and saw I had missed this one of the Jane Whitfield series from 1999. I have not read all of the series yet so more to look forward to - this makes 5 for me. This would make a smashing movie...and maybe that happened? I saw some news blurb that it was being put into development (the series). Cannot find easily.
So...this one involves mafia money with a fiendishly clever plot by Jane in assisting an old mafia dude who has the memory of an elephant and is thought dead after one of the many family branches orders a hit on him and his housemaid.
Jane to the rescue.
Library Loan
Note: Wickipedia tells me though the series was picked up for development and sold it was not produced. Big mistake!
So...this one involves mafia money with a fiendishly clever plot by Jane in assisting an old mafia dude who has the memory of an elephant and is thought dead after one of the many family branches orders a hit on him and his housemaid.
Jane to the rescue.
Library Loan
Note: Wickipedia tells me though the series was picked up for development and sold it was not produced. Big mistake!
November 15, 2009
Jane Whitefield is a treasure. In this adventure, one of the last of her first set of books (she has recently been resurrected), Perry and Jane do what they do best, take someone – in this case two someones – who are targets or potential targets of the bad guys – in this case, the mafia – and help them become invisible to the pursuers. Bernie the Elephant spent a lifetime as the money manager for the major mafia families. He wrote down nothing, but kept the information in his prodigious memory. When he was killed (to the satisfaction of the mafia) that information about where the families’ vast fortunes were kept died with him. At his demise, his housekeeper becomes the person that the mob believes had any paper records of their accounts. She runs to Jane, who jumps in to protect her. With Jane’s usual mix of anticipating and outwitting the bad guys, only a smattering of Jane’s fascinating Seneca Indian perspective, and audacity toward big powers as was shown in Perry’s most enjoyable Metzger’s Dog, the goal becomes both her clients’ safety and the channeling of the mob’s money to good causes. There’s not much violence, but fast-paced pursuit and efforts to avoid it, which makes for an enjoyable attention-keeping story. A reviewer quoted online clearly misunderstands the purpose of the mob-focused scenes. Jane benefits from their competition with and paranoia of one another. This is very entertaining and pleasurable escape reading and this reviewer hopes to see more of this Jane, the one with Indian philosophy, fast thinking, and little or no violence in achieving her worthwhile assistance objectives.
April 18, 2020
Wow. If you ever want to learn how to move money around and hide it and then disappear, this is your textbook. Not having much money, nor having a need to disappear, I was intrigued by the detail, and enthralled by the plot, but sometimes a bit burdened by the detail. The scene in the bus with all the mobsters wondering where their money was disappearing to, was masterfully handled by Joyce Bean. How she managed to keep everyone straight is a wonder.
That Bernie could keep the details of thousands of money transactions all in his head, was a bit implausible, but for the life of me I could never understand why the mob or anyone would think that was a good idea to begin with. Geez, a trip on the stairs and it's all gone. P.S. He's not a hitman.
What bugs me about this book and others in the Jane series is that each is basically the same plot over and over with just different characters. What makes this one unusual is that it has the same plot repeated several times. Jane gets tasked with hiding someone from bad people; she adopts different identities (from an apparently inexhaustible supply of birth certificates and drivers licenses and passports in a Chicago safe deposit box); almost gets caught numerous times; uses her wits to escape; rinse and repeat with interludes examining the bad guy's thinking.
The dream scene was ridiculous, but I hate dream scenes in general, but I also found the activity in the corn field ridiculous. If you've ever worked on a farm in a corn field, you'll agree.
Still, Thomas Perry always delivers and it was a great book to listen to while doing dishes and walking the dog.
That Bernie could keep the details of thousands of money transactions all in his head, was a bit implausible, but for the life of me I could never understand why the mob or anyone would think that was a good idea to begin with. Geez, a trip on the stairs and it's all gone. P.S. He's not a hitman.
What bugs me about this book and others in the Jane series is that each is basically the same plot over and over with just different characters. What makes this one unusual is that it has the same plot repeated several times. Jane gets tasked with hiding someone from bad people; she adopts different identities (from an apparently inexhaustible supply of birth certificates and drivers licenses and passports in a Chicago safe deposit box); almost gets caught numerous times; uses her wits to escape; rinse and repeat with interludes examining the bad guy's thinking.
The dream scene was ridiculous, but I hate dream scenes in general, but I also found the activity in the corn field ridiculous. If you've ever worked on a farm in a corn field, you'll agree.
Still, Thomas Perry always delivers and it was a great book to listen to while doing dishes and walking the dog.
November 20, 2018
If you're a Thomas Perry fan, you've probably read this one already. It dates back to 1999. Jeesh. Nearly twenty years ago. I started with Sleeping Dogs and The Butcher's Boy. From there I was hooked. Somewhere over the years I missed this one. I'd call it a "Jane Whitefield Opus." It's a heck of a story and it is set just about everywhere in the United States, especially New Mexico.
The major focus of this story is Mafia money--a colossal sum, e.g., buh-buh-billions--stashed away in secret places and only one guy knows where.
This is a fascinating story of pursuit and payback, where Jane Whitefield outdoes herself in hair-raising situation after situation. Just building the bones for this story and its myriad locations must have been a colossal task in 1998. Think about it. This was long before Google Earth or Google Maps, where authors today can literally take virtual tours practically anywhere on a laptop.
Read it and enjoy!
Cheers!
JIM in MT
http://blackdogebooks.com/
The major focus of this story is Mafia money--a colossal sum, e.g., buh-buh-billions--stashed away in secret places and only one guy knows where.
This is a fascinating story of pursuit and payback, where Jane Whitefield outdoes herself in hair-raising situation after situation. Just building the bones for this story and its myriad locations must have been a colossal task in 1998. Think about it. This was long before Google Earth or Google Maps, where authors today can literally take virtual tours practically anywhere on a laptop.
Read it and enjoy!
Cheers!
JIM in MT
http://blackdogebooks.com/
March 14, 2021
Another decent entry in the Jane Whitefield series about the part Native American guide who helps people obtain new identities and a new life. In this one, Jane helps a young woman, Rita, who is on the run from members of the mafia. Rita was the maid for an old man in Florida who turns out kept track of the mob's money in his head. The man, Bernie the Elephant, was reported murdered and the mob suspects Rita of possibly having knowledge of Bernie's records which could be worth billions. But is Bernie really dead? Jane must help Rita evade the mob and obtain a new identity. Along the way she agrees to a plan to dispose of the billions that have accumulated in Bernie's accounts over the last 50 years which would really put a dent in the assets of the major crime families in the country.
This is the fifth novel in the Whitefield series and was a real thriller, as usual. Jane must travel the country trying to avoid the mafia's army that it has posted at airports, hotels, highways, and city streets while she tries to make a new life for Rita. I did enjoy this one for the most part, however, I thought the story didn't focus enough on Jane's Native American skills and instead spent too much time describing the doings of the mafia thugs in pursuit of her. Mild recommendation overall.
This is the fifth novel in the Whitefield series and was a real thriller, as usual. Jane must travel the country trying to avoid the mafia's army that it has posted at airports, hotels, highways, and city streets while she tries to make a new life for Rita. I did enjoy this one for the most part, however, I thought the story didn't focus enough on Jane's Native American skills and instead spent too much time describing the doings of the mafia thugs in pursuit of her. Mild recommendation overall.
January 6, 2020
This is my second Jane Whitefield novel and, though it suffers from the same slowness and superfluous dialogue exchanges and description/exposition as the first one I tried, there was a lot more action.
The novel opens with Jane preparing for a quiet and relaxing evening with her husband, to whom she has made a promise to give up…guiding.
Jane’s is a life of hospital fundraisers, parties, domesticity, and teaching. She is content with who she has become and wants very much to hold on to what she has.
That night though, there is a knock at the door, and the mysterious girl she finds when she answers is one who has been stalking her for a while.
The girl, Rita, has a heartbreaking story to tell and, being who and what she is, Jane can’t do anything other than what she feels she must do.
With much regret and reluctance, and a deeply apologetic note and phone call to her husband, Jane plunges headlong into the life she swore to leave behind, one fashioned of subterfuge, blood, death, and gray justice.
This time, she’s up against a ruthless collective of wise guys who’ll do anything to get their hands on her and those she is hiding. After all, we’re talking billions here, and no one’s throat is safe.
I love "on the run from dangerous people," "narrowly escape capture" stories and, for the most part, this one doesn't disappoint.
Now, because I'm jumping around, this next observation might not be entirely fair, but I want to say that Jane seems less hollow and robotic in this installment. Perhaps this changes over the course of the books I skipped, but it was nice to see it in book five.
We get to know a bit more about who she is and where she comes from. She exhibits more humanity than I saw in book two, where I started. Note that I don't mean humanity in the "she's more womanly/emotional/caring" kind of way. What I mean is that I saw her get frustrated and ruffled when people did or said something stupid or acted in a way that endangered her and others.
I also like that her husband, while worried, is supportive of her activities and understanding about why she can't resist helping someone who is in trouble.
More importantly, I like that his objections to her guiding are about genuine worry rather than "I can't handle having a woman who takes gender transgressive risks" ego.
Unlike many love interests, he respects her abilities and trusts her to take care of herself.
He also strikes me as someone who would love her enough to learn to accept what she was doing if it were wholely on the right side of the law.
He doesn't make it about *his*image or community standing but about her safety which, as it appears, has nothing to do with her sex and everything to do with the fact that no one is above the law or bullet-proof.
They have a really important conversation about this rather than let it fester and become a major argument . He doesn't put his husbandly foot down or threaten to leave her if she doesn't settle down and become the perfect doctor's wife that he expects, which I found very refreshing.
All in all, this was a great read.
The novel opens with Jane preparing for a quiet and relaxing evening with her husband, to whom she has made a promise to give up…guiding.
Jane’s is a life of hospital fundraisers, parties, domesticity, and teaching. She is content with who she has become and wants very much to hold on to what she has.
That night though, there is a knock at the door, and the mysterious girl she finds when she answers is one who has been stalking her for a while.
The girl, Rita, has a heartbreaking story to tell and, being who and what she is, Jane can’t do anything other than what she feels she must do.
With much regret and reluctance, and a deeply apologetic note and phone call to her husband, Jane plunges headlong into the life she swore to leave behind, one fashioned of subterfuge, blood, death, and gray justice.
This time, she’s up against a ruthless collective of wise guys who’ll do anything to get their hands on her and those she is hiding. After all, we’re talking billions here, and no one’s throat is safe.
I love "on the run from dangerous people," "narrowly escape capture" stories and, for the most part, this one doesn't disappoint.
Now, because I'm jumping around, this next observation might not be entirely fair, but I want to say that Jane seems less hollow and robotic in this installment. Perhaps this changes over the course of the books I skipped, but it was nice to see it in book five.
We get to know a bit more about who she is and where she comes from. She exhibits more humanity than I saw in book two, where I started. Note that I don't mean humanity in the "she's more womanly/emotional/caring" kind of way. What I mean is that I saw her get frustrated and ruffled when people did or said something stupid or acted in a way that endangered her and others.
I also like that her husband, while worried, is supportive of her activities and understanding about why she can't resist helping someone who is in trouble.
More importantly, I like that his objections to her guiding are about genuine worry rather than "I can't handle having a woman who takes gender transgressive risks" ego.
Unlike many love interests, he respects her abilities and trusts her to take care of herself.
He also strikes me as someone who would love her enough to learn to accept what she was doing if it were wholely on the right side of the law.
He doesn't make it about *his*image or community standing but about her safety which, as it appears, has nothing to do with her sex and everything to do with the fact that no one is above the law or bullet-proof.
They have a really important conversation about this rather than let it fester and become a major argument . He doesn't put his husbandly foot down or threaten to leave her if she doesn't settle down and become the perfect doctor's wife that he expects, which I found very refreshing.
All in all, this was a great read.
November 15, 2012
I read book 6 called Runner first and I loved it. All of the others I've tried have been disappointments. Jane is an awesome character and the idea of her hiding people from bad guys is exciting. However, it's become formulaic.
Also, I've noticed that each time Jane meets the person she is to help, there is a LONG, BORING info dump in the form of conversation. With 2 of the other books I was able to get through to get to the action, but it's become a chore. Also, the people that Jane helps are often stupid or annoying to the point that I want Jane to abandon them to the people hunting them.
Also, I've noticed that each time Jane meets the person she is to help, there is a LONG, BORING info dump in the form of conversation. With 2 of the other books I was able to get through to get to the action, but it's become a chore. Also, the people that Jane helps are often stupid or annoying to the point that I want Jane to abandon them to the people hunting them.
June 11, 2016
Daaaaamn.
August 17, 2022
Rating: 3 stars
Jane Whitefield, the "guide" who helps people in trouble disappear, has just begun her quiet new life as Mrs. Carey McKinnon, when she is called upon again. In this 5th entry in the series, Jane must try to save a young girl fleeing a deadly mafioso. The deceptively simple task of hiding a girl propels Jane into the center of horrific events, and pairs her with Bernie the Elephant, the mafia's money man. Bernie has a photographic memory, and in order to undo an evil that has been growing for half a century, he and Jane engineer the biggest theft of all time, stealing billions from hidden mafia accounts and donating the money to charity.
This can be a standalone, but the characters and Jane's methods make more sense if the earlier books are read prior to starting this one.
Jane Whitefield, the "guide" who helps people in trouble disappear, has just begun her quiet new life as Mrs. Carey McKinnon, when she is called upon again. In this 5th entry in the series, Jane must try to save a young girl fleeing a deadly mafioso. The deceptively simple task of hiding a girl propels Jane into the center of horrific events, and pairs her with Bernie the Elephant, the mafia's money man. Bernie has a photographic memory, and in order to undo an evil that has been growing for half a century, he and Jane engineer the biggest theft of all time, stealing billions from hidden mafia accounts and donating the money to charity.
This can be a standalone, but the characters and Jane's methods make more sense if the earlier books are read prior to starting this one.
July 29, 2022
If anyone wants to disappear from their life, I recommend that they read several of Thomas Perry’s books with Jane Whitefield. Jane has learned all the clever ways to avoid being tracked and caught Of course you would need unlimited resources to do as she does,. I find it so interesting as she makes her way across the country from city to city evading those who are chasing her and the person she is trying to hide. I don’t know how many more books there are in this series, but I hope many.
December 9, 2023
Blood Money is like the other Jane Whitefield (this is #5) books by Thomas Perry. They're chock full of interesting information about how Jane is able to hide people that someone is looking very hard to find. But there's too often a step too far in believability, fo me at least. Fascinating but not satisfying.
Read
October 1, 2022Fifth book in the Jane Whitefield series and my favorite so far. Jane uses her talents to make a Mafia accountant disappear. Can she keep herself alive while the mob looks for them both? That's the set up. This one actually felt like a Perry book to me and gave me hope for upcoming entries in the series.
March 25, 2017
Good book. Fast moving, good chase scenes. Very entertaining.
July 8, 2017
I enjoy this series. Thomas Perry has created a nuanced ninja kind of woman. An exciting read every time.
August 17, 2011
I love Thomas Perry's "Jane Whitefield" books and was delighted to stumble upon one that I hadn't read. Jane's courage, stamina, cleverness, physical ability, etc. make her a modern day "Wonder Woman," except she also comes across as endearingly human. Another reason I am drawn to these books is that Jane always survives unscathed, no matter how much danger she is in, plus there's no unnecessary gore, just excitement and suspense. I'm entranced by Jane's brilliant maneuvers as she outwits the bad guys.
This particular book was not my favorite, because it contained so much information about the Mafia, which is not a big interest of mine. All those Italian names sound so much alike that I keep forgetting which 'family' a particular Mafia member belongs to, and I don't care what happens to any of them, as they're all so awful.
But I still enjoyed this book and hated for it to end. Jane shines as always, and the people she is helping to "disappear" are quirky and delightful. I can see how she might risk her life for them.
This particular book was not my favorite, because it contained so much information about the Mafia, which is not a big interest of mine. All those Italian names sound so much alike that I keep forgetting which 'family' a particular Mafia member belongs to, and I don't care what happens to any of them, as they're all so awful.
But I still enjoyed this book and hated for it to end. Jane shines as always, and the people she is helping to "disappear" are quirky and delightful. I can see how she might risk her life for them.
June 14, 2017
I love Jane Whitfield books, but this one, not so much. It felt like Jane was running the whole time. She is living the life of a doctor's wife, volunteering at the reservation, when she sees a young girl who looks to be in trouble. Jane can tell she needs help. The girl is Rita and she had been the cleaning woman for a man, Bernie who took care of Mafia money. A man who kept no records because he has a photographic memory. As he is aging and started to forget, he arranges to have himself killed. The fake killing is carried out, but Rita is left at the house. The Mafia thinks she knows were the money is. Jane agrees to help Bernie and Rita, but her payment is to give all the Mafia money to charities. The group add another man, and start giving money away. I don't understand why the money couldn't be mailed to charities from any city. Why was Jane driving around to cities all over the country, mailing to charities. The book didn't come together for me. I thought much of it was silly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2017
# Five in the series.
Yet another stranger shows up for help from Jane and , in a instant, she deems this young girl worthy of saving. As is Jane's karma/fate, there's always much more to the challenge than initially seen.
She leaves her settled live and adoring hubby and plunges in to spirit the young woman and her puzzling side-kick into a new identities.
Soon, she's messing with the Mafioso army and dispersing billions (yes billions) of shady investments in need of laundering.
I struggled with this one, finding the complex intricacies of the multiple Mafia families a bit tedious to read. In addition, we see once again that the job of giving justice and freedom to whomever Jane decides to assist causes her to put innocent people in harm's way and pay with their lives. Who is to give them "a new life"?
I know, it's just a story, but that continuing theme through the series has given me pause.
Yet another stranger shows up for help from Jane and , in a instant, she deems this young girl worthy of saving. As is Jane's karma/fate, there's always much more to the challenge than initially seen.
She leaves her settled live and adoring hubby and plunges in to spirit the young woman and her puzzling side-kick into a new identities.
Soon, she's messing with the Mafioso army and dispersing billions (yes billions) of shady investments in need of laundering.
I struggled with this one, finding the complex intricacies of the multiple Mafia families a bit tedious to read. In addition, we see once again that the job of giving justice and freedom to whomever Jane decides to assist causes her to put innocent people in harm's way and pay with their lives. Who is to give them "a new life"?
I know, it's just a story, but that continuing theme through the series has given me pause.
September 20, 2007
Blood Money - G+
Thomas Perry - 5th in series
Jane Whitefield, a one-woman witness protection program, is semiretired, married to a doctor and living a quiet life until a teenage girl, Rita Shelford, comes to her door seeking help. The girl is being hunted, having witnessed a mob shakedown at the Florida house she was employed to clean. Protecting the girl propels Jane into a series of adventures involving Bernie the Elephant, an old man with a photographic memory who has kept Mafia financial records in his head for decades. With Jane's help, Bernie steals billions of dollars from the Mafia accounts and donates the money to charity. Not happy, the mobsters use every trick to capture Jane and Rita. The two women cross the U.S. several times, barely staying one step ahead of their pursuers.
Thomas Perry - 5th in series
Jane Whitefield, a one-woman witness protection program, is semiretired, married to a doctor and living a quiet life until a teenage girl, Rita Shelford, comes to her door seeking help. The girl is being hunted, having witnessed a mob shakedown at the Florida house she was employed to clean. Protecting the girl propels Jane into a series of adventures involving Bernie the Elephant, an old man with a photographic memory who has kept Mafia financial records in his head for decades. With Jane's help, Bernie steals billions of dollars from the Mafia accounts and donates the money to charity. Not happy, the mobsters use every trick to capture Jane and Rita. The two women cross the U.S. several times, barely staying one step ahead of their pursuers.
August 22, 2009
This is one of a series by the author starring Jane Whitefield, a Native American woman who helps people disappear (as in witness protection) .... with a strong female hero and fast pace, this is an excellent series to savor on a long plane flight or while on holiday!
February 5, 2013
Very well done. 9 of 10 stars for this suspense thriller.
January 13, 2020
Not my favorite Perry or Jane Whitefield but some fun Jane adventures!
April 4, 2019
Jane Whitefield once helped people in danger disappear.
She was very good at that particular - and somewhat peculiar - job.
But when she married her longtime friend Carey McKinnon she stopped doing that... sort of. She did help one of Carey's old friends - who was being framed for murder - disappear but that was supposed to be a one-off.
And it was until the skinny young girl showed up asking for help. She was in serious trouble and Jane felt that she had no choice but to help her and her employer - an old man who was supposedly murdered; an old man who was the top moneyman for mob families across the country.
This novel, the fifth in author Thomas Perry's remarkable series about Jane Whitefield, is a roller-coaster ride across the country in which she and her two companions dodge armies of Mafia killers determined to find out where the legendary mob accountant hid billions of dollars before he was allegedly murdered. Known as "The Elephant" because - like the fabled pachyderm he never forgot anything - their trusted money manager must have, the bosses of a half dozen mob families figured, written something down.
Something that would lead them to a fortune.
Of course, they would split that money up - at least that was the agreement - but they all knew that whoever found the money first would likely keep it all. Not knowing that the accountant was still alive they concentrate their search for the skinny girl who once kept house for him believing that she would know where anything written down would be hidden.
Perry's eye for detail and his strong narrative voice make the Jane Whitefield novels great reads. His refusal to turn Jane into a superwoman who can defeat legions of killers in hand-to-hand combat makes her authentic: She's a woman who uses her brains rather than her brawn, although she can fight if she's pushed to do so. She always understands, however, that unless she surprises the man she's fighting and disables him quickly, she will lose to someone bigger, stronger, and who - in this case - is used to doing battle with fists and feet.
This novel is no exception: It has all the elements of previous Jane Whitefield novels and something more besides because her decision to help the skinny girl and her elderly employer might just strain her marriage to the breaking point.
Full of red herrings, double crosses, and high adventure, this is a fascinating read.
She was very good at that particular - and somewhat peculiar - job.
But when she married her longtime friend Carey McKinnon she stopped doing that... sort of. She did help one of Carey's old friends - who was being framed for murder - disappear but that was supposed to be a one-off.
And it was until the skinny young girl showed up asking for help. She was in serious trouble and Jane felt that she had no choice but to help her and her employer - an old man who was supposedly murdered; an old man who was the top moneyman for mob families across the country.
This novel, the fifth in author Thomas Perry's remarkable series about Jane Whitefield, is a roller-coaster ride across the country in which she and her two companions dodge armies of Mafia killers determined to find out where the legendary mob accountant hid billions of dollars before he was allegedly murdered. Known as "The Elephant" because - like the fabled pachyderm he never forgot anything - their trusted money manager must have, the bosses of a half dozen mob families figured, written something down.
Something that would lead them to a fortune.
Of course, they would split that money up - at least that was the agreement - but they all knew that whoever found the money first would likely keep it all. Not knowing that the accountant was still alive they concentrate their search for the skinny girl who once kept house for him believing that she would know where anything written down would be hidden.
Perry's eye for detail and his strong narrative voice make the Jane Whitefield novels great reads. His refusal to turn Jane into a superwoman who can defeat legions of killers in hand-to-hand combat makes her authentic: She's a woman who uses her brains rather than her brawn, although she can fight if she's pushed to do so. She always understands, however, that unless she surprises the man she's fighting and disables him quickly, she will lose to someone bigger, stronger, and who - in this case - is used to doing battle with fists and feet.
This novel is no exception: It has all the elements of previous Jane Whitefield novels and something more besides because her decision to help the skinny girl and her elderly employer might just strain her marriage to the breaking point.
Full of red herrings, double crosses, and high adventure, this is a fascinating read.
September 29, 2019
This series has been one of my favorites. It's about a Seneca woman (she is 1/2 Native American and all Seneca), Jane Whitefield, now McKinnon, who hides people who have gotten themselves into trouble with (usually) the Mafia or some other equally horrendous character who wants their money and wants the victim dead. The first three books in this series were amazing! Jane is a quite heroine capable of amazing greatness. She occasionally makes mistakes and goes out to fix them--permanently.
This book was in a very similar vein, where a young girl (Rita) shows up at Mrs. Jane McKinnon's house looking for someone to hide her from the Mafia. She sets out to hide him and the real man of the hour Bernie the Elephant, who has hidden all the Mafia's money for the bast 40 years--and doesn't write anything down. He is supposed to be dead, but isn't and still remembers all those account numbers and banks from years ago. The saga begins. Jane convinces him it is time to do something heroic and so they plan the largest money heist in history in reverse [spoiler alert] getting rid of 10 billion dollars in the Mafia's accounts (you know it's a lot of money when it is faster to spell it out than put all the zeros down in non-scientific notation) and donating it to charity. Most of this is done by mailing out donation checks from the mafia accounts to many, many charities.
This is where the story bogged down a bit--The author felt compelled to describe driving to every letter and letterbox in every small town in the United States. At night, in a large Black Suburban, all three of them, taking shifts driving. I felt back on the steamboat in "Feivre-Dream" by George Martin-enough about steamboats and enough about mailing letters !
The ending had the usual suspense and cleverness that you expect from Jane. I also liked that the tension would slack off and then unexpectedly build again as they were spotted by people turning them in to the Mafia; they had several close calls with Jane showing up to save the day in the nick of time (this also became a bit hard to believe, but I can go with it).
Overall I love the series and the main character. And I enjoyed reading this book, but not quite as much as some of the others. Definitely worth reading!!
This book was in a very similar vein, where a young girl (Rita) shows up at Mrs. Jane McKinnon's house looking for someone to hide her from the Mafia. She sets out to hide him and the real man of the hour Bernie the Elephant, who has hidden all the Mafia's money for the bast 40 years--and doesn't write anything down. He is supposed to be dead, but isn't and still remembers all those account numbers and banks from years ago. The saga begins. Jane convinces him it is time to do something heroic and so they plan the largest money heist in history in reverse [spoiler alert] getting rid of 10 billion dollars in the Mafia's accounts (you know it's a lot of money when it is faster to spell it out than put all the zeros down in non-scientific notation) and donating it to charity. Most of this is done by mailing out donation checks from the mafia accounts to many, many charities.
This is where the story bogged down a bit--The author felt compelled to describe driving to every letter and letterbox in every small town in the United States. At night, in a large Black Suburban, all three of them, taking shifts driving. I felt back on the steamboat in "Feivre-Dream" by George Martin-enough about steamboats and enough about mailing letters !
The ending had the usual suspense and cleverness that you expect from Jane. I also liked that the tension would slack off and then unexpectedly build again as they were spotted by people turning them in to the Mafia; they had several close calls with Jane showing up to save the day in the nick of time (this also became a bit hard to believe, but I can go with it).
Overall I love the series and the main character. And I enjoyed reading this book, but not quite as much as some of the others. Definitely worth reading!!
April 6, 2023
As many times as Jane Whitefield promises her husband Dr Carey McKinnon that she is finished with her old life, that is the number of times she means it, truly. But life seldom turns out the way we plan it and when a young desperate woman comes to her door, she has full intentions to turn the young woman away until she finds out that Celia Fulham, one of the people Jane has help lose has given the young woman her address. 18 year old Rita Shelford has an absolutely unbelievable story and Jane doesn't see any way out of helping her.
When it transpires that Rita is keeping house for Bernie Lupus (Bernie the elephant), the legendary numbers savant who over the past decades has been washing and hiding mob money, lots of it. He has never written anything down and holds the sum of the information in his head. Unfortunately, Bernie feels like he's losing some of his memory and if he shares that with the men who have virtually imprisoned him for decades, his life will be cut short. The mob has housed Bernie over the decades in a lovely palatial house, the catch is that the neighbourhood is peopled by mob members so he is not even able to leave the house. Turns out he's been useful to many different factions of the mafia, country wide, factions who war with each other but all protect Bernie. And then there's the ethical part of all of that money, money that no one can access without Bernie and money that is about as dirty as you would imagine.
As brilliant as Bernie is with numbers, he's almost totally unable to look after himself as sequestered as he's been he's never had a normal life. His only friend, it seems, is Rita and the same can be said for her, her story is a sad one as well When it's obvious that the mob is coming for him, the need to run is what motivates Rita to contact Jane.
Now they are running together and with a little help from a genius money handler Henry Ziegler find a way to send the bulk of the billions to charities, but it takes time that they don't have.
An interesting story, uplifting in a way and action backed. Jane sure is crafty and man she can run. I learned way more about the highway system in the US than I ever thought I would.
I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of Jane Whitefield, sedate wife.
When it transpires that Rita is keeping house for Bernie Lupus (Bernie the elephant), the legendary numbers savant who over the past decades has been washing and hiding mob money, lots of it. He has never written anything down and holds the sum of the information in his head. Unfortunately, Bernie feels like he's losing some of his memory and if he shares that with the men who have virtually imprisoned him for decades, his life will be cut short. The mob has housed Bernie over the decades in a lovely palatial house, the catch is that the neighbourhood is peopled by mob members so he is not even able to leave the house. Turns out he's been useful to many different factions of the mafia, country wide, factions who war with each other but all protect Bernie. And then there's the ethical part of all of that money, money that no one can access without Bernie and money that is about as dirty as you would imagine.
As brilliant as Bernie is with numbers, he's almost totally unable to look after himself as sequestered as he's been he's never had a normal life. His only friend, it seems, is Rita and the same can be said for her, her story is a sad one as well When it's obvious that the mob is coming for him, the need to run is what motivates Rita to contact Jane.
Now they are running together and with a little help from a genius money handler Henry Ziegler find a way to send the bulk of the billions to charities, but it takes time that they don't have.
An interesting story, uplifting in a way and action backed. Jane sure is crafty and man she can run. I learned way more about the highway system in the US than I ever thought I would.
I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of Jane Whitefield, sedate wife.
October 10, 2023
Jane Whitefield's retirement from rescuing innocents is once again in jeopardy. A teenage girl shows up at her door with a strange story. She had been the housekeeper for the legendary Bernie Lupus. Well, he was actually only a legend in the world of the powerful, old Mafia families. For over 50 years, Bernie was their private banker. Gifted with a photographic memory and a talent for investment, Bernie kept all account names, numbers, and locations in his head. Since he was important to all of the families, he was safe from them as well. Bernie was essentially a well-guarded prisoner in his own Florida house. Rita Shelford was his only non-Mafia contact to the outside world and the two became friends. Rita didn't have family of her own. She never knew her father and her mother was in prison. But Bernie had recently been murdered and the families are desperate to discover if he left any documentation behind that would let them access their billions. They are particularly interested in Rita. Jane knew of the dangerous men hunting down this girl and agreed to help her. But at their first stop on the road to safety, a most undead Bernie Lupus showed up with a similar goal to save his young friend. Before she knew it, Jane now had two people to hide and protect from ruthless killers. Her life has never been in more peril. The Mafia had contacts all over the country and there was a bounty on both Rita's and Jane's heads. I have been reading the Jane Whitefield books in order. This one is my least favorite so far. Yes, there is a very good story here. But it is buried in details. At times, it felt like the book was being dictated by a GPS system. Jane covers a lot of territory and we are not only provided with the names of the towns and cities she travels to, but the numbers of the highways that she uses to get there. That became a bit tedious after awhile. I do, of course, fully intend to finish the series despite my disappointment with #5.
May 10, 2017
Well I definitely enjoyed this 5th book in the series, but I find it strange that this huge chunk of who Jane is supposed to be now (a married society lady??) is barely ever spoken of in these last two books. It could have been never a part of the story arc and wouldn't change anything in regards to who she is, what she does, or how she goes about doing anything. To me it adds nothing to her character because it's never been integrated into much of anything about her. Nothing about her being married feels real or makes me feel tension, though I'm guessing it's supposed to. Remove her husband Carey and any interaction between them from any of the books and it takes nothing away, at least to me...
Anyway, again I've focused on what doesn't make sense to me about these books (and it's the same issue!) and not on what's awesome about them. Jane is an amazing woman! (Maybe that's my problem, she deserves an awesome man! Ack! Let it go!) I love what she does, who she helps, getting to know them and getting to see them have new lives. And I love the action of crisscrossing the US, dodging the bad guys and coming out on top.
Other than the 3rd book, so far this is a really solid, fun, entertaining series and I'm looking forward to what happens next.
Anyway, again I've focused on what doesn't make sense to me about these books (and it's the same issue!) and not on what's awesome about them. Jane is an amazing woman! (Maybe that's my problem, she deserves an awesome man! Ack! Let it go!) I love what she does, who she helps, getting to know them and getting to see them have new lives. And I love the action of crisscrossing the US, dodging the bad guys and coming out on top.
Other than the 3rd book, so far this is a really solid, fun, entertaining series and I'm looking forward to what happens next.
June 20, 2020
Jane Whitefield is one of my favorite protagonists and Perry has become one of my favorite writers of crime fiction. In this one, the now married Jane, once again finds a good reason to back to her old role as a "guide into a new life" for those who are threatened with death.
This one is a peculiar story having to do with a 70+ year old man and his "maid" that need a "guide." The man has spent the last 50 years as the caretaker of mafia generated investment money in a manner that requires no written records (thereby not open to the threat of the IRS spoiling the mafia's game with the use of failure to follow tax laws...ala Al Capone). You see "Bernie" has a photographic memory and remembers everything without needing records. However, the mafia "dons" believe Bernie is now dead (too complicated to explain here) and Jane and a financial consultant she enlists to help come up with an unusual strategy...they decide to give the some $ 10 Billion to charities.
Its a long story, but the strategy they choose requires them to drive across the US and mail thousands of letters to execute the plan so there's no way for the mafia dons to determine who did it and that Bernie is still alive. The drive across the USA and the dance to evade the frantically searching mafia takes up much of the story...its good, but again a little tedious. However, all in all another really good one by Perry.
This one is a peculiar story having to do with a 70+ year old man and his "maid" that need a "guide." The man has spent the last 50 years as the caretaker of mafia generated investment money in a manner that requires no written records (thereby not open to the threat of the IRS spoiling the mafia's game with the use of failure to follow tax laws...ala Al Capone). You see "Bernie" has a photographic memory and remembers everything without needing records. However, the mafia "dons" believe Bernie is now dead (too complicated to explain here) and Jane and a financial consultant she enlists to help come up with an unusual strategy...they decide to give the some $ 10 Billion to charities.
Its a long story, but the strategy they choose requires them to drive across the US and mail thousands of letters to execute the plan so there's no way for the mafia dons to determine who did it and that Bernie is still alive. The drive across the USA and the dance to evade the frantically searching mafia takes up much of the story...its good, but again a little tedious. However, all in all another really good one by Perry.
April 1, 2025
3.5 Stars
Blood Money is the fifth book in the Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry.
The Jane Whitefield series proved to be a great read. I really liked Jane, she's a Native American woman who helps people escape from life-threatening situations- ensuring they ‘disappear’ and are able to start ‘new’ lives. This is made possible because she possesses exceptional skills in evasion and survival. Each book in the series is packed with suspense, tension, and clever twists- while also showcasing Jane's resourcefulness, cultural heritage, Native American traditions, and her character. She’s fierce, strong, and very compassionate - driven by a strong moral compass, which makes her really relatable and endearing.
Mr. Perry's writing is dynamic and engaging, which made it hard to put the books down. The stories are well-crafted, with plenty of action and intrigue to keep me flipping the pages to find out how everything played out in the end.
These books are definitely worth the read for anyone who loves thrillers, mysteries, and highly capable heroines- that also include character and cultural exploration.
Looking forward to more from Mr. Perry.
Happy Reading…
Thank you, Thomas Perry!
Blood Money is the fifth book in the Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry.
The Jane Whitefield series proved to be a great read. I really liked Jane, she's a Native American woman who helps people escape from life-threatening situations- ensuring they ‘disappear’ and are able to start ‘new’ lives. This is made possible because she possesses exceptional skills in evasion and survival. Each book in the series is packed with suspense, tension, and clever twists- while also showcasing Jane's resourcefulness, cultural heritage, Native American traditions, and her character. She’s fierce, strong, and very compassionate - driven by a strong moral compass, which makes her really relatable and endearing.
Mr. Perry's writing is dynamic and engaging, which made it hard to put the books down. The stories are well-crafted, with plenty of action and intrigue to keep me flipping the pages to find out how everything played out in the end.
These books are definitely worth the read for anyone who loves thrillers, mysteries, and highly capable heroines- that also include character and cultural exploration.
Looking forward to more from Mr. Perry.
Happy Reading…
Thank you, Thomas Perry!
March 25, 2020
Somehow Jane Whitefield gets tangled up in "Blood Money," the fifth in the series by writer Thomas Perry, with a guy who invests money for the mob. And not just one family. A bunch of them have used the memory of Bernie the Elephant to squirrel away what appears to be a fortune greater than the gross national product of many countries. Bernie had a photographic memory. But the old way of doing things had been coming to a close. Bernie would likely get eliminated. He encounters Jane when his house cleaner comes across her. She has escaped but is being chased by a contingent of one of the families. She believes Bernie's dead. So do the rest of the families. But Bernie just wants out. Jane agrees to help. This may be the weirdest of Perry's novels starring his protagonist who hides people facing certain death. Bernie is not one of her usual customers. But he has something to offer. And Jane sees opportunity. But can she survive taking on the combined East Coast to West Coast mob families? Maybe. Be prepared for an adventure.
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