A Small Town

by Thomas Perry

A small-town cop turns vigilante to track down twelve escaped inmates in this thriller by the New York Times–bestselling “master of nail-biting suspense” (Los Angeles Times).
 
When twelve inmates pull off an audacious prison break, it liberates more than a thousand convicts into the nearby small town. The newly freed prisoners rape, murder, and destroy the quiet community—burning down homes and businesses. An immense search ensues, but the twelve who plotted it all get away.
 
After two years, the local and federal police agencies have yet to find them. Then the mayor calls in Leah Hawkins, a local cop who lost a loved one that terrible night. She’s placed on sabbatical to travel across the country learning advanced police procedures. But the sabbatical is merely a ruse. Her real job is to track down the infamous twelve. And kill them.
 
Leah’s mission takes her from Florida to New York and from the beaches of California to an anti-government settlement deep in the Ozarks. But when the surviving fugitives realize what she’s up to, a race to kill or be killed ensues in this non-stop tale of vengeance from the Edgar Award–winning author of The Butcher’s Boy.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2019

About the author

Thomas 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.

Reviews

[David Putnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to preface this review; I’m a huge Thomas Perry fan. Loved The Old Man, The Bomb Maker, Forty Thieves, just to name a few. A Small Town might not be for everyone but the premise is one I really enjoyed. This book is classic Perry. He has a unique style/voice it’s more telling than in scene but it works well. I had no problem dropping into the, “fictive dream,” and staying there. The only problem with the book is that I read it too fast and now have to wait until 2021 for the next one.
The conflict to the plot was set up well and the characters had more than enough motivation for their actions. This story is built around a strong female character who came alive on the page. I hope Perry uses her in future books. The ending was very satisfying. I highly recommend this book for those who read thrillers.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.

[Maureen Carden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audacity is the keyword here. The audacity of twelve psychopaths planning a mass escape from a low security federal prison turned max security prison. The audacity of twelve psychos to punish the small town that “hosted” the prison; to grind that small town into the ground. Then there is the audacity of that small town’s city government to send their own punishment against the twelve psychopaths who escaped. Finally, the escapees are enraged at the audacity of Weldonville to paint a target on their back and decide to fight back.
The small town of Weldonville, Co sends police Lieutenant Leah Hawkins to paint that target on each of the twelve co-conspirators and then take aim. In the small bit of humor present in this book, the town officials who are aware of Leah’s mission use the large federal grants to finance Leah’s mission of retribution and revenge.
Part of Leah does not want these men to die easy, for she has fought the escaped prisoners in the streets, losing friends and loved ones in the battles. Killing the remaining escapees will be easy, for the death toll at the prison and in the town is a heavy burden for Leah.
If you are a fan of Perry’s early works, the not-to-be-missed Jane Whitfield books, then you will know what I mean when I say this is a book in reverse of that terrific series. Instead of helping a person hide completely, this is discovering several people who think they have hidden completely.
Exciting and unusual, A Small Town fascinates with a carefully detailed description of how the bad guys planned both their break out and their own escape; and then how Leah tracks them down.
Perry’s writing is crisp as always, giving just enough information. Thankfully he did not overwhelm with details of the rapes and murders that just about killed Weldonville. When he did give detail it is spread throughout the book in small doses, not too graphic.
Although I liked the content of the epilogue, I didn’t think it connected with anything I had read earlier. It really came out of the blue. This was the only fault I found with the book.
Some of the other reviewers found A Small Town to be implausible. I found the story to be an imaginative fictional thriller. I find most thrillers to be implausible.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for a fair and balanced review.

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Small Town is exciting start to finish. Thomas Perry is a definite go to for a very satisfying thriller.
Narrator Christina Delaine turns up the excitement two-fold with her pitch-perfect solo performance. Bravo.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Distinctly different
In fact probably one of the most unique books read this year
The basic story is that Weldonville, a smallish town in America has a maximum security prison on it’s borders, it shadows the town, affords it jobs and a level of prosperity and they live in a comfortablish if not wholly trusting companionship
That is until one night, when a plan that has taken months if not years to hatch finally happens and the gates
of the prison are opened and hundreds of prisoners escape and make their way to the town
Once there they murder, rape and pillage at will and cause mayhem, the town is left bereft and sickened and will never be the same again
Fast forward on 2 years and the 12 instigators of the deed are known and are still at large
No one can find them
Leah Hawkins intends to change that and with the help from the town of funds to ‘make the town more secure’ sets out to track them down
And what follows is an in depth look at how she goes about this and what happens to the 12, it’s way more than a ‘ theres 1, bang’ kind of story as she plays the most superb game of ‘finders keepers’ looking for the most ruthless men who had done everything to avoid detection, or so they thought
Truly fascinating, well written and explained as to be intricate in detail but not alienate the reader
I loved it and the tension and excitement that was there from page 1 the author managed to keep going right through the story
Violent nasty characters pitied against Leah who to say was determined would be doing her a disservice
10/10
5 Stars

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to “A Small Town” by Thomas Perry. Perry chose a woman to be his vigilante, which made the story far more intriguing than if the vigilante had been a male.

The story begins slowly, giving the back story of a federal prison in a small town in Colorado. Twelve prisoners stage a coup and bust out of the prison. They didn’t just break out of the prison, they also pillaged the town, raping, murdering, and burning homes and businesses. The prisoners could have just stolen vehicles and leave; instead, they chose to destroy the town.

Two years later, none of the twelve have been found. The city council convenes and decides to take matters in their own hands. They choose Leah Hawkins, a Detective and Lieutenant from the town who was one of the few police who survived the devastation. She is a 6-foot 2-inch former basketball player who is not only highly skilled in her profession, but also incredibly athletic.

Leah’s journey is methodical and Perry details for the reader the nuances of hunting the men. This is full of action and satisfying revenge. I LOVE that Perry chose a woman to be his executioner.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theres a prison break and this causes havoc for the small home town near to the prison. There is still twelve prisoners to be found. But the people of the town fight back.

This is one of those books that you don't want to say to much about as it would spoil it for potential readers. The plotline is believable and the characters are realistic, even though a couple of them are a it over the top. It was a nice change to have a bad ass cop that was a woman. I loved this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author Thomas Perry for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Small Town by Thomas Perry is a fictional tale where twelve violent prison inmates orchestrate a large scale prison break out that leads to the decimation of the nearby town Weldonville when over 1,000 prison inmates run amok.

In the aftermath, two years after the twelve behind the break out can't be located by authorities, Weldonville police officer Leah Hawkins then decides to hunt down the masterminds behind this rampage and send them off to the place they belong.

Unfortunately for this reader, the implausibilities within A Small Town required too much escape from reality to work and for such a premise to be engaging, an additional foundation for such implausibilities to occur needed development.

It is recommended readers seek out other works of Thomas Perry than that of A Small Town.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up. Twelve prison inmates break out of a federal prison, killing all of the guards and decimating the local small city, Weldonville, to hinder their capture: fires, killings, rapes, etc. Two years later, the city is dying, none of the twelve have been captured so the city council hires a local police officer (Leah Hawkins) to hunt down and dispatch the planners into their next life. The hunt is interesting, but readers have no idea where Leah developed her mercenary skills, which frankly seemed incongruent with her persona. More foundation was needed, and the last chapter was awful and completely gratuitous.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Perry's ability to pull you into the story is one of his many unique talents. 8 of 10 stars

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably best described as revenge porn, this is the tale of Leah Hawkins (never just Leah, always Leah Hawkins) who is hired to hunt down and kill 12 men who unleashed hell on a small town in Colorado when they no only escaped their prison, but also set all the other inmates free. This requires some suspension of logic- that the prison break would happen, that the inmates when released would go on such a horrible horrible rampage, that the 12 could not be tracked down by official law enforcement but could be by one cop, that a town would hire her to kill them and so on. I did like Leah Hawkins. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Completely implausible and very violent, this is also very readable.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plucked this off my library's "New Book" shelf, feeling it was my lucky day. This is a fast-paced story of incredible violence on the part of prisoners who wreak havoc on the small town where the penitentiary is sited. In the aftermath of devastation with many dead the town limps on. The citizens left come up with a plan to eliminate the 12 inmates who planned and executed the breakout. It is put in the hands of one tall and capable policewoman. The precision action is cleverly choreographed and nonstop, and Perry again proves his ability to grant mad physical skills to a woman.

Library Loan

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I'm not gonna lie. The last chapter is...bad. It's kind of like, oops I've got to end this thing so lets just do a half-(ahem) job and put this thing to bed.

But the rest of the book is wonderful!

You have action, heartbreak, violence, and heartfelt drama.

The initial prison break is choreographed like a horrific, yet perfect dance.

Our main character is almost iconic with her steely-eyed sense of vigilante justice.

And our villains? Oh, the reader wants them to get what's coming to them.

The author's style is one of great detail, but rather than bogging down the read, the level of detail adds such authenticity.

I enjoyed this read immensely. I found myself reading it when I should have been doing other things. And I'll happily read the author again!

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, I am familiar with Mr. Perry’s work. I have read all of the Jane Whitefield novels as well as the Butcher Boy series, and I can recommend them wholeheartedly. And I understand that Mr. Perry’s characters are often on the wrong side of the law – that’s part of what makes them so interesting.

But this novel is a bit too much for me. The premise and set-up are well-done: a mass escape from prison meticulously planned, a murderous rampage through a small town, the 12 ringleaders disappearing in the chaos.

Jump ahead to two years later. The town has never recovered from that fateful night. So the town leaders basically give their police officer Leah Hawkins a sabbatical to find and murder the ringleaders, thinking that this will bring closure to the town. That’s the first of many head-scratching suspensions of disbelief the reader is asked to make.

Leah is a strong character, but it’s hard to believe that she can track down the fugitives where the manpower and resources of the FBI have failed. And her clues to get them seem pretty obvious – it says something about the author’s perception of the intelligence of the FBI that Leah out-thinks them with this limited material. And once she finds them? She kills them and gets away.

Mr. Perry continues to attempt to work on our sympathies, trying to portray the 12 fugitives as still being bad men, and deserving to die, but it still seems like cold blooded murder to me. The fugitives are cardboard bad guys, no depth or complexity to their characters. And the ending is both rushed and anti-climactic, like much of the book. After another fast-forward, we get our “happily ever after” ending.

Overall, a poor effort from Mr. Perry. I look forward to him returning to form in his next outing.

I requested and received an advanced copy from Netgalley and Mysterious Press in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

[Viccy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weldonville, Colorado is a very small town. Most citizens are employed by the federal penitentiary outside the town, originally designed to hold white collar criminals. Over the course of a few years, some very bad men have plotted to get themselves transferred to Weldonville. Twelve men lead a prison break and the rampage that follows destroys the town. Two years later, Leah Hawkins takes a leave of absence from the Weldonville police. She is going on her own rampage, to find and destroy the 12 men who were responsible for the prison break. Quite an interesting plot device, my major complaint is that Leah's character is never fully developed. She lost a loved one that night, but it seems superficial (to me). Perry is always an engaging writer, but this was not one of his best.

[Kat (Katlovesbooks) Dietrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

A Small Town by Thomas Perry is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank both Edelweiss and NetGalley, the publisher Mysterious Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Twelve hard-core convicts escape from Weldonville Prison, leaving the doors open so that another 1200 could walk out.  Most were rounded up fairly quickly, but not before women were raped, houses were ransacked and burned, and many people lost their lives.  The original twelve escaped.

Two years later, and the town is dying.  People have been leaving in droves.   Work at the prison has dried up, and nearly everyone in town lost someone that fateful day.  Economically the town is barely viable now, and emotionally, the residents are drained.

Police Lieutenant Leah Hawkins is given a leave of absence to study management styles of other police forces across the country.  In reality Leah Hawkins is going after the twelve convicts that destroyed her town.  She is going alone, and she plans to kill them.

Leah travels across the U.S., and as her targets are taken down, the remaining escapees band together to fight back.
 

My Opinions:  

I absolutely loved the premise of this book.  A tough, smart, and determined policewoman out for revenge.  It sounded soooo good.  Hmmmm.....

The writing was clear, but really long.  The actual prison escape took forever, and yet I found the scene with the police stand-off riveting....and short.  Once Leah was on the road, things dragged again.   Unfortunately, I found myself skimming.   What should have been excitement and suspense and emotion, was turned into detail.  Too much detail.  Too much background information on each convict.  Too much detail as to Leah's every move.  Too much imagery.  Not enough dialogue.  I got bored.

Although Leah was a strong character, she felt emotionless.  Actually, most of the book felt that way, although I did like the survivalist camp.

One other thought.  I don't feel that the final chapter really tied up the loose ends, or even fit with the rest of the novel.  Yes, it was an epilogue, but it didn't feel right.

I know that I will be in the minority on rating this book, because Thomas Perry is a popular author, but this one just did nothing for me.


 For a more complete review of this book and others (including author information and quotations), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn't measure up to Perry's previous efforts. It certainly didn't have the quirky characters of Metzger's Dog, but was more like his Jane Whitefield character. I've never cared for her all that much & this was worse. There were a few bright moments, but they were too far & few.

It started off with a premise that I just couldn't buy. A cop turned assassin hunting across the country is a bit of a stretch & women rarely exhibit that sort of aggressive behavior, but that didn't throw me on its own. It was the hunt. She was able to find them in weeks with very little support while the best efforts of the FBI hadn't found a single one in 2 years. She had very little remorse over unintended consequences & never seemed uncertain. There wasn't any suspense; it was just methodical & inevitable. A lot of the book was a slog of details & sometimes repetitive flashbacks.

Well narrated, but I won't recommend it. I hope he's not burning out.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A violent prison break that literally murders a small Colorado town sets up an original pursuit of vengeance by an exceptionally drawn police lieutenant two years later. This is just another example of the incredibly gifted Thomas Perry who has consistently delivered the crime fiction goods.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ordinarily, I find novels by Mr. Perry to be hugely entertaining and captivating. Not so much with this one, though. This story requires extra heavy-duty suspenders for the vast amounts of disbelief engendered. For a diehard Perry fan, accommodations can be made, but if you’re new to the author, do yourself a favor and begin with one of good other, far better, novels (e.g., The Old Man, Butcher’s Boy).

Not all is lost, however. Leah Hawkins, the central figure in this tale of vengeance, is a well drawn character— a cop who becomes a singular killing machine when all the legal avenues have failed to bring twelve particularly evil men to justice. There’s plenty of action, but things big down three quarters of the way through. What is certainly most disappointing, however, is the ending. It seems amateurish and tacked on— almost as if a lesser writer had added it to the manuscript. Coulda, shoulda, been a better book.

[John of Canada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a wonky ending, but I like the planning that Perry puts into his work. Plus you can never get enough justified revenge killings.

[Randal White · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first of the author's books that I have read. I found the book to be easily readable, however highly unrealistic. The premise of the book is that twelve inmates take over a federal prison, release the entire inmate population, rape and pillage their way through a local town, and then disappear into the night. The main character, a former police officer, is hired by the city council to go rogue and track down, and eliminate, the twelve main escapees.
First. I am a retired Federal Bureau of Prisons employee. The premise and scenes described are completely unrealistic. The overpowering of the "control center" of the prison is impossible. Inmates do not have access to the entrance. Same with the prison armory, they are not located inside the prison where inmates have access. Same with the armed guards patrolling inside the prison. Doesn't happen. Along with many, many other details in the book, it makes me wonder if the author ever actually researched Federal prisons?
Second. The idea that a city council would hire a vigilante police officer to hunt down and kill people. Does the author really want the reader to believe the idea of that many people being able to keep a secret? Not today!
Third. The vigilante. How is the reader to believe that a single police officer is able to independently track down, across the entire country, people that the FBI/State Police agencies/etc, could not? And a couple of years after the initial escape? The FBI/BOP/etc would NEVER, EVER give up the search where so many of their own brothers-in-arms had been murdered! And the thought that these simple criminals could evade the best minds in law enforcement is laughable.
Fourth. The idea that this vigilante could just walk into a place and murder people, with no repercussions or investigation by the affected jurisdiction is crazy.
No, while the story would make a semi-successful B movie plot, it is totally unrealistic.
I have to pass on recommending this one!

[Jill Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "A Small Town" by Thomas Perry, his lead character, Leah Hawkins, is a 30-something cop in rural Colorado. The town she lives in and defends, Weldonville, hosts a supermax prison. On July 19th, hundreds of prisoners escape in a well-planned operation and terrorise the town people of Weldonville. Hundreds of people are raped and murdered in the most hideous ways. Leah Hawkins loses many friends, and, in particular, her lover is shot while trying to defend the town, at Leah's side. Two years on, most of the escaped prisoners had been either killed or captured. All but the twelve masterminds behind the break, who are still at liberty somewhere.

And here's where the plot point goes hinky. Leah Hawkins - 6'2" and strong and clever - is tasked with tracking down the 12 men still at large...and killing them. She accepts the challenge and sets off to dispence frontier justice when the FBI had largely failed to find the 12. The balance of the book is Leah Hawkins tracking like a blood hound these men. That one single person - albeit with some help from the Weldonville police in terms of equipment - can succeed when the FBI has failed is a bit difficult to take in. But author Thomas Perry is the author of 20 or so previous thrillers, and he brings the book and Leah's character to an interesting conclusion.

I don't read too many "thrillers". This one was pretty good on character development. Perry doesn't make Leah Hawkins a "super cop", but one with doubts of her mission and her own capabilities to carry it out. He also gives voice to most of the odious criminals who are being tracked. But the fact that one person could track down 12 others who are located all over the country is a bit of a stretch.

[Laurie Tell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very excited to received an ARC of this book because Thomas Perry is an author I love. I've read all of his books and I know I'm always in for some fun. However, this did not impact my review. I write my reviews for possible future readers.

This book starts with a prison escape. I was getting into the story of this escape, and then........boom! It's 2 years later and a new story starts. I loved the "new " story, but it was a bit jarring to have such a sudden change. Even a chapter heading that clued us in would have helped.

Once I adjusted, I was totally involved in the way these escaped prisoners were tracked down. I love the Thomas Perry world of fake IDs, changing identities and tracking people.

As with all of his books, I loved the writing style, the story line, the imagination. I really enjoyed this book.

This is 4.5 stars which I'm rounding down. The first reason is that jarring time shift (which happens more than once). The second is the pacing, if that's the right word. There were times when a change in viewpoint took place in the middle of a chapter. A new chapter gives me a clue a change might be coming. This needed more of that. However, this being an advance cooy, this may be fixed by publication date. So after further thought, assuming this will be fixed, I'm rounding up.

[Pattyh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview a Small Town by Thomas Perry.
Mr. Perry has the ability to make you root for the underdog - he takes an ordinary individual and gives them the innate ability to "disappear" while taking down enemies one at a time.
In his new novel, a small town in Colorado houses a large penetentiary. The residents of this small town make up most of the workers at the facility. It used to be a prison for white collar crimes, but over time, more hardened criminals are behind its bars.
When this small town faces the unimaginable - a prison escape - that devistates the town, the residents look back with distain and hatred for those who killed their neighbors. Twelve of those escapees have not been found and after two years, this small town believes that if they don't take things in their own hands, nothing will be done.
Police Chief, Leah Hawkins, takes a leave of absence to seek out those who ruined her town, and her one mission is to take out those twelve - or die trying.
5 stars. Perry is back in form with this novel - RECOMMEND.

[Alisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was really good but the execution fell flat. I was not at all invested in the main character and her efforts to seek revenge. Her actual interactions with the bad guys took a whole lot of suspension of belief and tons of things didn't make sense at all. I did this on audio and I still had two hours left on the story when I decided to toss in the towel. I have zero interest in seeing how this story worked out. I don't care if the bad guys died or the main character did. Not really understanding how this author is so famous. This was really not good, especially compared to other big names in the murder/suspense/psychological thriller genres.

[Barry who enjoys well-written thrillers, mysteries , & espionage & loathes romance, horror & supernat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Small Town was okay but just. There was little suspense and, at times, it moved very slowly. I have read and enjoyed many of Thomas Perry's books and this was by some margin the poorest. In addition, it stretched credulity, whatever that means (but I've always wanted to say that).

Huge prison break, 1000's freed, kill half the town, tough cop goes after the ringleaders. People die. That's it.

The End.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Leah Hawkins was a woman who met freezing weather with warm clothes instead of complaints."

Weldonville, Colorado is a small town that is dying slowly until a proposed federal penitentiary is built on the outskirts. This provided local jobs during the construction and then local jobs when it opened. It was originally supposed to be a minimum security prison but over a few years it actually became a maximum security facility, holding the worst of the worst.

On July 19 there was a carefully orchestrated prison break, led by twelve convicts. The small town is decimated - rape, murder, arson. Two years later all of the convicts that escaped are accounted for except the twelve ringleaders.

Two years later Detective Lieutenant Leah Hawkins of the local Weldonville Police Department is called in to a secret meeting with the City Council, the Mayor and other police officers and sent on a secret mission to revitalize a town that has suffered so much.

I always like a good story about vengeance and I enjoyed Leah's tale very much. Maybe it wasn't totally believable but it is fiction and I read it as such.

I received this book from Mysterious Press through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a stand-alone thriller novel, A SMALL TOWN deserves a place on the plateau of highly recommended reads.
An ingeniously clever and calculated break-0ut of the entire prison population results in convicts invading the nearby small town and wrecking havoc. The small police department is enmeshed in protecting its citizens from the armed mob that is trashing it while the twelve perpetrators of the break-out manage to escape, leave town and evade FBI efforts to track them down.
Two years later a strong female protagonist, a member of the local police, gets carte blanche from city council to find the twelve and act as judge, jury and executioneer by enacting revenge.
Strong writing, compelling characters, smart detection methods, and final results - - this is a guide to how to write a compelling thriller.
It ends with main character Leah Hawkins seeming to retire and settle down to family life, a satisfactory conclusion for her. Would I be selfish to urge Perry to feature her again in another novel? One can hope.

[Mary MacKintosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Perry always takes me away from my personal issues. In the midst of a pandemic, we all need distractions! This one starts in a small town in Colorado in the shadow of a prison. This prison started as a low security holding place, mostly for white collar criminals. But over time the character of the prison population changes, and more dangerous inmates become common. The story begins when a cleverly planned prison break spills violent men into a little town Ill-prepared to defend itself. The town loses a number of its citizens. Homes are burned. The town loses its heart. And it wants the men who damaged it to pay.
Perry has written several novels featuring female protagonists, and he is great at it. With this one the reader goes with Leah Hawkins, former homicide detective and resident of Weldonville as she pursues a dozen men to mete out justice.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-planned prison break costs guards and prison personnel their lives as it frees hundreds of violent prisoners. The twelve masterminds of the break-out head into Weldonville, Colorado where they set about destroying the town as they steal, murder, and rape with unconcerned abandon.

Two years later, the twelve have vanished, swallowed up by the places they’ve taken refuge, eluding the police and the FBI, living free.

Police Detective Lieutenant Leah Hawkins has promised herself that, if the twelve evaded apprehension for two years, she would take on the task of hunting them down and killing them. Can she find the twelve fugitives by herself and avenge the horror they brought to the unsuspecting town she calls home? Or is revenge destined to claim even more Weldonville lives?

While the narrative opens with a detailed account of the prison break, the story itself is not overly graphic or grisly. The constantly-building tension keeps the reader on the edge of the seat as unexpected reveals bring surprises to the telling of the tale. The unfolding story is one filled with horror, heartbreak, violence, and resonance.

Is the premise a bit far-fetched? Perhaps, but this is where a reader’s willing suspension of disbelief allows for enjoying the cat-and-mouse thriller as the story plays out over the pages of this novel. Well-told, with a sense of attempting to right a horrific wrong, readers will find themselves cheering Leah on as she seeks a sense of justice for the people of the damaged little town.

Recommended.

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of Thomas Perry so I was pleased when Net Galley offered an advance copy of Perry's most recent book. I didn't think it measured up to the previous titles of his I enjoyed. There's no mystery. We know the why, how, what and where of the bad guys and the same for the heroine who would appear to have almost superwoman capabilities. 

Leah, the police lieutenant, "hired" (it's all supposed to be off the books) is given virtually unlimited funds (which she spends wisely, mind you) to murder (there is no other word for it) a bunch of convicts who had engineered a vast prison break and then had savaged the local community. Her motives appear to be focused on revenge for the killing of her married lover (the adultery was OK because his wife was in a wheelchair) during a shootout with the bad guys following the breakout.

That she's more than competent at tracking down the scoundrels is never at issue, and her techniques flawless and filled with mounds of luck. It goes without saying she is athletic, tall, blonde and beautiful and probably eats right most of the time.

It's a perfect book for a plane ride: distracting enough but not so much that drifting off once in a while would be bothersome to its rather wrinkled flow.

My thanks to Net Galley