October 6, 2021 - Staff Reviews

Eddie's Boy

By Thomas Perry

Release Date: December 1, 2020

Audiobook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/wvreads-wvlc/content/media/5616220

3 Stars - An interesting story that's both a prequel and an epilouge rolled into one. Perry's enigmatic hero Michael is a fascinating former hitman with a set of skills that rivals any action movie star. His latest run for his life is worth a read.

While I'd read Thomas Perry before, I made a mistake here not reading the original trilogy of The Butcher's Boy. This story revisits a lot of Michael's past which will no doubt bring back fond memories for readers who started in the right place. I hop around in series all the time and can't think of a series I did so wrong as this one when I didn't start in the beginning. Michael's childhood was morbidly entertaining. And his present (which really reminded me of one of my faves The Bourne Ultimatium - book not movie version) was not quite action packed but very suspenseful as he tries to figure out who is trying to kill him.

As I said emphatically, I'm not sure what fans of the series are expecting here exactly. But while Michael's wife Meg quickly disappears off page, his American espionage counterpart Elizabeth returns prominently. She's still working her detective skills and trading barbs with Michael when they cross paths again. I feel it's really worth mentioning, I think Michael Kramer's performance in the audio version does more harm than good. Perry's not an emotional writer. It's not his style. But this was so monotone that my mind wandered easily, and it squashed some of the humor and personality. The female voices are awful and the males are almost indistinguishable. Also, ladies be aware this definitely has a lot of "guy" book aspects. Not saying girls won't enjoy it but there were some eye rolls. There's a lot to like in this book though for thriller fans, from those who prefer psychological thrillers to Mob stories.

(NS)