There's even a very memorable female character who is obviously a precursor to the Jane Whitehead character.
Once I started reading, I went almost non-stop, despite being in a distracting environment.Quick thriller, well-constructed but flawed My library branch head boss likes to recommend the classics of a genre. Before this, she recommended Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle". Then she thrust this one into my hands after my coworker's son returned it, who had read it in four hours.
Although I must admit my more deliberate pace, I will say this is a quick read.
This book is similar to Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle" in several ways. Both are fast paced thrillers that feature main characters who are methodical professionals, but professions (spy, hit-man) that require ruthlessness--both characters are kind of like evil MacGyvers.
While their characters are flat, their pursuers have a human side. The storytelling switches between killer and pursuer, which paces nicely.
While "Eye of the Needle" ends with a dramatic clash between two characters, "Butcher's Boy" side-steps the collision of killer and pursuer with a bit of the deus ex machina (the killer just happens to run into the person who has the 2 separate pieces of information he needs, an insane amount of money, and the means to frame his pursuers).
Despite this flaw, the real joy comes from watching the Butcher's Boy achieve impossible objectives and extricating himself from certain demise by preparing for multiple situations while simultaneously improvising solutions.
Therefore, I highly recommend this to any business school student, aspiring lawyer, or wannabe evil MacGyvers.
What I can't figure out is how Perry writes with such enjoyable economy and still manages to create that magic of gluing the reader to the text. If you are a writer yourself, this question is worth getting to the bottom of.
A mesmerizing tale of a professional killer going about the business of evading his pursuers, "The Butcher's Boy" is a novel that will send you in search of more Thomas Perry books.