Books with author Thomas Perkins

“Perry is the best suspense writer in the business. . . . Pursuit is relentless, filled with twists and turns, that rare page-turner that keeps one reading late into the night to finish.”–The Boston GlobeThirteen bodies are found in a Louisville restaurant. When the police can find no suspect or motive, a victim’s family seeks the services of the enigmatic and solitary specialist Roy Prescott, known for his ability to find people who don’t want to be found. Working outside the law and willing to do what the police can’t, Prescott hunts the killer, an elusive adversary who is as smart, as methodical, as deadly as he is. The only way to conduct this pursuit is to goad the killer into believing that he must kill Roy Prescott. It is a contest fought from one end of the country to the other, and both men understand that when it’s over, only one of them will be alive.

How many heroes from ancient history can you name who are still being honored today by Israelis and by Palestinians, by Catholics and by Protestants, by followers of Islam and by followers of Judaism? David Ben-Jesse uniquely fits that description. He is known to Jews (and to Israelis) as their greatest king; to Muslims as a revered prophet; and to Christians as one whom God called “a man after my own heart” (Holy Bible, Acts of the Apostles 13:22). Yet those who write about King David often tend to say either too much or too little about him. Devotional materials sometimes spiritualize every detail of his life. Bible study books may gloss over the less uplifting aspects of his career. Novels go to the opposite extreme, adding imaginary (even racy) content to embroider a story already rich in texture. THE SHEPHERD KING: A New Biography of David Ben-Jesse is based on a careful and reverent re-reading of the age-old narratives; on reliable scholarly studies of biblical literature; and on recent archeological findings that shed light on life as it was lived three thousand years ago. Neither devotional nor fictional in approach, it is indeed a new biography for readers 12 and up of one of the most colorful and compelling characters in all of human history.

After a nine-year absence, the fiercely resourceful Native American guide Jane Whitefield is back, in the latest superb thriller by award-winning author Thomas Perry. For more than a decade, Jane pursued her unusual profession: “I’m a guide . . . I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is.” Then she promised her husband she would never work again, and settled in to live a happy, quiet life as Jane McKinnon, the wife of a surgeon in Amherst, New York. But when a bomb goes off in the middle of a hospital fundraiser, Jane finds herself face to face with the cause of the explosion: a young pregnant girl who has been tracked across the country by a team of hired hunters. That night, regardless of what she wants or the vow she’s made to her husband, Jane must come back to transform one more victim into a runner. And her quest for safety sets in motion a mission that will be a rescue operation—or a chance for revenge.

From the New York Times bestselling author Thomas Perry, "who can be depended upon to deliver high-voltage shocks" (Stephen King), comes a new thriller about an unlikely burglar?a young woman in her 20s?who realizes she must solve a string of murders, or else become the next victim Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. But Elle is no petty thief?with just the right combination of smarts, looks, and skills, she can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home for plucking the most valuable items. This is how Elle has always gotten by?she is good at it, and she thrives on the thrill. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around. Somebody is searching for her. As Elle realizes that her knowledge of the high-profile murder has made her a target, she races to solve the case before becoming the next casualty, using her breaking-and-entering skills to uncover the truth about exactly who the victims were and why someone might have wanted them dead. With high-stakes action and shocking revelations, The Burglar will keep readers on the edge of their seats as they barrel towards the heart-racing conclusion.

A bracing and ingeniously cast L.A. crime novel from Edgar Award–winner Thomas Perry An aging but formidable strip club owner, Claudiu “Manco” Kapak, is robbed by a masked gunman as he places his cash receipts in a bank’s night-deposit box. Enraged, he sends out half a dozen security men to find the witless culprit. Their search leads them to Joe Carver, an innocent but hardly defenseless newcomer who evades capture and sets out to make Kapak wish he’d targeted someone else. Meanwhile, the real burglar, Jefferson Davis Falkins, and his new girlfriend Carrie seem to believe they’ve found a whole new profession: robbing Manco Kapak. Lieutenant Nick Slosser, the police detective in charge of the puzzling and increasingly violent case, has his own troubles, including worries about how he’s going to afford to send the oldest child of each of his two bigamous marriages to college without making their mothers suspicious. As this strange series of events explodes into a triple killing, Carver finds himself in the middle of a brewing gang war over Kapak’s little empire, while Falkins and Carrie journey into territory more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.

How many heroes from ancient history can you name who are still being honored today by Israelis and by Palestinians, by Catholics and by Protestants, by followers of Islam and by followers of Judaism?David Ben-Jesse uniquely fits that description. He is known to Jews (and to Israelis) as their greatest king; to Muslims as a revered prophet; and to Christians as one whom God called “a man after my own heart” (Holy Bible, Acts of the Apostles 13:22).Yet those who write about King David often tend to say either too much or too little about him. Devotional materials sometimes spiritualize every detail of his life. Bible study books may gloss over the less uplifting aspects of his career. Novels go to the opposite extreme, adding imaginary (even racy) content to embroider a story already rich in texture.THE SHEPHERD KING: A New Biography of David Ben-Jesse is based on a careful and reverent re-reading of the age-old narratives; on reliable scholarly studies of biblical literature; and on recent archeological findings that shed light on life as it was lived three thousand years ago. Neither devotional nor fictional in approach, it is indeed a new biography for readers 12 and up of one of the most colorful and compelling characters in all of human history.

Young Willard faces the sort of challenges experienced by many fourth-graders: homework, household chores, broken eyeglasses, rain on an overnight campout, a bossy big sister, a grandmother who needs extra help. Yet he also faces challenges unique to his time in history: America's first year in World War II. WILLARD AND THE WAR EFFORT: A 4th-Grader in the '40s, is a middle-grade book of just over a hundred pages that uses colloquial style and a vocabulary level for young readers of today. Veteran author Perry Thomas tells what it was like to be a fourth-grader in the '40s-- when America went to war, and when the latest electronic gadget was a portable plug-in radio.