Staff Review by Meg
Cheman
Vanishing Act By Thomas Perry
She makes people
disappear. Not the cement shoes, bottom of the ocean “disappear,” but
the new identities, new lives variety of disappear. In Vanishing Act, by Thomas Perry,
Seneca native Jane Whitefield is a guide who leads people out of danger. When
John Felker, an ex-cop turned accountant, discovers he is being set up on
embezzling charges, he seeks out Jane’s help. With four assassins on his heels,
Felker arrives on Jane’s doorstep.
The heart-thumping tension builds as Jane coolly and intuitively guides
Felker to safety.
But things are never
what they seem. In a twist that
compels Jane to right a wrong, she follows a trail from the west coast of the
United States all the way back to New York State. Through the Adirondacks, Jane
moves from being the hunter to the hunted–and back again–in a gripping, page
turning game of cat and mouse.
You don’t need to be
from Western New York to enjoy this book, but the local flavor is the cherry on
top of a fantastic thriller. Perry sets his scenes in Buffalo, Tonawanda,
Rochester and Niagara-on- the- Lake, and his descriptions of the Seneca Nation
and its people set the back story, adding dimension and depth to his
characters. Vanishing Act is the first in the
Jane Whitefield series, and an absolute joy to read.