Dance for the Dead

I'm not a big fan of mystery/suspense novels, but one dull Sunday afternoon I saw this book sitting on my parents' coffee table, and began flipping through it. The concept hooked me almost at once -- there's something enormously appealing about Jane Whitefield and her endless supply of ingenuity as she helps people create new identities. I read my way through the series and strongly recommend the books to anyone. Sure, Jane's clever escapes and rescues occasionally stretch credulity, but that's part of the fun of reading fiction. I like it when the good guys win, thanks. I would love to read more about Jane sometime -- it would be interesting to see how she would cope with the increased security of post-September 11th America.

The first three Jane Whitefield books are the classiest alternative to Tony Hillerman's "Navajo mysteries." Nobody is more fun to read about than Jane Whitefield. She's clever, she's beautiful, she's seriously dangerous to bad guys. Like that Holmes guy, she's been so popular that Perry tried unsuccessfully to get shet of her for three novels. And maybe she will "rise from the dead" once more. Meantime, there are three good novels (*Vanishing Act,* *Dance for the Dead*, *Shadow Woman*) and two better-than-average-but-kind-of-half-hearted ones (*Face-Changers,* *Blood Money*). In each of the last three books, Jane promises her husband that she will stop now. Perry's done two novels since *Blood Money*, and it looks like Jane's last retirement took. What a shame.In *Dance for the Dead*, the action begins on page one, and by page five Jane has fought her way through a gauntlet and five or six key people are dead. From this dazzling start, it's a wild ride of switched identities, super-killers, and Jane's mysto/techno woodlore that brings us, breathless, to a celebration on the Seneca rez. On the way we meet a woman we learn to love almost as much as we do Jane.Wow. Read this book.

There aren't very many authors who write about a woman protagonist that actually has brains, guts and a strong will. Thomas Perry is one author that does. I love reading this series just to see what tricks Jane has up her sleeve. If you haven't read them go, buy and enjoy! They will not let you down.

Jane Whitefield comes to us a fully developed character as only Kate Shugak of the Dana Stabenow has before. The action starts (explodes?) from page 1. I was settled to read a chapter or 2 before bed as is my wont but ended up putting this book down at the back cover just in time to shower for work. I read incessantly and have rarely found a book of this caliber and unlike so many other authors, the series maintains the standard. Looking forward to the new one Jan 2000!!!

This is book two of the delightful Jane Whitefield series. She's an attractive, 32 year old Indian who runs her own private "witness protection" program. Thomas Perry brings us a smart, capable protagonist whom bad guys simply should not mess with. Great fun. There is a feeling of ominous dread creeping in at the end of the book, though. It appears that Jane may be on the road to matrimony (which she does, I gather, in the next novel in the series). I really, really do not like this idea.Fans of this series should note that Perry wrote several excellent thrillers before starting his Jane Whitefield books. They are well worth reading.