The Butcher's Boy

I read SLEEPING DOGS and really enjoyed it. Then I spent two years trying to find THE BUTCHER'S BOY in used bookstores (before I owned a computer). Stumbled across it at a yard sale for 50 cents. Couldn't put it down after I started reading it. Stayed up until daybreak to finish it. This is one of the best books I've ever read (and I've read a lot)! The other reviews are all accurate. If you like mystery/action/suspense, buy it. But don't start reading it until you have the time to finish it. You won't put it down. SLEEPING DOGS is great too, but a sequel is a sequel is a sequel. METZGER'S DOG (not a sequel) is also quite good--it's more of a comedy and not on the same level as THE BUTCHER'S BOY.

Thomas Perry's first novel is a Killer-Thriller! I had read "Sleeping Dogs"(the sequal) before I read "The Butchers Boy". Both books are great. I am glad they re-printed "The Butchers Boy" because it explains a lot I missed when reading "Sleeping Dogs". However, each book can stand alone without the other. The "Butchers Boy" is about a hitman that is double crossed by the mob after he completed some contract(killing) work for them. It also tells the story of the Department of Justice Field Agent that is trying to tie all the killings together. It is a race to the end to find the missing link that will tie the knot to this killer-thriller. Also don't miss the few chapters that introduces us to the much loved "jane whitefield series" the lady that can make you disappear. I hope Perry brings that series back-it was one of his best. "Butchers Boy is a good read!

Butcher's Boy grabs you from the start and keeps you going. The thing that makes this book so compelling is that you end up rooting for the "bad" guy. The protagonist of this book is a ruthless professional killer who has earned the nickname that is the book's title. Nonetheless, you end up hoping he'll get away from the even more awful people who hire him, and the police (remember they're supposed to be the "good" guys).Perry's descriptions of settings and characters in this, and all of his books, are excellent. This one is embellished by a tight plot and a point of view that is different from other novels.I wish I hadn't given my copy away as the book is now hard to find. Perhaps a publisher will re-issue it; or it'll be made into a movie (hopefully a good one) that will bring it back on the shelves.

Thomas Perry introduces the unpredictable Butcher's Boy in this book and continues the story years later in the novel Sleeping Dogs. Both books are great. This one won an Edgar award. Read everything you can by Perry. He's the best thriller writer going. Unlike some more popular writers in this genre, he can actually write.

This is one of the greatest books I've ever read in the last twenty years! Find it anyway you could and after finished it, try to find the sequal SLEEPING DOGS, kill both with one shot, please! This book almost became a bible to modern day thriller writers and it's plots and scenario had been sneakly if not consciously copied by many recent writers such J. Finder(the Zero Hour) and B. Branon(Devils hole). Thomas Perry is one of the great treasures in American literature(although I don't like this serious word). Mr. Perry is a most talented but sometimes with weird writing directions. If you enjoyed his BUTCHER'S BOY/SLEEPING DOGS, then please try to read his new DISAPPEARING ACT series, you will be so happy to find a great writer who obviously never lost his MUSE to find a different Hero or Heroine to entertain himself and us. A MUST READ ALL WRITER!