Vanishing Act (1995)

First of the Whitefield books. ( )

Recommended by a good friend. My first foray into Thomas Perry's books and I thought it quite well done. Will look for more, especially in this series. ( )

Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads solitary outcasts through hostile territory to escape the vengeance of their enemies Jane knows all the tricks; in fact, she has invented several of them herself in the ten years she has been teaching fugitives to live with new identities Many of her clients have innocent people whom the institutions of society have been unable to protect, but an increasing number have been people who aren't especially admirable but who aren't bad enough to deserve to die prematurely. The latest to run to her for sanctuary, John Felker, is not like the others Jane has helped, and everything about him is disquieting. He doesn't even know whom he is running from - only that whoever is framing him as an embezzler has already circulated an open contract in the prison system for his death. The unexpected guest propels Jane on a pursuit that takes her from the night streets of Los Angeles and Vancouver to the dark, unexplored regions of her own mind. There is no way for Jane Whitefield to survive this particular vanishing act except to uncover the hidden meanings of violent events that have kept police forces and criminal syndicates equally mystified for years. ( )

If you haven't read the Jane Whitefield series, you are so lucky. They're all ahead of you. Since Perry doesn't write them as fast as I want, I have started over with this, his first. Actually, they get better. I've been a Perry fan since "The Butcher's Boy" and "Metzger's Dog," which were terrific. So this talented craftsman decides to write a series about a smart, brave, resourceful, Seneca woman who helps desperate people disappear. Really? Life is good. ( )

I felt I had to give Thomas Perry another chance. At the same time I felt I had plenty of reason not to. Despite a glowing-but-carefully-worded introduction by Michael Connelly to Perry’s first book, The Butcher’s Boy (Random House, 2003), it remains the only novel--off the top of my head--that I’ve rated 2 Stars. In fact, I found the introduction much more interesting than anything that followed it. But I closed the review with: “. . . there is something here. I find myself wanting to read more. Neither can I deny I was disappointed.” Perhaps that’s the reason I jumped to Perry’s sixth book, the first in the acclaimed Jane Whitefield series. I was greatly rewarded for doing so.

Jane, who lives in upstate New York near the Canadian border, is half Seneca Indian by blood and completely so in spirit, at least as much as the modern world will allow. Perhaps that is why, when it comes to her life’s work, she thinks of herself as a guide. She helps people disappear. Not criminals, unless there is a greater good involved, but decent people who are forced by circumstances to give up their lives as they know it. She works unofficially, without government knowledge, and has access to an extensive network of people who work outside the law. She fits among them, a thorough professional playing her part. Unfortunately, not knowing this would be her calling, she was sloppy in the beginning and now too many people not only know of her existence, but actually know her physical address. A man suddenly showing up at her house and referencing a previous, successfully-relocated “client” begins our introduction to Jane.

What follows is a mix of Indian lore, Jane’s skill at her profession, and pursuit from those trying to kill the man she is attempting to help. A murder results when things go wrong, and though the killer is obvious I believe that was always the author’s intention because he never makes Jane look stupid, not an easy thing to avoid when the reader knows more than she. Eventually it comes down to a one-on-one confrontation, which Jane can only win because of who she is and what she believes. It reaffirms everything we’ve come to know about Jane and her world. Nothing can be more satisfying than that. ( )