"Another stunner from a modern master."—Booklist (Starred Review)
Rescue artist Jane Whitefield leads a deadly crime syndicate on a wild chase through the Northeast.

Jane Whitefield helps people disappear. Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely—to assume a new identity and establish a new life somewhere they won't be found. And when people are desperate enough to need her services, they come to the old house in rural western New York where Jane was raised to begin their escape.

It's there that, one spring night, Jane finds a young woman fresh from LA with a whole lot of trouble behind her. After she cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him, and now he's free and trying to find and kill her.

Jane agrees to help, and it soon becomes clear that outsmarting the murderous boyfriend is not beyond Jane's skills. But the boyfriend has some new friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood. When they learn that Sara is traveling with a tall, dark-haired woman who disappears people, the Russians become increasingly interested in helping the boyfriend find the duo. They've heard rumors that such a woman existed—and believe that, if forcibly extracted, the knowledge she has of past clients could be worth millions.

Thus begins a bloodthirsty chase that winds through the cities of the northeast before finally plunging into Maine's Hundred Mile Wilderness. But in a pursuit where nothing can be trusted, one thing is certain: only one party—Jane or her pursuers—will emerge alive.

About The Author

Thomas Perry

Thomas Perry is the Edgar-winning author of over thirty novels, including The Butcher’s Boy, which Parade Magazine included in its 2021 list of 101 Best Mystery Books of All Time, and Metzger’s Dog, which NPR listeners voted one of the “Best Thrillers of All Time.” His novel The Old Man was the inspiration for the television series starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, and his novel Strip inspired the film Bear Country starring Russell Crowe. He died in Los Angeles on September 15, 2025, at the age of 78.

Product Details

Publisher: The Mysterious Press (November 16, 2021)
Length: 336 pages
ISBN13: 9781613162590

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Raves and Reviews

"A master of nail-biting suspense."

– Los Angeles Times

"Mr. Perry's characters come to life with a single sentence.. . . He's one of the greatest living writers of suspense fiction."

– New York Sun

"There are probably only half a dozen suspense writers alive who can be depended upon to deliver high-voltage shocks; vivid, sympathetic characters; and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them."

– Stephen King

"Whitefield is an indelible figure—whip-smart, resourceful, brave and big-hearted."

– Seattle Times

"At a time when franchise characters are publishing gold, [Jane Whitefield] is the sort of protagonist most crime novelists would kill for."

– The Wall Street Journal

"Perry delivers nonstop action, relentless tension, and such three-dimensional secondary characters."

– Publishers Weekly

"Perry seasons the fast-moving chase narrative with engrossing details about becoming a new person, from constructing a false identity to relearning how to move through daily life in an unrecognizable way. This time, though, there is a stunning extra: with the mobsters closing in, Jane hopes to lose her pursuers by hiking Maine's Hundred- Mile Wilderness, the most arduous stretch of the Appalachian Trail. Cue the ever-versatile Perry to display his outdoor-adventure-writing chops. Not only is the 100-mile chase itself excruciatingly exciting, it's also chockablock with "I-didn't-know-that!" facts about trail survival. Another stunner from a modern master."

– Booklist STARRED REVIEW

"Perry is one of the best in the business today, and his latest is a brooding, peripatetic stunner."

– CrimeReads, The Most Anticipated Books of 2021

"Thomas Perry always peppers his thrillers with a lot of unknown facts that enhance the narrative. He is such a pro at giving us readers what we want and have come to expect from him: an intelligent, thrilling ride."

– Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

"The tension is thick, the story unfolds at a rapid pace, the characters are well developed, and, as usual in a Thomas Perry novel, the tale is tightly written."

– Associated Press