THOMAS PERRY

	A note to readers: Welcome to my web site. As those of you who check this site occasionally know, I don't usually change the message until I have something important to announce. There is a bit of news to share with readers this time. My latest novel, Fidelity, is on sale beginning May 12, 2008. I'm pleased with the book, and the early reviews have been positive. Here are some excerpts: "A spunky but believable heroine, an emotionally conflicted killer, a plot whose twists you will not anticipate—what more could a reader want from a piece of escapist fiction? Fidelity is a winner. But then, Perry has never written a bad novel in his life." — Starred review, Library Journal "Bestseller Perry (Silence) explores the psychology of identity through his characters' hidden lives in this solid crime thriller. . .Perry intrigues as always with spare, intelligent prose." —Publishers Weekly "Perry remains a kind of literary alchemist, able to mix often-incompatible elements, intricate plotting and subtle characterization, into crime-fiction gold. . . This is fine writing from one of crime fiction's grand masters. —Starred review, Booklist Fidelity is my sixteenth novel, and I'm hoping that readers will enjoy it. I will be doing a limited amount of traveling to promote the book. Scheduled events are listed in the Public Appearances section of this site. As long-time readers know, I believe that the most important job a writer has is working to become a better writer. Part of the process is thinking about and learning to understand a greater and wider variety of people, and then devising ways to bring back for the reader not just the new information, but also the wonder and surprise. I've been working on ways to convey the notion that when a new character comes into focus in a novel, he brings with him not just a name, an appearance and a purpose. He's the product of a great many experiences, impressions, and ideas. When we meet a new person in life, we realize we are not only dealing with the person we see, but also with what he's seen and done and heard. I've always tried to reproduce that fact in my books, but this has been a particularly important part of the last few I've written—Nightlife, Silence, and now Fidelity. In a way, Fidelity takes this notion the farthest. In order to succeed, characters must learn to use the knowledge and intuition they have to understand the secrets of a dead man's past. I also have a second announcement to make. After her long vacation, Jane Whitefield will be making a return in a new book called Runner, scheduled for January, 2009. I'm talking about this here and now because the visitors to this web site are partly responsible. In the years since I decided to give Jane Whitefield a rest, about half of the email I've received from readers has included the question, "Will there ever be another Jane Whitefield book?" I always responded that I did intend to write another one at some point, but didn't know when. I had intentionally left Jane alive and well in Amherst, New York, living with her surgeon husband as Mrs. Jane McKinnon. She's been nearly indistinguishable from many of the women around her. She's perhaps a bit more watchful than some of her neighbors, and the survival kit she keeps in case of disasters isn't just bottled water and batteries, but those differences have been subtle and unnoticed. But trouble never leaves anyone alone forever, and Jane's time of rest is up. During Jane's absence, a whole new industry with new methods and technology has grown up to prevent people from moving around the country under false identities. Now, in spite of the fact that she's acutely aware of the danger, there's no way Jane can avoid coming back to transform one more victim into a runner. I've always been aware that the loyal readers who have given me a writing career deserved to have their wishes considered. But I was also aware that I owed it to them to wait until I had a story that was significant enough to make it worth a reader's time. I think Runner is the story I was waiting for.
	Dead Aim My thirteenth novel, Dead Aim, was published in December 2002. The book has some memorable new characters and an unusual plot that contains some surprises. My last two books, Death Benefits and Pursuit, were very much concerned with conflicts between men. At the risk of revealing too much, I will tell you that Dead Aim includes a wide and varied group of women, some of them dangerous.
	The Butcher’s Boy, with a new introduction by Michael Connelly The Butcher's Boy won an Edgar in 1983 for Best First Novel. It has been reissued in a Random House trade paperback edition, with an introduction by Michael Connelly. For readers who don’t know the book, The Butcher’s Boy is about what happens when an extremely adept professional killer does a job, and then is shocked to learn that he has become a liability to his employers. While he works his way across the country attempting to survive and avenge the betrayal, a number of people in police agencies notice that something big is going on, and try—with incomplete and late information—to construct coherent interpretations of the violence. Only one, a Justice Department employee named Elizabeth Waring, comes close. I have to admit that I have some fears about the impending re-release of The Butcher’s Boy. I had just learned to enjoy the fact that there were two kinds of people interested in the book. One group had read it twenty years ago, lost track of their copies, and convinced themselves that it was much better than any novel could be; the second group had never been able to find a copy, and had to believe whatever I said about it.
	Metzger’s Dog, with a new introduction by Carl Hiaasen Metzger's Dog was a New York Times notable book in 1984. It has been reissued in a Random House trade paper edition, with an introduction by Carl Hiaasen.
	Pursuit Pursuit, the first recipient of the Gumshoe Award from MysteryInk for Best Novel of 2002, is now a Ballantine paperback.
	The Jane Whitefield Series All of the five books of the series, Vanishing Act, Dance for the Dead, Shadow Woman, The Face-Changers, and Blood Money, are available as Ballantine paperbacks. I am often asked whether there will be more books about Jane Whitefield. The answer is that I do intend to write about Jane again, but at the moment the next installment in the series is not what I’m working on. I like to think of Jane as alive and well, living off-camera in Deganawida, New York, waiting for me to bring her next client to her door. I’m enjoying writing stories about other characters at the moment, but I will pick up her story at some point when I feel that I have something new say about her.

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