Editorial Content for Forty Thieves

Thomas Perry never disappoints and always surprises. It doesn’t matter whether the book is part of his well-known Butcher’s Boy or Jane Whitefield series, or one of his stand-alone works such as NIGHTLIFE or STRIP. There will be passages in each of his books that ring in your head for months, even years, after reading them. FORTY THIEVES, Perry’s stand-alone offering for 2016, is no exception. He combines a puzzling plotline with interesting characters to create what will be one of the better books of 2016.

One of those interesting characters, remarkably enough, is the victim, whose body is discovered in a storm sewer at the beginning of the book. James Ballantine’s death is obviously the result of foul play, but the police are at a standstill in their investigation more than a year after he is pulled from his foul, impromptu grave. Ballantine was employed by a company called Intercelleron, and his employers want the killer(s) brought to justice.

"[Perry] combines a puzzling plotline with interesting characters to create what will be one of the better books of 2016.... FORTY THIEVES is terrific, the type of book that the term 'page-turner' was meant to describe."

After a somewhat short but fascinating sequence of events that will tug you right into the story, Intercelleron retains a private investigation agency known as the Abels, a husband-and-wife team who are former, but still very competent and confident, law enforcement officers. Sid and Ronnie Abel have also managed to maintain valuable contacts inside and outside of law enforcement that hold them in good stead once they have accepted a case. They begin their investigation by painstakingly getting to know their victim and checking out the spot where his body probably entered the Los Angeles drainage system.

It isn’t long before people begin shooting at them. The shooters in question are a husband-and-wife hit team named Ed and Nicole Hoyt, who are as good at their chosen occupation as the Abels are at theirs. The Hoyts have been hired to permanently dissuade the Abels from completing their investigation, but the Abels don’t scare off easily. They take the unwanted attention as an indication that they are on the right track. The Hoyts are getting pressure from their employer to wrap things up quickly, before the trail that the Abels have discovered leads back to the folks who were involved in Ballantine’s murder. There are layers and layers to everyone, including the victim, that are slowly revealed as the Abels’ investigation into Ballantine’s background takes them everywhere from his employer to his ex-wife and beyond.

Perry unleashes a string of small but steady surprises that tug the reader further and further into the book, until all is revealed, even as the Abels and the Hoyts find themselves at cross purposes, trading roles in a series of cat-and-mouse encounters where it is almost certain that only one will walk away. Who is left standing when the dust settles and the smoke clears depends on the intervention of an extremely unexpected ally during the book’s surprising climax.

FORTY THIEVES is terrific, the type of book that the term “page-turner” was meant to describe. And what about that title? You’ll have to read a good deal of the novel to understand its meaning, but you’ll be glad you did.