Justine Poole is in her late 20s and working for Spengler-Nash, a Los Angeles security firm. She is really good at her job and enjoys the variety --- from bodyguard protection to following stand-up comics and watching their sets in case unruly fans seek to attack them.

However, all of this changes on Justine’s way home from her latest gig when her boss, Ben Spengler, gives her a call. He has been watching Jerry and Estelle Pinsky, a wealthy senior couple, as they eat at a diner where they obviously are being tracked by a car full of bandits. Ben asks Justine to go to their house and keep her eyes open. His instincts are spot-on as those in the vehicle attempt to rob them, and a shoot-out occurs. Justine takes down two of the robbers with her weapon and calls the police to nab the other three. She is now a local hero.

"The cat-and-mouse suspense that Thomas Perry creates here is quite viable and done in that easy, old-school style that he has mastered so well.... Justine proves to be much more than Sealy bargained for, which is what drives HERO to its breathless finale."

Thus begins the aptly titled HERO, Thomas Perry’s latest thriller. Though Ben does his best to keep Justine and Spengler-Nash out of the spotlight for safety reasons, the media will always find a way. This is bad news for them as Mr. Conger, a local mobster, is not happy that a girl took down two of her guys. He feels that if there’s no immediate retribution, the remaining three men will squeal about him and his operation while in custody.

This brings us to the story’s principal antagonist, Leo Sealy, a ruthless hit man who is hired by Conger to take out Justine. Finding her, though, will not be so easy. All employees of Spengler-Nash work under a pseudonym, and Justine has made sure she has no social media footprint to follow. Ben also has her sleeping at the office where they are heavily guarded.

Believing that Justine may be at Ben’s house, Sealy shows up there and breaks in. Guns are fired, and Ben tragically loses his life. Justine is truly on her own, especially since Ben's family, who is taking control of the company, thinks it would be best to sever ties with her immediately.

It isn’t long before Justine latches on to crime reporter Joe Alston, who takes her in but quickly realizes who she really is and decides to make her the subject of his most recent story. Justine doesn’t know whether or not she can trust him, but the bigger issue is staying away from Sealy, who is out to eliminate her permanently.

The cat-and-mouse suspense that Thomas Perry creates here is quite viable and done in that easy, old-school style that he has mastered so well. What’s more, the story provides readers with much to think about in terms of the differences between being a hero and being a vigilante. Justine proves to be much more than Sealy bargained for, which is what drives HERO to its breathless finale.