“There are probably only half a dozen suspense writers now 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
“Thomas Perry is a true original.”—Jonathan Kellerman
“Perry is a master at nail-biting suspense.”—Los Angeles Times
“One of America’s finest storytellers.”— San Francisco Chronicle
“Perry is the best suspense writer in the business.”—The Boston Globe
In the nine years since Edgar Award-winning author Thomas Perry’s last Jane Whitefield novel was published, over half of the fan mail Perry has received has asked one question: When is Jane coming back?
At long last, the answer to that question is: Now. The character the New York Times Book Review has called “one of Perry’s most singular creations” makes a thrilling return in RUNNER: A Jane Whitefield Novel [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; An Otto Penzler Book; January 14, 2009; ISBN 978-0-15-101528-3; $25].
Jane has been living a happy, quiet life as the wife of a surgeon in Amherst, New York. But when a bomb goes off in the middle of a hospital fund-raiser, Jane finds herself face-to-face with the reason for the explosion: Christine, a young, pregnant girl who is being tracked across the country by a team of hunters hired by the baby’s father, Richard, an abusive older man. That night, regardless of the promises she’s made to her husband, Jane can’t ignore her calling: she must come back to transform one more victim into a runner. After hiding Christine in an anonymous city and helping her to start a new life under an assumed name, Jane promises to come to see Christine’s baby born. But when she returns, she finds Christine gone. The hired hunters have kidnapped her, and she is being held captive by Richard’s wealthy and corrupt parents, who are desperate to mold a grandchild into the worthy heir that Richard is not. What unfolds next shows why Robert B. Parker says, “Thomas Perry is, quite simply, brilliant.”
Thomas Perry was born in Tonawanda, New York. He received a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester. He has worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and as a writer and producer of primetime network television shows. He is the author of fourteen novels. He won an Edgar for The Butcher’s Boy, and Metzger’s Dog was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His novel Pursuit was the first recipient of the Gumshoe Award from MysteryInk for Best Novel. His Jane Whitefield series includes Blood Money, The Face-Changers, Shadow Woman, Dance for the Dead, and Vanishing Act. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two daughters.
RUNNER: A Jane Whitefield Novel
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
An Otto Penzler Book
January 14, 2009
ISBN 978-0-15-101528-3
$25
CONTACT: Patrice Taddonio, Publicist
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company
Patrice.taddonio@hmhpub.com
