The weakest entry thus far in the Jane Whitefield series. We've seen time and time again how resourceful Jane can be in anticipating the opposition's actions and evading them - there's lots more of that here, albeit almost too routine by now. Jane's acceptance of a new runner is almost perfunctory, despite her promise to her husband not to continue her work as a guide, and is followed by a periodic peppering of guilt as she contemplates her betrayal of that promise. The underlying problem that caused the runner to flee is interesting enough, but Jane's methods are feeling somewhat shopworn.Without revealing too much of the plot, the story here is that Jane is drawn into a decades-long scheme involving an unusually gifted man who holds the key to billions of dollars in hidden Mafia bank accounts. His death sets off frantic but covert inquiries all over the country, uneasy alliances, and lots of second-guessing, as his former employers attempt to work together to locate anyone who might be able to help them reclaim what Barney stashed for them. Jane's involvement, however, is completely counter to those interests: to quickly and quietly distribute that money to charities, permanently removing it from the hands of the criminals who amassed it. (One significant complaint - way too much time spent discussing mail drops.) Rather than just being cardboard obstacles for the heroine to triumph over, Perry's villains (at least, the ones who live to the end of the story) often take on their own substance, to the point where the reader is left wondering, "what will happen to them now?" Just as he did in Silence, Perry slips in a little nugget for the reader to chew over - speculating just what will happen to the "families" in the wake of the upheaval caused by Barney's death. Nothing is too straightforward in Perry's books, which is just fine with me.
I have loved all of Thomas Perry's "Jane Whitefield" novels. And this one was very good. Loads of suspense, bad guys, information on the Native American Senecas and great characters. The only thing I didn't really care for was the presence of "the Mafia". I'm not a big fan of Mafia based novels, movies, or anything else for that matter and this book was absolutely Mafia through and through. So many families, so many bad guys, so much violence...However I really liked the runners...Rita, a young girl and a former housekeeper of the Mafia "money man" who is thought to have been murdered. She seeks out Jane and of course Jane feels she no other recourse but to guide her to safety.Then we have the money man himself, Bernie the Elephant, an aging but brilliant old fellow with a photographic memory who has been storing the details of most of the Mob money in his head. No paper, no records. A faked death and Surprise! he has suddenly come back to life all in an attempt to insure the safety of his truly loyal housekeeper and friend. I would say companion but that might imply a rather illicit relationship. Theirs is more of a Grandfather/Granddaughter connection.With the help of another brilliant money man Henry Ziegler, Jane, Bernie, and Rita manage to pull off a scheme that has the Mob bosses running in circles. They want their money back but only the "deceased" Bernie knew where it was. Suddenly charities of all sizes are receiving big checks and they are all suspicious of one another :)It is detailed, harrowing and sometimes downright funny. Definitely a page turner that will keep you fascinated and reading through the night!
What do You think about Blood Money (1999)?
Blood Money - G+Thomas Perry - 5th in seriesJane Whitefield, a one-woman witness protection program, is semiretired, married to a doctor and living a quiet life until a teenage girl, Rita Shelford, comes to her door seeking help. The girl is being hunted, having witnessed a mob shakedown at the Florida house she was employed to clean. Protecting the girl propels Jane into a series of adventures involving Bernie the Elephant, an old man with a photographic memory who has kept Mafia financial records in his head for decades. With Jane's help, Bernie steals billions of dollars from the Mafia accounts and donates the money to charity. Not happy, the mobsters use every trick to capture Jane and Rita. The two women cross the U.S. several times, barely staying one step ahead of their pursuers.
—LJ
This is the 4th in the series that I read (well, listened to - been doing these through the audio versions.) I quit this one about 1/3 through becasue it was so absurd. I stuck with this series as the premise was interesting and there was some suspense. But I never cared for the boyfriend/husband storyline. This book (as far as I got) doesn't have much with her husband, but what was there was terribly overwritten. So the plot of this book ... I wanted to quit during disc one as the story line seemed so far fetched. Jane gets involved with the mafia this time. And once this person comes into her life Jane knows all the details of the histories of multiple mafia families. Right. But I was needing something to listen to while cleaning so I decided to suspend belief. However, when the character of Rita starts to be the emphasis, I'm sorry, but she was such a vapid, unbelievable idiot that I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm done with this series. Thomas Perry just does not write believable female characters. Jane, sans unbelievalbe love life, had merit but not enough to overcome the ridiculous emotions he wwrites for his characters. Additionally, Jane gives pretty much the same instructions to all of her runners - and this is getting pretty old.
—Zoomball
This book is about Jane Whitefield trying to helps teenager Rita Shelford, who kept house for an old man in Florida for a year not knowing he was the Mafia's moneyman. Now that the man's been murdered, the Mob suspects Rita of stealing the record of a shady investment worth billions. Rita's mother was doing prison time on drug charges. The girl has had to make it on her own, mostly by cleaning hotel rooms in Florida. Recently and Rita had been performing housekeeping duties for a guy in Florida Keys known as Bernie "the Elephant" Lupus.
—Mie-mie Sarnor
