Thomas Perry is a terrific writer, and I greatly enjoyed the first two entries in his Jane Whitefield series, but SHADOW WOMAN was a disappointment to me. The book suffers from long stretches of tedium and some serious lapses in plausibility. The two villains, supposedly ultracompetent supercriminals, seem amateurishly inept at times, and the good guys' narrow escapes often owe more to luck than skill. An awful lot of time is spent on Jane's marital problems, which might have been more interesting if we could figure out why she married this guy in the first place. Readers unfamiliar with the Jane Whitefield series would be better off reading VANISHING ACT and DANCE FOR THE DEAD, both of which are solid, five-star thrillers that show Perry at the top of his game.

In the first few pages, Jane disables a very large bad guy in an elevator. He grabs her ankle as she exits (He's 'lying down.'). She says to him, "Think about it. Do you really want me alone with you in that elevator?" He lets go.

I'm in love.

Nobody outsmarts, outfights, or outlasts bad guys like Seneca adventurer Jane Whitefield. The first three books in Perry's wonderful series--Vanishing Act, Dance for the Dead, and this one--are the only books that can stand comparison to Tony Hillerman's "Navajo mysteries." And in some ways, Perry is the better writer. Don't miss these books.

Jane Whitefield is a refreshing new face in the world of mystery. She calls herself a guide, and Thomas Perry 'guides' us deeper into her character with every book. A must read!

Jane Whitefield, the last hope of persons on the run, has promised herself to remain home as a housewife to her doctor husband, but gets caught up in another hide-the-person-on-the-run situation. The title of the book refers to an awful lot of the Mafia's money which Jane must help dipose of while helping a septugenarian and a teenager elude a manhunt consisting of almost everyone in the USA with an Italian surname. Although some of the plot points are a little hard to believe, e.g., a nation of Mafia families working as efficiently as the FBI to find Jane and her runners, and Jane's almost unlimited reserve of financial resources, Perry keeps the reader's interest as Jane and company race around country trying to turn dirty money into clean charitable donations.

Once more Jane Whitefield is asked to help out. This time the Mafia itself is involved, from coast to coast. And for most of the time the author does his heroine and his readers right. The suspense is nailbiting indeed, and the plot in ingenious, to say the least. Maybe, for once, too ingenious. Until now Perry did made us feel that Jane's struggle with all kind of modern evil is totally believable, and that she acts with a deepfelt 'righteousness', rooted in her ancestry and her person. For that kind of writing, though, plotting must be subservient to 'reality', so we can step into Jane's world and feel for her and the victims she's helping to vanish. Not so this time. The plotting itself is meticulously carved out. But the premises are, frankly, a bit too much. Perry tries to convince us that the Mob has put alls its ill-begotten eggs in just one nest, a walking human nest. He tries hard, but it's simply too much to believe that most of the Mob's money is floating in one man's memory. Not with today's reader's knowledge about high finance, off-shore banking and other kinds of wizardy. The guy maybe guarded as the proverbial walking Ford Knox, but the idea that a simple heart attack or a stroke would end it all is too much. And as the believability of the plot goes astray, so goes the novel itself. It ends up as a giant Chrismas party (oh, wouldn't we wish....), and we even feel the smiling ghost of the Butcher's Boy reading over our shoulder. Mind you, the novel is still enormously enjoyable and everyone who has taken a liking to Jane Whitefield and het world will not be disappointed. The problem is that Thomas Perry's earlier four Whitefield novels are of such a high quality that a flawed fifth is keenly felt. I sincerely hope that Jane's next encounter will be more in the realm of believability. She's simply too good to vanish.

I started reading Thomas Perry's novels with Sleeping Dogs. On the strength of that novel,I ordered and read all of the remaining Perry novels, all of which deal with Jane Whitefield.

This one was the most complicated and presented by far the biggest challange to her talents and abilities. I decided to give it four stars, only because I felt that this novel caused me to suspend belief just a few too many times. Having Jane get married a book or so earlier, Mr. Perry also deals hardly at all, with the ease that Jane leaves her husband to go about the very dangerous business of making people disappear.

In this book, she takes on an additional burden. One of her charges, "Bernie the Elephant" knows where all of the Mafia's ill gotten gains are and a scheme is devised to make all of that money disappear as well. I give credit to the way that this is to happen, but it is really hard to believe that when all of the Mafia familes in the United States are looking for you and even have a rather accurate picture of what you look like, that a woman, an elderly man and a teenager are going to be able to elude these forces and remain safe while they travel about the United States and impoverish the Mafia. I also have some trouble with Jane's never ending source of money to buy cars, houses, clothing, etc. for herself and for those she is helping. How she came by that wealth is never really adressed in any of Mr. Perry's books. Having said all that, I really enjoyed the book. Its quite a tale and worth your time to read it.

The good news is that the protagonist of this book is a very unique fictional character. The bad news is that the story was a bit convoluted to hold my attention.

Here's the premise -- Jane Whitefield is half Native American and is in the business of helping people disappear. She has spent the last ten years of her life hiding people with the full knowledge that if they can disappear, without leaving a trail, and stay hidden for two or three months, the chance of ever being found drops considerably. Her clients run the gamut from wives escaping spousal abuse to informants escaping the mob -- all innocent people who cannot be suitably protected without some kind of help. Jane is considered a "guide". She guides people out of their fragile situations with the aid of her network of willing accomplices who help her with new identifications and transport for these runaways.

The setting of this episode takes place in Upstate New York where Jane is able to use her Native American instincts to weave her way through the lakes and forests of this region. In the true tradition of her Seneca ancestors, her ingenuity is remarkable and her intuition extraordinary. This was the interesting part of the book as I learned about the cultures of the tribes that originally inhabited this area as Jane actually takes one of her fugitives to an Indian reservation for refuge.

The opening chapter starts off with a chase through the airport as a victim of an abusive spouse is being trailed by a bounty hunter hired by her husband. Little does the bounty hunter know that Jane Whitefield is in that same airport setting the stage for an exciting story. The events that follow include the mob, embezzling, a deadly poker game, a framed accountant and a chase against the elements.

I was finally happy to be reading a book centered around a female heroine as opposed to the usual wise-cracking, ex-alcoholic, male private eye who usually appears in most of the mystery series I read. However, for a book that started out great, this one went downhill as the plot became very predictable before page 60. This was disappointing but not enough to keep me from following this character to the second book in this series -- "Dance For The Dead." Another Amazon reviewer wrote -- "Jane Whitefield for President." These are my sentiments exactly and if you take the time to get involved in this series, you'll especially enjoy the skill and resourcefulness of this true ancestor of the Seneca Indian tribe now turned "guide to those in desperate need."

One of my favorites of the series -- I must say the plot twisted and turned and I admit, took me at every step! Gorgeously constructed, as all his Jane series are...I am an avid mystery thriller reader and have read hundreds of authors...Thomas Perry and this series stands out as the best I've read. You have to read this book, you'll find it fascinating, I guarantee it.

The first Jane Whitefield novel, *Vanishing Act*, offers a unique protagonist, a brilliant premise, non-stop action, and a conclusion that will have you treading softly the next time you go looking for Bambi. Perry is a superb craftsman, whose novels are always literate, challenging, and thoughtful. He seems to have lost interest in Jane after six novels, three of which attempt to retire her. Too bad. Even though he is right, that sustaining a character through decades is hard work and perhaps not even very interesting, she is missed.

Read *Vanishing Act*, *Shadow Woman*, and *Dance for the Dead*. These are the must-haves of the series. Perry manages to create a believable Seneca world while maintaining a respectful distance, and his intricate plotting sustains each book. Read for the plot, read for the Indians: either way, you'll be happy.

ADM Kinkaid was one of the founders of the modern naval organization in the Pacific Theater, but Mr. Wheeler seems just to have strung facts together with a mild attempt at developing a true history. For instance, there is a noticable lack of detailing ADM Kinkaid's experiences as a young Battleship Gunnery Officer into the Commander of the Seventhflt, which depended on a new weapon of war, the aircraft carrier. Additionally, I felt much of the military techno-speak was handle in such a manner that many civilians would not understand and most naval officers would quickly see that Mr. Wheeler often did not understand the words he was quoting.