The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy) ReviewAs I was beginning Thomas Perry's The Informant, it occurred to me that among crimes, murder may not be the worst (at least in the fictional world). After all, you can have a such as Perry's Butcher's Boy who is at least somewhat likeable; on the other hand, there aren't too many rapists who come off as endearing. Of course, it helps that the Butcher's Boy - who operates in this book under the name Schaeffer - is really only killing other criminals, particularly some rather unpleasant mobsters.
The novel is a follow-up to Perry's debut novel, The Butcher's Boy (which I have not read; this is actually my first Perry book). Two decades after that book, Schaeffer is living a quiet life in England. He's happily married to a woman who understands (to some extent) his past and he's retired from the hit man game. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of mobsters who want him dead, so when he is attacked near his home, he is forced to go back to the U.S. and eliminate the mob boss who ordered his death.
This boss, Frank Tosca, is making a play to head the whole Mafia, and killing Schaeffer would go a long way to reaching this goal. As part of his plan, he creates an alliance with other bosses to put a bounty out on Schaeffer. Soon it becomes apparent that stopping Tosca will not be enough; the Butcher's Boy will need to terrorize the whole Mafia and stay alive long enough to make his enemies decide he isn't worth the effort of hunting. Part of Schaeffer's plans involves Elizabeth Waring, an Organized Crime official in the Justice Department who has been Schaeffer's adversary in the past. Both Schaeffer and Waring will try using each other for their own ends; Schaeffer to get back to his quiet life and Waring to shut down the Mafia.
This is a fun read but definitely one with a high body count; I didn't take a full tally, but including flashbacks, it easily gets into the dozens. The Informant is reminiscent of the Donald Westlake/Richard Stark series of Parker novels as it deals with a totally professional criminal who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal yet never goes out of his way to hurt an innocent person (but also doesn't allow anyone to get in his way). But unlike the Parker books, the Butcher's Boy is not really a series character, so you can't feel assured he'll live to the end. What does happen at the end? You'll have to read this to find out.The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Informant: An Otto Penzler Book (Butcher's Boy)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now