Greedy reader that I am, a new Thomas Perry novel mows down everything before it. His previous excellent book was The Burglar. In A Small Town he imagines a terrible breakout from the local Federal Penitentiary in which both prison and prisoners cause murder and mayhem. What, after all (suspicious reader that I am), lurks in the background of the book is the U.S. (and not the U.S. alone) treatment of its criminals, in this case all men. Perry's ability to stitch in short (and not so short) sections. One needs to be alert, because there are almost no special moments when convicts reappear. The structures of the novel are brilliant, as is the central character, Leah.
I'd better stop here.

A Small Town by Thomas Perry- A huge prison break in a small Colorado town, Weldonville, devastates the population and nearly kills the town. Hundreds of prisoners are at large and the twelve men who orchestrated this break-out are away clean- or so they think. After most of the clueless escapees are rounded up and the people of the town try their best to recover, someone steps up and suggests a plan of action. Homicide Police Detective Leah Hawkins wants to take a sabbatical. The Mayor and City Council agree. They also agree to finance her trip with whatever she needs. Leah Hawkins is hunting the twelve, and this time there will be no handcuffs.
As of late, I've noticed, when reading Thomas Perry books, you have to be willing to suspend a lot of disbelief. He's very detailed in his accounts, but perhaps lost in the details are the incredulous turns in his stories. In any event, this is an entertaining read with a worthy protagonist and an exciting tale. Yes, a little far-fetched but enjoyable

The suspense in A Small Town starts out big and does not let up. The Weldonville Federal Penitentiary in Colorado employs thousands of people, and even though located a few miles from Weldonville, takes over its identity, like with Leavenworth, as one of the characters observes. On the evening of July 19, the prison almost destroys the town’s very existence with an amazingly well-planned prison break. Almost 1200 prisoners escape and swarm the town, killing, raping, stealing, and burning. Two years later, Detective Lt. Leah Hawkins, sets out on a secret mission to track down and kill the twelve ringleaders of the event. With an intensity and thoroughness worthy of Jane Whitefield, another Perry character, she pursues them.

This is a novel of revenge popular with a lot of people but not my choice for a good read.. It is far fetched at best with a heroine who is more Wonder Woman than cop. Suspension of belief is necessary to accept the premise that a municipality would allot one million dollars for its police chief to hunt down twelve murderers. It goes downhill from there as she crisscrosses the country on her retribution streak. I really cannot imagine anyone enjoying this tale of murder and mayhem. However, our world is so filled with gun toting vigilantes and hate mongers that there is probably an audience for this book.

Another great novel from Thomas Perry! Whether it’s a stand-alone or part of a series, Perry knows how to frame a story to hook the reader and step-by-step add in twists, sub-puts and resolution. With a strong female protagonist, rivaling his iconic Jane Whitefield, he has created Leah Hawkins, who takes on a special assignment, as the acting Chief of Police, to restore a small town’s identity and confidence following a devasting prison break in their town.

If Jack Reacher had been a woman, he would have been Leah Hawkins! This is the thriller/revenge novel that I have been waiting for, because it has a female superhero as the protagonist.

The author stirs us by an especially brutal setup by a group of convicts who orchestrate a jailbreak, and then demolish a town. Guards, residents and police are ruthlessly murdered. Women are raped, homes pillaged, a town destroyed.

It is then that Leah Hawkins, totally alone plots revenge on the 12 leaders. Oh, hereby hangs a brilliant thriller. I was unable to put this book down. I was endlessly fascinated by the sheer brilliance of Leah, doing this job by herself.

This is an unusual and brilliant thriller about a woman who shows courage, genius and brutality to rid the world of these villains. I loved it!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this incredible thriller.

Got the eARC yesterday. Finished it this morning. I always appreciate Mr. Perry's excursions from series writing. This is a stand-a-lone novel that has scenes all across the country. Colorado to the Canadian Border, East Coast, West Coast and Gulf Coast.

As always with Mr. Perry's novels I believe he has done meticulous research on the physical locations he uses. At least every location I know of personally is correct so I expect all the ones I have not been to are good as well.

I don't always know if I will be re reading one of the author's books. There are some I have read many multiple times and others just the once. I am never sorry to have read any of his work. I expect I will re read this one at some point. PLUG: Last year's The Burglar I have now read a second time and it very much holds up.

I hate giving spoilers and don't think I can better the catalog copy so this "review" is about my positive reaction to this book. I hope that anyone who has not read Mr. Perry will try him and this is as good a spot as any to start.