Michael Schaeffer was trained as a young boy by a top contract killer. Michael has been out of the business for years, living quietly in England with his wife. When a contract is put out on his life he decides he has to eliminate the source. From that point on no one is safe, Michael is the best. There was plenty of action in the book and in spite of the fact he wasn’t a good guy I liked the main character. This is part of a series but could be read as a stand alone. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thomas Perry is a prolific writer with a variety of series & stand-alones to his credit. But it all began in 1982 with The Butcher’s Boy. A big hit with readers, it went on to win the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Every ten years or so, he adds a book to the series which sets up an interesting dynamic between the reader & MC. Both are a decade older & (fingers crossed) wiser. So, Michael Shaeffer…whatcha been up to?

As it turns out, not much. Michael is a rarity…a retired hitman. After some particularly hairy jobs, he packed up his money & moved across the pond to assume a new identity. There he met Meg, a charming British aristocrat, & settled into his new role as husband. Living in the UK has made it easier to avoid bumping into anyone associated with his old life. So naturally it’s quite a shock when several men break into their house one night & try to kill him. What the hell…

Michael has been out of the game for a long time. He doesn’t even know who the players are let alone who would want him dead after all this time. Priority one is keeping Meg safe so he goes on the run only to discover the plot to make him dead has gone international. The answer has to lie somewhere in the past & Michael has no choice but to return to his old stomping grounds in the States.

What follows is a tense, fast paced read built to hold your attention. It doesn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on characters’ motivation or what makes them tick. Instead, you’ll often feel the urge to duck & cover as you try to keep track of the body count.

The story alternates between the present & the past. We travel with Michael back to America where he begins to hunt for the person who put a price on his head & why. In alternate chapters, he reminisces about his childhood with Eddie Mastrewski and how he came to be the butcher’s boy. Old friends & enemies cross his path as he gradually thins out the local mobster population.

For all the time we spend with him, Michael (if that is his real name) remains an enigma. He’s a suave, intelligent man who’s gone from orphan to hitman to country squire. You get the sense he doesn’t spend too much time navel gazing….more of just-get-on-with-it type of guy. This is reflected in the pared down, straightforward style of prose that effectively propels the story & keeps you slightly breathless.

For me, this was the right book at the right time. I wasn’t looking for subtlety or thought provoking exposition. I needed something fast paced & entertaining to distract me from the new reality of sitting on a plane for a couple of hours (no pretzels….*sigh*). Mission accomplished.

Thomas Perry continues his saga about Eddie’s Boy in this thriller which will keep you reading long past bedtime. Eddie, the Butcher trained his protege in both his professions, butcher and hit man. In this book, Eddie’s boy, using the name Michael Schaffer, is a retired businessman living with his aristocratic wife in England.

Michael’s past catches up to him when he spots a car full of mobsters from the States. Once he disposes of the immediate threat, he goes back to the States to find out who wants him dead and why. Flags go up at the FBI, who start their own search. Throughout, Michael reminisces about his past.

While this book stands on it own. I strongly recommend starting at the beginning with The Butcher’s Boy. Thomas Perry is a master at his craft and his work deserves to be read and enjoyed.

Michael Shaeffer (aka The Butcher's Boy) and his wife, the Honorable Meg, had just hosted a party at their house in York when unwelcome visitors came calling. Third time in thirty years this has happened. But this time Michael does not know who sent these generic American thugs. So he tried a different tactic. He hightailed it to Australia, but he was quickly spotted there. So he ventured into the United States once more to beard the lion known as Elizabeth Waring for information. Their game of cat and mouse unfolded while Michael reflected on his past and his life and training with Eddie. Eventually, Michael got the outcome he wanted and closed the loop that had been formed back in the first Butcher's Boy novel. It has been a very nice ride!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title!

This is a riveting and cleverly crafted read and one I can see on the big screen. Part contemporary thriller, part nostalgia narrative looking in flashbacks at how an orphaned boy is taken under the wing of "Eddie" and learns how to become an assassin.
In the present day retired businessman Michael Shaeffer wakes up to discover four strangers in his country home intent on killing him. After ruthlessly disposing of them and safely ensuring his wife is with friends, Schaeffer goes on a global manhunt to track down who it is who wants to take his life. I literally could feel my heart in my mouth on several occasions. We've all read thrillers and know some of the twists and turns, prepare yourself for a fresh exciting, gripping take on the contemporary thriller genre from Thomas Perry. He is in a class of his own. I LOVED IT.

Eddie's Boy is my first book by the author but won't be the last for sure.
I always enjoyed stories where the hero is actually the villain and to discover what made them taking the decision of becoming part of the mafia or just working solo, it's an interesting concept for me.
The story is very well written and had me engaged from the first page to the last, with barely time for breaks because i found myself lost into the fast-paced action and twists and turns that kept coming at me with every chapter.
It's told in the present and past, then and now, how Michael Schaeffer, a retired sixty years old man is trying to catch up with his past and find out why the mafia is on his shadow. We get to read how he learned to be a hitman in the early years of his life and what a whirlwind his life has been.
It's suspenseful and I highly recommend it to the lovers of the genre

To start with I had not read any of the previous books in this series. Even without any prior knowledge, I was able to dive right into this book and really enjoy it. It tells the story of a child who was adopted by a local butcher who was also an assassin for the mob. The butcher teaches his son to become very skilled in both jobs. This w as a very quick read for me as the pages flew by as I was enjoying the story. Someone comes to his home in England and tries to kill him. The Butcher's boy then goes on a hunting spree to eradicate anyone who wishes him harm. This book is not really a shoot em up book but shows how the Butcher's boy methodically plans his kills and is always thinking a few steps ahead of his competition. A really good book and I plan to go back and read the rest of the series.
Thank you Netgalley, Thomas Perry, Grove Atlantic and Atlantic Monthly Press for the ARC for my honest review.

I liked this book,, but I didn’t love it. I read the Butcher’s Boy years ago so the plot was familiar. I enjoyed knowing what became of the original characters, but the memories (back story) were more prevalent in the book than the actual plot. For some people, that might be appealing and the book is definitely worth a read. I suspect that those unfamiliar with the earlier books would like this more than I did.

Really enjoyed this.
I'm sometimes put off by hopping between two timelines but for some reason, this seemed to flow perfectly.
I loved the main character who only wanted the quiet life but found himself with a necessary job to do.
I also really appreciated the friendship between Eddie and 'The Boy' and despite their chosen vocation managed to find a sweetness in it somehow.
Loads of tension and clever plot lines together with a very satisfying conclusion made me want to read others by the same author.

Eddie’s Boy is the fourth in Thomas Perry’s highly acclaimed, though very sporadic (four novels in almost forty years), Butcher’s Boy series. Though I haven’t read any of the three earlier ones, I picked up Eddie’s Boy inspired by the praise the series has garnered over the years. I thank netgalley.com and the publisher, Grove Atlantic, for this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Eddie’s Boy is the Butcher’s Boy, who is no longer a boy at sixty years of age, and his present name is Michael Schaeffer. He is worlds away from his former life as a contract killer, and is spending his days in peace with an affluent, respected woman whom he loves and who loves him back as much. But the idyll is shattered when some assassins attempt to kill him but get killed instead by their target. Now there shall be no peace for Schaeffer until the one who ordered the hit is found, and eliminated. He gets back to America, where it all started about fifty years ago, to end this new menace to his peaceful existence. What follows is the action-packed chase where Schaeffer goes hunting for his nemesis, leaving an impressive count of bodies in his wake, all the while staying one step ahead of the ones who want him, from both the sides of law. Interspersed with this deadly chase are Schaeffer’s reminiscences of his boyhood with Eddie the Butcher whose care and guidance have made him into what he is now.
Perry has created some memorable characters in Schaeffer and Eddie. Schaeffer is physically and mentally agile even at sixty, and gives tough guys half his age a run for their money. He is extremely shrewd, trained so much in the art of killing and not getting killed that it is instinctual. He is resourceful, and is up-to-date on the newer technologies in communication and surveillance that didn’t exist during his heydays! And Eddie is the best mentor one could wish to have, to learn both about life and the taking of it. The character of Elizabeth Waring, the cop who tries but fails to capture Schaeffer, is quite complex and intriguing. However, the other characters, especially of the bad guys, are contrastingly flat.
What I liked more in this novel are the flashbacks, which follow the entertaining times of the boy’s training under the able tutelage of Eddie. The present, though fast-paced and full of action, stretches credibility at many points. Schaeffer seems invincible, able to kill any number of assassins without suffering even minor injuries. He is also able to elude both the law and the lawless repeatedly with ease. There is no convincing explanation for the attempt on Schaeffer’s life in the first place, as he could have been left well alone in his own world far away from the villain’s domain. Even in the seemingly more plausible flashback part, the sequence of the boy’s revenge for Eddie’s death feels quite far-fetched. I also found the climax a bit tame, as I was waiting for a grand showdown after all the build-up.
If we split the life of Eddie’s Boy into two parts, the past is far more enjoyable than the present and for this reason, I would rate it 3.5 out of 5. This will be better enjoyed by fans of Thomas Perry, and those who have read the previous three books in the series.

Another intriguing thriller by Perry. A young boy is groomed by an contract Killer to become one. He puts that life behind him to start a new life with a wife Until assassins come looking for him. He starts another journey to stay alive and hopefully return to his wife.

If you enjoy a fast moving read with lots of action then you should read this book, A former killer for hire goes through trials and tribulations to find the person who has put a price on his head. Recommended read.

Eddie was passing as a local butcher , while acting as a hit man, on the side. He unofficially adopted Michael Schaeffer at a young age and trained him (very well) in the business. After a few years of success, he thought he had retired and settled down. Turns out that wasn't the case. Some very bad guys were after him, so he needed to find them first. This would make a good movie; it was full of action1 No way to get bored, because something thrilling was always in the works.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Eddie's Boy by Thomas Perry. OMG - that's all I can say right now. This was a rollercoaster ride. Mr. Perry - Thank you. Excellent!!! I have been a Perry fan for sometime, but I did not read his earlier books, but I just might now.
Last Year's A Small Town was so good, but Eddie's Boy brings Perry to the forefront with his writing. This is part of a series, but it is a stand alone book. Perry provides a enough information so the reader is not lost and gets to understand, Michael Schaffer (he's the Butcher Boy - if that's his real name....
It's been thirty years or so, and The Butcher Boy has lead a relatively quiet life - he's in England with his wife when one night they are terrorized by killers. He's been found, but why now. One thing he knows is that he has to find out who is after him after all these years and put an end to it. But there are killers waiting for him at every turn. So Michael must go back to his roots - in the US - to use all his skills and intel to determine who wants him dead. The Butcher Boy has many skills that have kept him alive and he will have to reactive them if he wants to live.
I could not put this down - Every year I wait for Thomas Perry's new novel, and I am never disappointed. Great read = RECOMMEND - 5 stars.

A totally enjoyable experiance. Excellent subject matter, and client development. I have read a good number of the books by Thomas Perry, and this was as good as any of them. I will look forward to his next book.

Tightly woven and intricately crafted story that kept me reading until the earlier morning hours. This is a novel you quickly lose yourself in and forget to start dinner.

I was given this book by NetGalley for my honest opinion.

I have read a few of Thomas Perry's books and enjoyed them. This book is another great read. I am now interested in reading the earlier books (this is book 4 of the series). Don't be put off by it being #4, it stands alone very well. It refers to the past at times, but only to add to the tale.

I have appreciated Mr. Perry's books and this only enhanced my opinion!

You might think a hitman who has retired to a peaceful, even boring, existence in the English countryside for thirty years would have no lingering problems from his professional life. You would be mistaken. Michael Schaeffer, once known as “the Butcher’s Boy”, happily settled for thirty years with Meg, an English aristocrat, has had his golden years invaded by his old enemies’ hunting hounds. With the globalization of crime as well as commerce, running and hiding is not an option. To eliminate the threat, he will have to discover who wants him dead now. How he does it makes a fascinating read for anyone who enjoys the careful, nuts-and-bolts approach to any project, even murder.

I’ve been a fan of Thomas Perry’s books ever since I read SLEEPING DOGS, the second in the series of which EDDIE'S BOY is the most recent. It’s difficult to explain the charm of these books in which the main character is a former professional killer. But if it’s necessary to rationalize one’s enjoyment, his victims are career criminals who are trying to kill him.

I reviewed the advance, uncorrected galley of EDDIE'S BOY by Thomas Perry for NetGalley. The release date is in December, 2020.

Eddie's Boy by Thomas Perry- The fourth book in the "Butcher's Boy" series find Michael Schaeffer driving through the back roads of England in the middle of the night with four corpses as company. Once again the elusive retired hit-man has been found by people who want him dead. He escapes to Singapore then Australia, but they're waiting for him, and he has to make another improvised escape. Finally he goes to the only person in the FBI he trusts, Elizabeth Waring, who gives him some idea of who might be tracking him.
As with the previous three books, Schaeffer is always one step ahead and more observant than his enemies. Perry offers a lot of interesting, engrossing details about what Schaeffer is doing, and long flashbacks to his upbringing by Eddie, the butcher, fill in a lot of how he was trained to be an effective killer. Sometimes a little wordy and too far-fetched, and you have to root for a trained killer. Still an enjoyable read.

Michael Shaeffer is living in England with his wife. Michael tells everyone he is a retired businessman, but he is a retired hit man, mainly working for the mafia. After a party one night an attempt is made on his life. Michael intends to find out who has put a hit out on him, which leads him to Australia and then America where he learned how to become a hit man from Eddie (who was also a hit man) who took him after his parents died. While he is on this journey, he meets many people from his past.

I loved this book. I do love a story that involves the mafia.

It tells us the story in the past and present. The past part of the story is how he become who he is and the present story is trying to find out who has put out on a hit on him.

I enjoyed learning how Michael become a hit man and his relationship with Eddie, who in the story he stills misses.

As a character Michael is highly intelligent and very resourceful which is proven when he contacts Elizabeth from the Organized Crime Division of the Justice Department for information without ever letting her catch him. (He knows her from the past and saved her and her children’s lives).

An excellent read and this was my second Thomas Perry novel and I certainly will be reading more of his work..

I received am ARC from #NetGalley and publisher for an objection review. (less)