Thank you to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for my copy of The Left-Handed Twin by Thomas Perry in exchange for an honest review. It published November 16, 2021.
I didn't realize that this book was part of a series, however, I didn't feel like I was out of the loop or lost. I obviously would've benefited from reading the rest of the series, but I didn't miss out. I found this story to be so interesting and a unique topic. I would definitely recommend this one.

Don't you hate it when a new book in a favorite series disappoints you? That's how I felt with the latest Jane Whitefield. While I love Jane's kick-butt style, this one seemed to be a re-hash of earlier stories, from the exposition about fake documents and the visit to her master forger to the realization that the bad guys were after Jane rather than the runner. It wasn't a bad book, it just felt like deja vu all over again.

Thanks to Mysterious Press for access to a digital ARC.

The Left-Handed Twin is a riveting addition to the Jane Whitfield series. Absolutely loved every twist and turn. Saving a runner can be complicated and the one helping the runners can be a hit commodity. Has Jane finally met her match s she done freeing runners and will it all be for naught and will her past runners pay for her decision to take this job? Sooooo good I could barely put it dies. Absolutely so well done fast I aced, dangerously fraught with peril and a heroine who never gives up! If I could give 10 stars I would.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The action started by 10% in and kept going. I had to finish this in one day cause I couldn't stop reading! It's #9 in a series but I thought it was fine as a standalone.

Once picked up, this one (like so many Thomas Perry's) is hard to put down. It has some thoughtful moments sprinkled among the mostly intense adrenaline making suspense, and the characters are intriguing, although I found some of the minor characters more engaging (for good or bad) than the perennially aloof and inscrutable Jane. There's something too good to be true about her that has always kind of bugged me. The chase sequence on the Appalachian Trail was the apogee for me, the rest being kind of buildup and wind down. I guess I've just come to prefer the author's standalones more than this long running series - all the interior monologue type stuff with dreams and whatnot that are a bit "oh brother" for me. Anyhoo, I'm still a big Thomas Perry fan, hope the tv series brings some new folks into the fold. But just like [book:Strip|7024516], I liked this book a lot better before I read the last few pages (no there's not a big twist, relax, but the "resolution" of the bad guy story line just didn't hit me right). But like the old sign about fishing, or sailing or drinking beer, even a pretty good Thomas Perry book is better than many authors' best.

Twists and turns galore this book will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing what will happen next! Although it is the 9th in a series it can be read as a standalone no problem. Be ready to stay up late reading this one!

Jane Whitefield helps people disappear. Her latest client had testified against her boyfriend in a murder trial where he was acquitted. The boy friend had her traced and tried to interfere with Jane's process. Then he got connected with a Russian mobster who realized who Jane was and figured he could make good money out of the deal. Will Jane be able to outwit or out gun the Russians, make her client disappear and survive herself? Read The Left-Handed Twin and find out!

With how many high ratings this one has, it looks like I'm in the minorty on this one. I picked this up multiple times and couldn't get into it. You can tell the author is striving for a sense of urgency through the entire novel that just didn't land. The pacing felt off and it felt like important developmental bits that would have made me care about the characters as a whole were just skimmed over. Obviously this is a big win for a good number of readers, so don't let my opinion dissuade you if you're looking at picking this one up.

This is book number 9 in the Jane “Whitefield” series, and I which I would have noticed that before requesting it. However, I felt that I was still able to follow the story with no issues despite being a new reader.

This book is really three stories woven into one and the author does an excellent job of balancing those stories into something rich and cohesive. I enjoyed most of the different characters, and I felt Jane’s relationship with her husband was quite realistic and well done.

2.5 stars

I thought this was an okay read. I did like that as a new reader to the series I didn’t experience any confusion as to what was going on, though I’m not sure if the other books can be read as standalones. The plot did meander a bit and there were some overly repetitive phrases and descriptions, nothing that made me want to stop reading but enough that I felt myself starting to skim and think that a good editor needed to give it a few more passes.

ARC given by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I jumped into this series at the ninth book. I have not read any of the previous books in the series, nor have I read anything else the author has written. This could be read as a standalone, but I think it would be better to read the series in order. As a first time reader of this one, I was a bit regretful that I'd not read the previous books to give some kind of context for the way Jane acts the way she does. All in all, it was a good book, I just feel I would have liked it more if I had been invested in the series already.

Just when Jane thinks she is fully retired, she is sucked back in by another woman who desperately needs to disappear. And this time, while it is easy to make that woman disappear, those chasing her become more interested in tracking down Jane, because wouldn't it be valuable ($$$) to know where all those disappeared people are? Jane heads for the forest. If she comes out alive and free, they won't. Another great thriller in the series, edge of your seat stuff.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is the first Jane Whitefield book that I have read. I loved it and look forward to following Jane in future adventures.

The title comes from the Seneca legend of the Twin Gods - the Right-Handed Twin represents good, while the Left-Handed Twin represents evil. How does Jane fit into her Seneca background?

Jane helps people disappear when they fear for their lives. She arranges new identities and new lives for her clients. When Sara contacts her, Jane is faced with a totally unexpected situation. She must not only out-wit Sara's ex, but she has to outsmart Russian thugs. Her experiences and her thought processes are fascinating.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

Thank you for the chance to read and review this book. Return of a detective, detailed plot, intricate characters and lots of action. A reliable author and strong writing make this a good story. Goes quickly with nice wrap up.

This was a great read! I had not read the Jane Whitefield series or a Thomas Perry novel before. It was gripping from the get go! Well written, fast paced, strong main character. Thanks Netgalley, Mysterious press, and Thomas Perry for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I did not realize this was the 9th book in the series but it definitely works on its own. Jane’s intelligence and incredible senses were mind boggling. She was always two steps ahead of those seeking her. I am hoping there are really people like her out there who have the skills and are able to help women and children that need to disappear in order to stay alive. Having lived very close to Boston and currently living in the California desert I really appreciated some of the various settings.
Jane’s travel on the Appalachian Trail certainly made me cringe frequently.
Please keep writing Thomas Perry. You make me feel as if I am right there watching these adventures unfold right in front of me.
Many many thanks to Thomas Perry, Mysterious Press, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this intense read, just recently published.

I have a number of questions, but first and foremost, how is this the 9th (NINTH!) book in a series? How is anyone enjoying one of these enough to read 8 more? I am truly shocked. Also, this book reads as a potential standalone so I was flummoxed when I looked at Goodreads and saw this was #9 in the Jane Whitefield series.

Anyway, moving on from that. I’ve never done this before, but I feel this book warrants it. Let’s break down this down a bit.

Writing: I have never highlighted so many passages in a book for being straight up ridiculous. I felt like I was reading a transcript of someone’s day - we get every minute and mundane detail of Jane’s planning and thought processes, and every other characters’ every move, but it doesn’t eventually build to anything terribly exciting. For example, “Magda went to the rear door and sat in the back seat, but slid over to let Albert get in beside her. Albert had assumed she would sit in front beside Yevgeny.” These sentences add nothing to the book and could’ve easily been removed with no effect to the book. Where is the editor and why are they not picking up on these literal pages of fluff? The book also attempts to be deep beyond its abilities, for example in this strange metaphor about a romantic relationship being like Adam and Eve: “You just have to not let the snake in. Over time you would get even happier and love each other more and more until you died. The problem is that the snake was there at the beginning. The snake is you.” Blarhhhhh. Or here, where the author contradicts himself: “his compositions had been compared to the work of classical composers and to the most pure and time-burnished old folk ballads and been called ‘incomparable’”…Soooo I’m being made to read descriptions of what this persons work is being compared to, but then being told it was called “incomparable”. Was it compared, or was it incomparable?? Again, WHERE is the editor??? Someone should be picking this stuff up, it’s child’s play. My largest gripe was that the author writes about things they clearly know nothing about in excruciating detail, making it that much more clear that they have no clue what they’re writing about. This becomes clear when Anne goes on for literal pages about her lavish LA lifestyle of everyday partying…here’s one line that will show you what I mean: “people, many of them dressed in expensive, fashionable clothes”…if the people are dressed fashionably and you can tell their clothes are expensive, DESCRIBE THEM TO ME so I believe it! Anne was supposed to have spent years of her life partying in LA, but her descriptions of LA parties were so ridiculous (because of the way the author wrote them) that it negatively affected her credibility as a character.

Characters: Flat and uninteresting. The idea of Jane is more enticing than Jane herself. The other characters were the same. Magda had promise and I liked that she had her code of honor that she lived by, but ultimately the characters just did not bring this story to life because the writing and dialogue dragged them down.

Dialogue: Major issues here. Especially Jane, which is related to her character altogether. She was clearly meant to be quite blunt, and that’s fine if it’s pulled off properly. But it wasn’t. For example, Jane says at one point “I should have been smarter about people”. What? Is that even a sentence? Smarter about people? Jane also had a habit of saying “that’s true” at bizarre and inappropriate times, for example when she’s having a dream-conversation with one of her runners who ended up dead: “it’s just lucky you only got me killed and not both of us” “that’s true” like what? That’s a totally unrealistic way of responding. Overall, the dialogue was overpowering (seriously, sometimes just WALLS of text, page after page of nonstop monologues and dialogues. I was out of breath just reading them in my head!)

Relationships: Jane’s relationship with her husband (among others) is extremely strange, and the ending is highly confusing given that I was convinced she was in her 40s? Basically the poor writing puts the credibility of all the characters and their relationships into question.

You may think I’m being harsh in this review, but I honestly think the editor did the author a major disservice here. The book could’ve been half as long and way more impactful with some serious edits.

Overall, 2/5 because I think the storyline and plot had promise if the writing had some major tweaks.

I have read many other books and series by Thomas Perry, but have been a late comer to the Jane Whitfield series.This was my third book and I enjoyed it, but I feel that they are a bit formulaic. In this entry in the series, Jane is surprised by a young woman who needs help relocating with a new identity, and they find themselves being tracked by the Russian mob. Perry is a master at building tension in his writing and has created another real page-turner. There were a couple times when this style of writing may have been a bit too fast, there were some "and then they got away" moments without really detailing how it happened. Overall I enjoyed this book and will keep picking up others in this series as I see them.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mysterious Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Left-Handed Twin” is part of the “Jane Whitefield” series, but as a new reader, I had no trouble following the compelling and unusual narrative. This is Jane’s story in her voice. Jane McKinnon is married to Carey McKinnon, MD, Buffalo General Hospital; for the thirty years before that, she was Jane Whitefield, and occasionally, she is again. Jane Whitefield is a fixer, a solver of problems for those who have no one else. She provides protection that is private, focused, and untraceable. She helps people disappear; she takes the endangered out of existence and gives them a second chance at life. New name, new face, new everything, Jane has the connections to make it happen seamlessly.

The tone of Jane’s narrative is all-knowing, all observing, and ever on guard. She is confident, disciplined, and intense, suspicious of everyone and everything. She is prepared and focused on the end game. The plot is dominated by Jane’s mindset, planning, evaluating, and acting. There is very little conversation.

Readers are also taken into the other half of the story, given a different perspective of the same events, because with any escape, also has the hunters, the vengeful, the rich, the dangerous, the enemies. They were tied to that other person, the person who is now “gone,” thanks to Jane.

“The Left-Handed Twin” is really three intertwined stories, Jane and her husband, Jane and her work, and Jane and her enemies, separate yet connected with problems and complications that must be resolved. I received a review copy of “The Left-Handed Twin” from Thomas Perry and Mysterious Press. I now wonder about that “previous” Jane did; I will have to go back to the other eight books to find out.