Perry, Thomas. Runner. An Otto Penzler Book. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jan 2009. ISBN 978-0-15-101528-3. $25.00. Fiction
Last seen in Blood Money (1999), fan favorite Jane Whitefield returns for another deeply satisfying adventure in Perry’s sixth book in the series and his 17th novel (after this year's Fidelity). Married for five years to a surgeon, Jane has been living an anonymous life in Amherst, NY, ever alert for danger but at peace, disturbed only by an unfulfilled desire to bear a child. When a bomb disrupts a hospital fund-raiser, Jane finds a pregnant teenager fleeing an abusive boss who needs her in order to collect an inheritance. Chased by a team of six hired hunters, Jane heads west with Christine, along the way using skills and sensitivity inherited from her Senecan Indian ancestors to escape danger. She leaves Christine in Minneapolis, planning to relocate her under yet another identity once the baby is born. But the girl fails to follow Jane’s orders, and soon both face great peril. Never melodramatic and always masterful at creating conflicted characters (one feels sorry even for Christine’s boss), Perry offers a highly enjoyable tale in which the roles of hunter and hunted are reversed with devastating effect. Recommended for public libraries.