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PURSUIT by Thomas Perry Random House, December 2001 384 pages $24.95 ISBN: 067945306

This is a book about two men. Oh, there are other men involved and even some women who are mainly objects to be used and discarded, but two men are at the heart of this story of suspense. One is a professional killer, Varney, the other a man who pursues killers and other evil men for profit, Prescott.

Varney killed every person in a restaurant to make sure that one person died. The father of one of the victims hired Prescott to track him down and kill him. Everyone, even the police, are quite sure that they will not find him and that he will be free to kill again. For he is very good and he leaves no clues. The question is whether Prescott is better.

In the beginning I saw very little differences between the two men. Both were highly competent, obsessed, meticulous, careful planners, and supremely self-confident. However, as the book progresses Varney begins a slow process of deterioration while Prescott moves steadily forward in his plan. Nonetheless Varney is a match for Prescott even to the end. Neither man is especially believable because both are, in a sense, superhuman.

There is not very much suspense, really, about how it would end. It was clear to me from the very beginning. The suspense comes with what each man will do to counter the other. It is like a very deadly chess game and the reader never knows what is going to happen next. This would probably make a great movie. I kept reading to find out what each man was going to do next. How will the pursuer find the pursued. How will the pursued evade the pursuer. There are novel and innovative means that each man uses to attempt to trap the other.

The settings, as the pursuit moves from Louisville to California to Buffalo to Cincinnati to Minnesota, are beautifully and meticulously described. This book has a wonderful sense of place. I could picture every scene in my mind with all the backdrops and props. In this sense it is a delightfully written book.

In the end the reader will have to confront a question of morality. After pondering the murders in Louisville, I was never in any doubt that Varney should be killed. And yet should we be going outside the law to kill a man even if we are morally certain he is evil? Should someone like Prescott be judge, jury, and executioner? Do we want our society to degenerate to this

kind of vigilantism? I donžt know the answers, but this book forced me to ask the questions.

This is not the best book that Thomas Perry has written. It starts slow and probably could have used some editing. But it is satisfactory and it certain made me think.

Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, February 2002

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