In A Small Town, twelve conspirators meticulously plan to throw open all the gates to the prison that contains them, so that more than a thousand convicts may escape and pour into the nearby small town. The newly freed prisoners rape, murder, and destroy the town—burning down homes and businesses. An immense search ensues, but the twelve who plotted it all get away.

After two years, all efforts by the local and federal police agencies have been in vain. The mayor and city attorney meet, and Leah Hawkins, a six-foot, two-inch former star basketball player and resident good cop, is placed on sabbatical so that she can tour the country learning advanced police procedures. The sabbatical is merely a ruse, however, as her real job is to track the infamous twelve. And kill them.

Leah’s mission takes her across the country, from Florida to New York, from California to an anti-government settlement deep in the Ozarks. Soon, the surviving fugitives realize what she is up to, and a race to kill or be killed ensues. Full of exhilarating twists and surprisingly resonant, A Small Town will sweep readers along on Leah’s quest for vengeance.

Praise for A Small Town:

“Mr. Perry is an expert storyteller — employing flashbacks, shifting viewpoints and jaw-dropping twists. A Small Town unfolds like a 1950s film noir — crisp in execution and thrilling until the very end.”—Wall Street Journal

“Thomas Perry pulls the old switcheroo in A Small Town… Ever the master of detail… Perry is meticulous.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

“A superior live-action version of the Road Runner cartoons with 12 coyotes and noncartoon violence.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Readers expecting Perry’s latest to be another of the author’s superb comic caper novels are in for a big surprise. This is Perry in no-holds-barred action-thriller mode… The ever-versatile Perry shines yet again.”—Booklist (starred review)

“The characters, including the villains, are well drawn, and the settings are vividly portrayed. Perry, the veteran author of 26 other crime novels, spills the story in a torrid pace, and, as usual, his prose is tight and precise throughout.”—Associated Press

Praise for Thomas Perry:

“[Perry is] a master of nail-biting suspense.”—Los Angeles Times

“Plenty of characters, plenty of emotion, plenty of insider expertise, but most of all plenty of irresistible momentum toward a fantastic climax—in other words, The Bomb Maker is typical Thomas Perry.”—Lee Child, on The Bomb Maker

“The best thing about Thomas Perry’s thrillers are the devilishly ingenious schemes his protagonists devise to outwit their pursuers…Perry can really write.”—San Francisco Chronicle, on The Boyfriend

“Perry is so skillful with the old chase-and-pursuit routine, creates such interesting characters, and writes about them so tellingly, one wants more immediately, not next year—right now.”—Boston Globe

“Mr. Perry, in this first-rate thriller, proves as cagy as his criminal mastermind: The reader rarely anticipates his next move. He balances breathtaking suspense with romantic intrigue.”—Wall Street Journal, on The Bomb Maker

“[A harrowing hunt-and-hide adventure…nobody writes chase scenes like Perry, who devises intricate itineraries, multiple identities and frequent costume changes.”—New York Times Book Review, on The Old Man

“Perry… builds suspense with all the subtlety of a master chef nursing a risotto to a buttery perfection. It’s nothing new to call Perry a master of the genre, but it’s no less true for being widely acknowledged.”—Booklist

“Perry is a master of plotting… Most readers know him from his Jane Whitefield ‘disappeared’ series. His thrillers, of which this is one of the best, are even better.”―Globe and Mail (Toronto)

“Perry delivers a perfect melding of character and plot, light and dark, and he totally immerses the reader in an irresistible narrative.”—Booklist, “Top 10 Crime Novels of the Year,” on Forty Thieves

“Since his Edgar Award-winning debut novel, The Butcher’s Boy… Thomas Perry has put together a rewarding string of suspense novels with as much cool competence as some of his best protagonists bring to their work… Perry’s a real pro.”—Shelf Awareness, on The Old Man