About The Book

From Thomas Perry, the New York Times bestselling author of the Jane Whitefield series, comes a whip-smart and lethally paced standalone novel, Forty Thieves.

Sid and Ronnie Abel are a first-rate husband-and-wife detective team, both ex-LAPD. Ed and Nicole Hoyt are married assassins-for-hire living in the San Fernando Valley. Except for deadly aim with a handgun, the two couples have little in common—until they are both hired to do damage control on the same murder case. The previous spring, after days of torrential rain, a body was recovered from one of the city’s overwhelmed storm sewers. The victim was identified as James Ballantine, a middle-aged African American who worked as a research scientist for a large corporation and was well liked by his colleagues. But two bullets to the back of the head looked like nothing if not foul play. Now, with the case turning cold, Ballantine’s former employers bring in the Abels to succeed where the police have failed, while the Hoyts’ mysterious contractors want to make sure that the facts about Ballantine’s death stay hidden.

As the book races toward a high-octane climax, the Abels must fend for their own lives as they circle ever closer to the dangerous truth.

Praise

“Sid and Ronnie, both formerly of the LAPD, are brainy, thorough, and resourceful . . . The would-be killers, Ed and Nicole Hoyt, are the kind of people Perry knows like the back of his hand: coldhearted, businesslike, and consummately successful . . . Entertaining and suspenseful.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Propulsive, darkly humorous . . . As the likable, series-worthy Abels struggle to survive at least long enough to solve [the] murder, Perry tosses in several hairpin plot twists that culminate in a satisfyingly surprising conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly

“This stand-alone thriller combines high-octane suspense with comic capering . . . Perry delivers a perfect melding of character and plot, light and dark, and he totally immerses the reader in an irresistible narrative.” —Bill Ott, Booklist, “Top 10 Crime Novels of the Year”

“Forty Thieves is Thomas Perry at his best–equal parts exciting, ingenious and entertaining. I hope to see these characters again.” —Deadly Pleasures

Awards

Booklist‘s Top 10 Crime Novels of the Year

Excerpt

Sid drove along the gravel road, staying in the center while they both watched the side windows. When he reached the end of the road he turned to the right, the direction the car had gone. A quarter mile ahead of them was the dark-colored car, sitting beside the road. “That looks like the one,” Sid said.

He accelerated toward the car, but the driver pulled out and drove off quickly. As Sid sped up, so did the dark car, moving off now at a high speed.

“Interesting,” said Ronnie. “I guess he isn’t in a mood to chat.”

Sid kept accelerating. “I am now.”

“Me too,” said Ronnie. “But if that’s not possible, I’d be satisfied to get a picture of their license plate.” Ronnie steadied her cell phone on the dashboard, and then decided that she could hold it steadier in her hands at this speed.

They were gaining. Far ahead, Ronnie saw the shape of a human torso extend itself out the passenger window of the car. “Wait a minute, Sid. That looks like a—”

They saw and heard it at once, a flash from the car far ahead of them, a bang and a sound like a hammer hitting their car, an explosion of glass into the front seat that sprayed Sid’s neck and chest and stung his face. There was now a big spider web crack in the windshield above his head with a bullet hole in the center.