This is a forgettable thriller with an unsympathetic main character. Elle is a professional thief who has the unfortunate luck to break into a house with three dead bodies. She notices a video camera, and fearing she's on tape, she steals the video. The murderer comes back for the video, sees it's gone, and then starts hunting for the thief. Elle, realizing her life is in danger, has to solve the murder herself to save her life. I never came to care for Elle or what happened to her at all. I felt the resolution was ridiculous, not clever, and found myself rolling my eyes a lot.

I did not enjoy this book as much as other Thomas Perry novels. I do not want to be negative and prefer to let other readers come to their own conclusions. Will I read a future novel? Absolutely.

I stumbled upon Thomas Perry's writing in his Jack Till series. I fell in love with it. Was engrossed in the story line and couldn't recommend them enough. I didn't have the same love affair with this story. While the writing and story line was good, I didn't attach like I did previously. I would definitely recommend other books of this author's over this one, but I did get through it without too many difficulties.

Reviewed for publisher via Netgalley.

3 Stars. Review limited to Goodreads

Fast-paced, compelling but ultimately unsatisfying, The Burglar is the story of a young female cat burglar who stumbles onto the scene of a murder. It's a page-turner, cleverly plotted with just the right number of twists & turns to keep you reading well into the night. Elle, however, feels like a not-quite-real character with no imperfections (beyond her criminal leanings) and no real personality.

DNF

After multiple attempts to read The Burglar and being so excited about the concept, I decided to let it go. There i something that wasn't settling well with me. Maybe I'll try again at a later date.

This was a well written and engrossing read. I enjoyed the attention to detail by the main character, Elle, a burglar, who only bothers to rob the very finest of homes. As a direct result of her chosen profession, she is privy to information about peoples lives which is usually very private. On the occasion on which the story is based, Elle breaks into a house where a triple murder has been committed and the crime scene is as the murderer left it. No one has called the police. Thus begins a somewhat harrowing period of Elle's life. She anonymously alerts the police to the triple murder and from this point on she has several instances where she begins to wonder if she is not being hunted by someone who knows what she knows about the triple murder. Very enjoyable, right up to the end. Highly recommend.

Summary: Elle Stowall is burglar. Her only source of income is derived from breaking into rich people's homes and stealing items that she can fence. Petite, blond Elle finds her marks by jogging around rich neighborhoods looking for signs that a homeowner is away.

Elle gets more than cash or jewels the day she discovers three murder victims naked in a bed together. She finds a camera recording the bedroom scene. Because of the missing camera, the murderer realizes that someone was in the house and saw the dead bodies. Pretty soon Elle finds herself hunted by people who are determined to see her dead, too.

Comments: I was looking for something that didn't require me to engage my emotions when I chose this book out of the stack, and I found it. The Burglar is a superficial, fast read that doesn't require the reader to think too much. In fact, I recommend not thinking too much or you'll start scratching your head. Despite the triple homicide, the police seem to be doing nothing. Elle steps completely out of character to try to solve this homicide that has nothing to do with her, makes some very stupid decisions repeatedly and then she turns into a one woman force against the bad guys.

However, if you suspend disbelief, The Burglar is an entertaining read. Thomas Perry is an award-winning author who knows how to write an engaging yarn. But in this novel, he allowed his thief to steal some believability.

Mystery Fiction, Crime Fiction

Elle's a burglar. I must say that when I started this I did not expect for the main character to be the burglar. But Elle is life is in danger. But who is chasing her? The cops or criminals?

This was such a fun read

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. I was hoping for more psychological thriller instead of action thriller - and for that reason alone I am giving it a lower review. I think a LOT of people will like this book though. But for me, it was just not the story I wanted.

was a gripping thriller that took you to every aspect of trying to figure out what was really going on and what was going to happen next! This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what else is released from this author!

Quick fast paced read. Very different take on the mystery. If you are looking for something fast and easy to read you should pick up this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.,

This book has a good premise and lots of action. It is very fast paced right form the start and I enjoyed how the story was told. Most of the book was told from the point of view of our main character, Elle, who is a highly skilled thief who likes to prey on rich homes and can scout out a good one in no time at all. She is going out for what she thinks sill be a quick score and stumbles upon a murder instead. This brings about the action part of the story, when Elle discovers that someone knows what she saw and she is being followed but by who is the question, she decides to try to solve the crime before they catch up with her. I did find that some of the storyline was just a little too convenient and Elle seemed overly fortunate, but all in all, I liked it. the book had a great ending, lots of suspense.

This is my first book from Thomas Perry, but it wont be my last.

It has taken me a while to actually finish The Burglar, and even longer to get around to reviewing it. It's not that it's bad-- Perry is a good writer, and is exceptional at creating an atmospheric environment. I could easily see and smell every location, which I'm sure is helped by the fact that I live in Los Angeles, but I also think that when that sort of description is present, it can easily go off the rails if it strikes a reader as being false or inauthentic to their experience of a place. Not so here. Perry's every word and description rings with accuracy and a gritty moodiness reminiscent of Chandler, but with a modern touch. You feel the underbelly here. Furthermore, the author's presentation of his strong-willed central character is well done-- we know her stature, her behavior, her place in the world. However, I found her a tough character with which to truly connect. That's the risk in creating a story around a person who slips in and out of environments with ease, blending into the crowd as necessary; she's too slippery to grasp. Ultimately, because of this, it was a tough one for me to immerse myself in completely, and proved too easy to set down again and again. Now, maybe it would've grabbed me later on, had I not put it down for a while in the beginning. Maybe I'm too fickle a reader, in that I expect to be drawn in within the first 50 pages, or I get bored.

This is the first book I’ve read by Thomas Perry. He’s an award-winning author with a ton of titles under his belt, so I have a lot of catching up to do but getting to know the oddly delightful Elle Stowell was a fun intro to his work! Elle Stowell is a diminutive thief based in California that cases houses by posing as a runner. Once she finds a house that looks interesting, she goes on the hunt.

There was some esoteric knowledge to being a burglar—broad areas that took some thought and skill. There was choosing the house, entering the house, and finding the items that were worth taking. Elle Stowell was good at all three.



Elle was strong but small, so she couldn’t carry a seven-foot television out of a house if she’d wanted to. It didn’t matter because the real prizes were all small and dense—money, watches, jewelry, gold, guns, and collections—and usually they were to be found in or near the master bedroom suite. Some of the things she found in bedroom hiding places that fit this description were revealing but not for her to take: secret cell phones for calling lovers, second sets of identification, bugout kits, or drugs.

Elle prides herself on the knowledge she’s accumulated about the habits of rich people. Cash is her main goal, because moving other items, such as jewelry and guns, is dangerous and time-consuming since she tends to travel well out of her comfort zone, and deal with some very unsavory people, to move the merchandise. She also has a group of girlfriends that know what she does, and although they’re a motley crew, they have each other’s backs. After all, she tends to get out of scraps easily, pushing the concept of good luck to the limit.

For those tempted to judge Elle’s way of making a living right out of the gate, a depressing description of her upbringing might temper that a bit. She’s been on her own from the age of 14 and her childhood up to that point had been an unhappy one, to say the least. Elle’s a scrapper and a survivor, and she does have a sense of honor, even if it’s a bit twisted. For example, she replaces a glass window pane of a house after she robs it solely for the purpose of keeping bugs and rodents out. I had to laugh at the thought of the homeowners returning home to find they’d been cleaned out, but that the burglar had been considerate enough to not leave the house open to the elements.

It’s a living, if a precarious one, but Elle never could have imagined what she’d find in her next conquest: a house full of fine art, which turns out to be the home of a high-end art dealer. After discovering a strange, rather creepy door that stands out, she can’t help but open it, though instantly she undoubtedly regrets it. Inside are the bodies of two women and one man, all shot in the head. It looks like they previously had been engaged in a bit of extramarital fun (each woman had a wedding ring). Normally, Elle would hastily flea from the scene, but unfortunately, a camera set up on a tripod gives her pause. Not wanting to get caught, but also wanting to do the right thing, she takes the camera, erases the few moments when she stepped into the frame, and returns the camera to its tripod. When she’s followed from the scene by a black SUV, she’s not sure what’s she’s gotten tangled into. Is the killer after her? Is it the police? She manages to shake her tail, but it puts her on high alert, and after her friend, Sharon offers a getaway to Australia, Elle jumps at the chance and sets about unloading some of her spoils for cash.

Unfortunately, the getaway plan is bust. Just prior to leaving for the trip, Elle finds Sharon dead. It’s a devastating blow for Elle, and she blames herself, but more importantly—it’s a wake-up call.

Now Elle is in a cat and mouse game with a ruthless killer, and for the first time, she may be way in over her head.

Will you have a suspend disbelief at times to fully immerse yourself in Elle’s adventures? Probably. Will you care? Probably not. This fast-paced read is just too much fun. Perry doesn’t waste time on filler, and you’ll learn more than you ever thought you would on home burglary.

This is the perfect twisty weekend read starring a unique protagonist. This reads like a standalone, but I can’t help hoping we’ll hear more from the intrepid Elle.

I enjoyed the book and would give it three stars. The concept of a female burglar was what initially drew me to select this book. The book was suspenseful and had a good rhythm but lost me in the final parts. I would recommend the book to anyone who is looking to read a suspense novel with an unconventional heroine.

I received an arc from the publisher via netGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I found a lot in this book a little to far fetched to engage me in the story and I just couldn't relate to the character. The action was good and it did have a good plot and flowed well but just not my type of read. 3 ⭐

I enjoyed the original concept- a female burglar as the main character. This burglar is out to score some art from a mansion, but finds more than she bargained for. It was a quick read, and an interesting story. I didn’t find the main character to be very relatable, but still enjoyed the read!

3 1/5 stars. A good mystery. I liked this book because the main character is a burglar who is trying to solve a series of murders before she herself is killed. I thought this was a unique premise so that part I really enjoyed. But,,, this was not Perry's best work and overall this book was really lacking for me. Several times I rolled my eyes in disbelief at what Elle was doing. Pass on this one and pick up one of his earlier mysteries instead. You won't be disappointed!

"Every building had ways in and out that a thief could exploit. Nothing was impenetrable or invincible."

You see her running through the neighborhood, hair tied back, adorned in a form-fitting athletic tank and leggings. She has the pace of an expert athlete and the appearance of any other young 20 something-year-old whose parents probably pay for her to enjoy the privilege of living in the neighborhood. She fits in with the affluent surroundings with ease. Before you think to looks again, she's out of your sight and out of your mind. You couldn't conjure up an image of her if you tried. All of this, of course, is intentional.

Elle veers off of the sidewalk to the edge of the house. Although she doesn't live in the area, she's observed the people here enough to blend in. She's been burglarizing homes since her youth, so entering this one poses no real challenge. She slips into the building undetected and begins taking stock of her potential score. The walls are aligned with artwork that only someone with money could own. Elle quietly makes her way into the master bedroom. Before she can locate the safe, she spots the recently dead bodies of two women and one man. When she looks at the opposite wall and sees the red light on the video camera, Elle knows she is in trouble.

Thomas Perry's latest release The Burglar sees him tackle a unique mystery with an alluring main character. Elle's approach to theft is almost surgical in its precision. Perry mirrors this scientific like approach with bare prose that focuses more on descriptive action than exposition. While this writing style works well for this particular narrative, it does create a bit of detachment to the story. We don't get much backstory or character development outside of Elle's point of view.

Fortunately, Elle is a fascinating character who precariously balances the line between right and wrong. I took more joy in discovering more about her as a character than I did in solving the actual mystery. She is the kind of person who purposefully creates distance between herself and others, even leaving her group of friends in the dark about some of the trouble she is in. I found the end of the novel to be a bit rushed, leaving some plot points unfulfilled. Still, there's no denying the skill and restraint that Thomas Perry's latest novel displays. The Burglar may not be a nail-biter, but it is still a solid read.

I have never read a Thomas Perry book before. I found this one to be good, it held my interest. The action was fast paced starting from the very beginning of the story. Sometimes I wondered how Elle could hold on through all the excitement and tension. She does carry the story nicely though. It was an enjoyable read and I plan to read more books by this author. I received this arc free from NetGalley for an honest review.