This is the first book I've read by Thomas Perry and I definitely got a clear impression of him as an author. His writing style is different from what I"m used to, and unfortunately for me, it just didn't work.

The main character is pretty and an amazing thief, which is a little weird because she seems awful.. The entire book revolves around her mistakes and her being...well, not a good thief. For some reason, it probably tells us how attractive she is and how great she is every couple pages. It's a bit much. Unfortunately, she's really, really flat.. It was hard to get a feel for her at all, and everything relating to her and revolving around her was just lacking anything real solid or concrete.

The story also didn't work for me - it was pretty slow/dull just due to how the writing was.

Interesting storyline with characters that kept me interested in what their next step would be and how their mind worked. Not sure how Mr. Perry did research for this particular main character but it was an interesting read.

Elle Stowell is a young twenty-something with an unusual profession- she is a burglar. Slight of stature, Elle has the smarts and skills to pull off her heists in the ritzy neighborhoods surrounding LA. She lives and works solo and has gotten by on her own from a young age. While burglarizing the home of a wealthy art dealer, she stumbles upon a triple homicide. Her curiosity drives her to look at it more closely until she realizes someone is on her trail as well.

I was drawn to The Burglar because I thoroughly enjoyed Perry’s Jane Whitefield series. Having read a number of his books, I have found Perry’s tone to be unique in several ways. His writing is tight, detailed, and methodical – all in keeping with the story line and main characters. I would liken his books to working a 1,000 piece puzzle – lots of important bits go into the end result. It has been said that his characters are “flat” which I think is somewhat accurate but only because that is the nature of his characters and their work. is set in Los Angeles – a city he knows quite well as evidenced by the great detail included in the narrative. As far as pace, this was a page-turner for me. It did slow down a bit right before the tension and action ratcheted up again for the conclusion.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Perry’s books but be prepared for something a bit out of the ordinary.

A Cat Burglar Discovers a Triple Murder

Ellie Stowell may look like the girl-next-door, but she’s a cat burglar and very good at her profession. She’s been doing this for years so she knows how to case a neighborhood, select an empty house, find a way in, and quickly locate portable valuables like money and jewelry.

She selects a promising Bel-Air house. Thinking it’s empty, she proceeds to collect valuables until in the master bedroom she gets a nasty shock. Three naked and very dead bodies are spread out on the bed. Each with a bullet hole in the back of the head. This is bad enough, but there’s a video camera, and it’s still running. Now Ellie is the one being chased.

This is a rather pedestrian thriller. I loved the description of Ellie in the first chapters, but when the chase begins it devolves into a rather formulaic plot. The characters, including Ellie, are not well developed. They come across as flat stereotypes.

The story is told primarily in narrative. We get Ellie’s thoughts, but the lack of dialog is one reason the characters feel wooden. The pace is fast and there’s plenty of action, but if you’re looking for a book where you can connect with the characters, this isn’t it.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Elles a burglar and she quite good at it. On what she thinks will be a routine burglary, Elle happens upon a crime scene. Once she discovers it, her life is in danger. As the murder makes the news, she is heading out of town with some loot of jewelry to bring to the right dealers. Very fast pasted and fun read. loved it. Will differently read another another of Thomas Perry

A very weak plot and a story full of unnecessary descriptions and repetitions. If you want to waste some time reading about good and not so good burglary tips it's OK.

Elle is a professional burglar. She cases rich neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, under the guise of a run of the mill jogger. She's smart and resourceful, and knows how to get what she needs to live a not-too-lavish lifestyle.

Then she breaks into the wrong house, sees the wrong thing, and gets on the bad side of the wrong people.

One of my all-time favorite books is If Tomorrow Comes, by Sidney Sheldon. That book features a woman not unlike Elle, a professional thief who uses her skill and intelligence to get what she wants in life. I can read that book 10 times in a row and not get tired of it.

When we first start this book, I had hope this was going to lead me down the same path of enjoyment. I love reading stories where people commit burglaries and heists. It's less fun when it happens to you, but fictionally, it's fantastic.

And Elle is a good burglar. She explains what she knows and how she knows it, she's incredibly savvy and even explains what people do wrong. I.e, when you hear a noise, DON'T wait to see if the noise gets repeated, just get out. Go back out the same door you entered in, to avoid getting hung up. Such promise to this story.

Sadly, this book is severely lacking in follow through. Severely. She does a phenomenal job evading the bad guys, though she spends entirely too long trying to figure out if they are cops or hired killers. Waaaaaaaay too long, to the point where it made her seem extremely stupid.

And then when we finally find out the why, it makes such little sense as to be PAINFUL. And her choices end up being so poor, it's to almost make you want to DNF, or to make you want her to get caught.

Much promise, little follow through.

I'm not winning at the Thriller genre lately, and I have a lot more lined up to read. I'm getting nervous.

The Burglar is one of those stories that you have so much fun reading that you don't go "Huh??" until after the book ends. I'm sure you know what I mean - you've probably read a few of those too.

Elle Stowell is a young lady in her 20s who was left to fend for herself at a very young age. Her career of being a cat burglar was born out of the need for survival, and she's gotten quite good at it. Being a fly on the wall, watching how she stalks out places, determining which to go for, and her execution of the burglary is very voyeuristic and quite fun! She hits the rich and feels justified because they have so much and won't suffer from what she takes (Robin Hood anyone?).

All is going swimmingly until the night she walks into the home of Nick Kavanaugh. Nick made his fortune in financial services and retired quite young and very wealthy. He is now the owner of the Kavanaugh Gallery. Despite her careful screening of the house, she soon discovers the house is not empty; there are three people (Kavanaugh and two women), dead, each shot in the forehead during a sex threesome with a camera recording it all. And the camera is still recording!

Now the murderer(s) is after Elle, and it is clear that they want her dead, as soon as possible. Elle isn't one to go down willingly and is determined to solve the murders and take the evidence to the police before she is killed. Let the games begin!!

Thomas Perry writes well - this is a quick, fun read. It's only upon reflection that you wonder how Elle (young, beautiful, smart, fit, so very fit, as we are told over and over until it goes far past the annoying point) has so much highly detailed knowledge on the inner workings of everything a master criminal would need to know at her young age. This girl could've been a government operative for decades, so savvy is she, so deep her knowledge. And how does she live so obviously well, BEYOND well, with no apparent job or legitimate line of credit? Does no one around her ask "how do you pull that off? I'd like to try it too!"? Perhaps she knows how to launder money as well.

If you can suspend/ignore your disbelief over points such as these, you will thoroughly enjoy The Burglar.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for allowing me to read The Burglar in exchange for an honest review.

1 star

You can see all of my reviews at https://www.NerdGirlLovesBooks.wordpr...

Elle Stowell is a young, beautiful woman with an unusual occupation. She's a burglar. When she breaks into a house in an upscale neighborhood she expects to find money, art and jewels, not dead bodies. When someone discovers she knows about the murders, she realizes her life is in danger. Her only option is to use her burglary skills to try to solve the murders before she is killed.

I read the first 25% of this book, but could not finish it. I just couldn't get passed the awful writing. It reminded me of a high school student's attempt at writing a story. Other people may enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Elle Stowell is a burglar in the Los Angeles area. This is her occupation - she works when she needs money- and she is good at it - she know how to decide on which home to invade and to get away unseen and without any trace of her activity. But one night, she she picks the wrong house. Inside are three dead bodies - and a camera that has recorded the murders. She takes the camera for fear that she is on it, cleans her image from it, and puts it back. But she soon realizes that someone knows she was there and is looking for her. While she is a good burglar, she is not a good detective but must become one to stay alive. A fun read with a good ending. Thanks to NetGalley and The Mysterious Press for the ARC of this novel.

This book was a great read! I learned a lot about committing the perfect burglary .... of course, I mean protecting myself and home from burglary! 😼 I liked the main character and found her to be a pretty cool/good bad-guy. She was a lonely character, and I found myself feeling bad for her as the story went on ... which is great because it means Perry really brought her to life. The very end was awkward and abrupt. 'Still loved it, though!

A fun and fast paced thriller, perfect for anyone who enjoys reading about the antics of an anti-hero.
The Burglar by Thomas Perry is the story of Elle, a semi professional burglar, who knows how to blend in and pick a target, what to steal for a quick and easy sale and who she can trust. Everything is almost too easy, too good to be true, and sure enough one day Elle gets more than she bargained for, breaking into her target house she finds three dead bodies and a camera set to record. Stealing the camera to ensure her identity is not revealed makes her a target for the killer and so her only hope is to find the killer before they find her.
This was a really fun, page turner of a book. I particularly liked the main character, making her somewhat of a loveable rogue worked really well. The pacing was spot on throughout the book, with enough twists and turns to keep me hooked , and the plot was clever and original.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

While I didn't love this book and found it a bit slow in parts, it did keep my interest enough to read to the very end. I'm not sure what it was about this book, the writing style perhaps, but something about it didn't really connect with me. The premise about a female burglar was very interesting. I was amazed at how she could get in and out of a place without being detected, I suppose a good burglar would excel at that, but there were some twists in the story that seemed a bit hard to believe. This is the first book by Thomas Perry that I have read.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

The Burglar by Thomas Perry

4 stars

Criminal multi-tasking stretches credibility.

Elle Stowell is a successful burglar who stakes out her chosen houses while she is running in the more affluent developments of the West Coast. Slight in stature she appears unthreatening, but she is, in fact, a master criminal at the peak of her fitness. She concentrates on staying small, high-value items, such as cash and jewellery which is generally found in the master suites of the houses she enters.

Everything is going well until one day she breaches the bedroom of art dealer Nick Kavanagh and finds him on his bed naked with two women, also naked, still entwined in a ménage-a-trios despite each having a bullet hole squarely in the middle of their foreheads. When she realises that a camera has been set up to record them, a camera which now has her on film, she takes it with her as she makes her retreat.

It soon becomes clear that Elle has a price on her head and she must flee the area for her own safety. However, she is nothing if not loyal, and when her best friend is targeted, she decides to stay and investigate the murders herself.

Despite being a fast-paced and suspenseful novel, this is where it fell apart a bit for me. It is a jolly good yarn, and the reader enjoys Elle's exploits enormously, in what is a gripping read. However, I felt that her talents, judgement and luck stretched credibility to the limit to the extent that from being a crime novel it became almost a fantasy genre.

Nevertheless, it was a most enjoyable and entertaining read.


Pashtpaws


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Elle Stowell is someone that readers should not like; after all, she steals things, expensive things, and personal things. She is a burglar. Perry positions readers alongside Elle as she climbs, hunts, and takes. Readers sense the tension, the excitement, the fear, the anxiety, and finally the relief. One of the difficulties with being a thief is that Elle could wake up any morning to the sound of police officers banging on her door to arrest her. That, however, does not turn out to be her biggest problem. Something she finds in a “targeted house” consumes her life and changes things forever. There is something odd going on and there is a camera. Who did this horrible thing, and do they know that she was there? She finds herself withholding evidence that might help police solve crime, and to save herself she becomes not a burglar but an investigator.
Perry pulls readers into the story through Ellie. Readers learn about her from her actions, reactions, and interactions with supporting characters. She reacts quickly to threats, thinks clearly, and runs, hides, or even fights. We do not want to like her, but we do. We follow her every move, listen in on her every plan, and share her every fear. Elle knows what the police know about the crime and more, much more. She pays a high price for keeping things to herself, and she is driven to solve this crime. Methodically she collects piece after piece of information, but the answers do not fit. Finally, with a little twist and rearrangement of the information, she knows everything. However, has the killer somehow found out about her as well?
“The Burglar” is a tense story, and Elle is a likeable character despite her inappropriate occupation. I was given a review copy of “The Burglar” by Thomas Perry, Mysterious Press, and NetGalley. It is a story with lots of questions and eventual and unexpected answers. The clues are there both for readers and for Elle. This book keeps readers guessing, revising, reconsidering, and turning the pages.

The main character is a twenty-something female burglar named Elle, who breaks into the wrong mansion one day to find three dead bodies and a camera still recording the scene. She takes the camera to review the footage in order to erase her appearance, but soon after finds herself being followed. She must stay steps ahead of whoever they are, but must also continue to “work” in order to pay her bills. While doing so, she also intuits the scheme that led to the three people being murdered.

I would think that the life of a burglar is likely solitary, so I expected few supporting characters and little interaction with others, with the bulk of the plot devised mostly of internal thoughts, which would give the reader insight into the main character, and provide enough information for the reader to understand her motives and care about her safety. Instead, Elle appears a bit dense, with the little dialog that occurred between characters stilted, and the limited character development failing to create an emotional connection for the reader. The narration includes lengthy explanations rather than descriptions of scenes, although aspects of the plot would have been much better demonstrated through the actions of the main character. This would have made for a more engaging plot, and could also have conveyed the quick deductive acumen Elle supposedly possessed as well as made her seem less impersonal.

The author also included frequent and repetitive sections of unnecessary information that didn’t serve a purpose except to slow the pacing and bore the reader. For instance, stating that the character has to drive to a county they are unfamiliar with and has to make several freeway changes to get there, or describing how Elle’s adrenaline is spiked after a harrowing event so decides to go to the gym to work out and clear her head makes sense, and that’s all the author needed to write. Instead, the reader got whole paragraphs detailing the exact directions to that county, or which direction Elle turned on which street to escape a car that was following her, as well as paragraphs detailing her entire workout regime. This unnecessary minutiae was irrelevant to the plot development, so they really should have been eliminated.

What the author could have done was include detailed background information disguised as unnecessary chunks of information that the main character would later piece together to unveil how she deduced the scheme, because that would’ve been the clever twist that this book was sorely lacking. Instead, she plucks a theory seemingly out of nowhere regarding why the three people were murdered, and the unorthodox scheme turns out to be correct, and is subsequently followed by an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion.

I found the premise of this book to be intriguing, and I really wanted to like this book, but couldn’t get past the scant character development and the many plot and pacing issues. While it started out fine, overall it felt very much like a rough draft of what could be a good book if it got into the hands of the right editor.

NetGalley and Grove Atlantic kindly provided me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 25%. This one was hard to connect to because of the unnecessary focus on small details like street names and gun info. I felt no connection to the main character as there was no character development, just a lot of detail about her job as a Burglar and how she would get in and out of rich people’s houses.

THE BURGLAR
Thomas Perry
Mysterious Press
ISBN 978-0802129000
Hardcover
Thriller

If it’s January, it must be time for a Thomas Perry novel. Perry has been a blessing to the literary world for well over three decades, offering sturdy, workmanlike, and entertaining prose to support an energetic and engrossing story which hooks the reader from the first page and doesn’t let go even after the last page is long past read. Perry’s offering for 2019, THE BURGLAR, never disappoints for a moment, inserting an unforgettable protagonist with an unusual and illegal occupation into a deadly situation.

Elle Stowell is the burglar of the piece, a twenty-six-year-old with an ability for targeting ideal houses which seems almost prescient but which, as revealed under Perry’s deft hand, is the result of the intersection of education and preparation. Stowell takes pains to blend into the landscape of the neighborhoods of the rich and richer in suburban Los Angeles where she is but one of many young and attractive faces who is on the street one minute and down the street the next, hiding in plain sight as a dedicated jogger. Unlike almost all of the other women on the street, however, Stowell is casing houses, looking for signs of occupancy, or lack thereof, and opportunity. She is careful and selective in what she takes, being the epitomy of the professional. All of her planning, skills, patience and parsimonic thievery, however, do not prepare her for what she encounters in a particular house which appears to be vacant and ripe for her very itemized pickings. Stowell stumbles into a horrific tableau consisting of three of the beautiful people --- two women and one man --- whose menage a trois was interrupted by their executions. It’s the type of thing to give a dedicated burglar nightmares. That is especially so for Stowell, who soon finds herself pursued by some experienced and extremely persistent hunters who are bent on wiping her out with the same efficiency that ended the lives of the three partiers. Stowell has no idea why someone would target her, given that she stumbled into the murder scene well after the fact and she, of course, cannot go to the police. She has no choice but to change occupations, however briefly and intermittently, and undertake the role of investigator, delving into the lives of the victims she stumbled upon in order to determine why they were murdered and possibly following the thread back to the “who” behind it. It’s a dangerous gambit, one which quickly draws Stowell’s loved ones into it in the worst of ways. The result is a cat-and-mouse game that keeps the reader entertained from first page to last.

Perry, as is his practice, by turns educate and entertains his reader. The latter with respect to THE BURGLAR is a given. The former is two-pronged. The first prong deals with the ins-and-outs of home burglary. Perry tells one how to do it, from beginning to end, but in such a way as to demonstrate why there are safer ways to make a living. The second and sharper prong shows the home or apartment dweller how truly vulnerable they are. All of the doorbell cameras and security systems in the world can’t keep someone from getting into your residence and getting part or all of your kit-and-kaboodle if they really, really want to. You can slow them down but you can’t stop them, at least if you aren’t home. At a bare minimum, you might want to delay posting your vacation pictures on Facebook until after you are back. If you do go away, however, pack THE BURGLAR for your trip. You’ll be entertained even as you worry. Strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

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I am genuinely confused by the positive reviews for this book. I had to stop reading this at 33% and I struggled to even make it that far. I really tried, but it fell so terribly flat I simply couldn't go on. The book is written in the first person and the narrator is a 24-year-old woman. As a former 24-year-old woman I can tell you that the author (a 72-year-old man) failed spectacularly at capturing the voice of his protagonist in a remotely realistic way. Additionally, the supporting characters were completely one dimensional, the prose was disjointed and instructional, the dialogue - of which there was very little - was robotic and unrealistic. The plot was somehow boring despite being a crime thriller, and I genuinely did not care what happened to Elle or the victims of the triple homicide she stumbles upon mid-burgle. Perhaps because of the pages and pages of mundane details that to me weighed the story down instead of giving it depth. I usually enjoy mysteries and thrillers quite a lot but this book was just not a fit for me at all. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!