This is my first read by Thomas Perry and I have to say that I was shocked at the writing. The detail that Thomas Perry gives you while describing scenes and the way that this character, Elle gets into houses that she sets out to burglarize makes you feel that you are right there with her trying to sneak in undetected too. I was drawn into this book from the very beginning and it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how all this was going to end for Elle. I highly recommend this read for anyone who likes suspense as well as detective style stories.

Elle is a young lady that makes a living being a burglar. Elle is smart about the way that she cases her houses. She will dress in the ritzy clothing to fit in with the neighborhood she is in and act like she is just a college age girl home for a visit. Elle never goes straight to the house she is wanting to hit, she will watch it and find out what is going on with it first. Very smart at the way that she goes about being undetected.

When Elle goes in to a particular house, she gets more than what she ever thought was possible with this burglary. Elle stumbles upon a triple homicide. She luckily notices the video recorder that is set up in the room and takes it with her so that she is not seen on the video, but what will she find on the recorder? Will she be able to erase the possibility of her being seen on the tape? Is the feed sent to another place for someone else to see? What is Elle going to do about all of this? She never intended to get caught up in this mess.

As the story goes on, Elle gets more and more paranoid about the video. Things start happening that makes her think someone is following her. Who could it be though? What do they want from her? You have to read this one to find out what is going on with Elle. It is too good to spoil!

The research that Thomas Perry had to do to be able to write this story the way he did had to have been extensive. Being so detailed makes it so much better for the reader too in my opinion. Really a great read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all the opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

I would like to thank Mysterious Press and the Netgalley website for this partnership.

One of Thomas Perry's best thrillers.

We find the pretty Elle there who burglarizes all the places she can. Except that her life will change completely when she comes across a triple homicide at a rich merchant's house. She's going to be looking for and trying to solve this investigation before she's the next target.

I immediately hooked on the captivating, addictive story full of suspense and twists and turns. Looking forward to reading another book by this author.

This is a crime book with a difference. I read lots and lots of mystery novels so it can be quite entertaining to come across something that's different. To begin with our main character is a criminal herself - a burglar who is good at what she does and feels absolutely no remorse about taking what doesn't belong to her. No mention at all of thinking about how to get into the mainstream of life. Okay, so I put those things behind me in order to read the book.

The story has very little dialogue and I think this kept Elle at arm's length so I didn't feel I knew her much better at the end of the story than when I had first begun to read. This very young criminal (24 years old) also seems to let way too many people know how she makes a living which in turn makes it very easy for the truly criminal types to find her when they start looking. LA is a pretty big city but those people had no problems finding her first thing. Elle had stumbled on a murder scene when she broke into a house and the group responsible for the crime now intend to shut her up by killing her.

This story was not as good as I had hoped it would be. I read thriller novels all the time where the protagonist is able to extricate themselves from impossible situations but, for some reason, it just felt off when Elle kept performing these miracles. Almost as if she wasn't quite hardened or damaged enough to have had that much experience of something like an organized group trying to kill her. I don't expect to read any other books about Elle the Miraculous Burglar because the author wasn't able to make me care about her or her next job, no matter how many car chases she might be involved in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic, Mysterious Press for an eGalley of this novel.

Thomas Perry's latest thriller. He is one of the best writers in the genre with many books to his credit that are on my list to regularly re read. The Burglar is a stand alone novel and both exciting and scary. It is very much a novel of Los Angeles (As was his previous novel, The Bomb Maker). His books are great regardless of where he sets them but I was particularly pleased with the local color in this one. Four stars instead of five only because I am grading him against himself and he has a few books that are even better than this.

This book was interesting, but a bit disappointing compared to the hype in my mind. The reason behind the murders - it wasn't as exciting as I hoped for. I found myself hoping this book would be something I couldn't put down because it started out with so much promise and energy, but then I found myself just skimming the book and reading only the dialogue.

I really liked the storyline and the action was exciting. I think Thomas Perry is a good story teller and weaves intricate plots. Elle is a twenty something girl who has been fending for herself since her mid-teens. She supports herself by burgaling houses of the wealthy and pawning the goods. She seems to be an expert in everything and even though she gets into dangerous predicaments she is able to miraculously escape without too much difficulty. She is in the middle of robbing a house when she stumbes upon a triple homicide and becomes a target. She must work to solve the case before she becomes a victim herself. Although I liked the story, I had problems with the writing style. Mr. Perry provides lots of superfluous information, like the brand type and ammo type of guns she finds in her robberies and the streets she drives on. These details are not necessary to the story. The characters are interesting but they lack any warmth or humanity. The dialogue is stilted and the characters are just not that likeable. I could give a list of incongruities in the story but will not so as to avoid spoilers. Overall, I liked the story but it could be improved by paring down the details, making the dialogue more natural and by adding some more warmth and personality to the characters. I give this story 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for my early review copy of this page turning crime thriller. This book kept my attention and I didn't want to put it down. I loved that Thomas Perry used a female as his lead. Elle Stowell was the main character and was a very adept burglar in the LA area. Not an occupation that you'd usually think of for a woman. She grew up with not much, but when it came down to it, she was a survivor that knew how to get what she wanted. She was skilled at breaking and entering into the homes of the elite. She could get into any home with any alarm system. She was the best of the best and just seemed like a normal LA girl. That's what made her unique.
When Elle uses her skills to break into another home, she stumbles onto something she didn't intend to find and then finds herself in the middle of a homicide. What happens when the wrong people find out and want to shut her up? What can she do to free herself and find out what happened?
The first 3/4 of the book really had me pulled in. It was like a high speed car chase all over LA and Beverly Hills. I was continuously waiting for the ball to drop, but Elle was always there to shatter that premonition. I loved watching the female protagonist take charge. She was intelligent, skilled and sharp. She could "sniff" out right and wrong and she knew people better than they knew themselves. Burglary is mostly a lonely job, so when you find people that you can trust, it's quite unique. Elle definitely had her people, but she also kept plenty to herself, which was wise.
The last quarter of the book left me questioning the first part of the book. All of a sudden it seemed that Elle was pulling out all the stops and never getting caught (highly unlikely) and could beat everyone at their own game. She was even better at her job than we originally thought. It seemed a bit unrealistic. Also, when solving the crime and putting all the clues together, it just didn't make complete sense. What had happened previously in the book didn't add up and left me with questions. Usually we, as readers are left with small clues throughout so you can possibly solve or get a good part of the crime under your wings. This wasn't like that at all. All of a sudden, we hear through Elle's spying techniques about the art world mixed with the elite and more people were introduced to have one big aha moment. To me, that didn't add up for us readers. Our interaction into solving the crimes committed was completely thrown out. Even Elle's was. She had to eavesdrop to find out who was involved and how everything was connected.
Overall, I enjoyed most of the book but was disappointed in the lack of pulling in the readers knowledge to solve the crime in the last quarter of the book.
I will still give The Burglar 3.5 stars and would recommend it for a good heart pounding crime thriller.

OMG Really enjoyed this narrator. She is a bad ass burglar who happens to stumble upon a crime scene that ends up making her use her wits to stay alive. crossing my fingers for a sequel.

Thomas Perry is especially good at writing characters that readers engage with and care about. Then he throws in twists and suspense and draws you further and further into his stories.

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was good solid read. Solid 4 Stars for me!

I love cat burglars. It’s entertaining to read how they break into almost inaccessible places and manage to extract the most valuable items. Elle Stowell is such a thief but, when she walks into a crime scene, she becomes the target of the bad guys and she must solve the crime so that she can stay alive. Sounds fascinating but, unfortunately, I didn’t feel it delivered. Elle is in her twenties, but she is awesome and fits in places nobody would think to look. The author goes on and on about her physical appearance, attributes and attire in a way that sounds more like the fantasy of a teenage boy than a real, believable person. This is the case with all the characters, who are one-dimensional. That’s OK, after all we are not looking for realism here. My problem was with the amount of useless details. A character doesn’t order a Scotch or even a Macallan, but goes into a bar and asks the barman what brands he has, to which we are treated to the full menu. When Elle finds handguns in a house she’s robbing, we get to hear the exact model, type and ammo of every single piece. We even get to hear that the guy manning the bar at Elle’s favorite watering spot is covering for someone and got laid off the week before or something. And there is also the detailed description of Elle’s routes. She takes Ventura to go to I-50 and then South on blah blah. This may tell something to someone who is familiar with LA but, considering the rest of the world is very big, it means nothing to many readers. I’m making up the specifics here but that’s the gist of it. All these details made me lose concentration. I feel bad when I give a bad review because I can imagine how hard it must be to write a book and The Burglar is entertaining enough. Just not my cup of tea.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Grove Atlantic!

The Burglar was the first time I've read Thomas Perry. Elle is in her 20's and makes a living breaking into rich people's houses and stealing things. She happens upon a murder scene at one of her burglaries. From here she is on the run from the murderer and trying to solve it at the same time. The beginning was a little slow and I had a hard time getting through it. Once the plot picks up I really enjoyed the story! Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thomas Perry can always deliver a suspenseful story. I found myself turning pages as quickly as possible so as to move towards some answers to the mysteries embedded in the narrative. The biggest weakness to Perry’s book: his protagonist ( the burglar) is introduced as a barely-out-of-her-twenties self-educated female; she often thinks, and acts, as if she were an instructor at a Mensa conference. I found her brilliant deductions a bit over-the-top. Overall a fun read!

This book follows a female cat burglar who has the knack of being able to enter homes with ease, all in expensive areas and with sophisticated alarm equipment, easily that is, until she stumbles across a murder scene which means she has to attempt to sole the murder, or, face being caught by the murderers.

It’s a good enough premise for a tale, but, I just found elements too unbelievable and the writing style competent, but, not gripping. So, for me, not well enough told, too many boring details at times and too many unbelievable elements.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic / Mysterious Press for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.

A perfect sick-in-bed/rainy day/beach read with a twist. This is essentially a police procedural wrapped around a murder mystery but the main character is the burglar of the title. Elle is young but accomplished in her skills at robbing rich peoples houses and since she lives in the LA area there is plenty of merchandise and money to support her and give her practice with her skills. Unfortunately she stumbles on a triple murder which eventually involves some of her personal acquaintances and decides the police are not investigating fast enough or in the right direction. She proceeds to use her skills for good and tries to solve the crimes. No spoilers after this, just enjoy the ride and read this if you are looking for a quick read with an amusing premise. Thanks to #netgalley for letting me read #theburgler ahead of publication.

Elle is a petite, blonde, athletic woman with a small group of friends. Elle is also a burglar. She is a very, very good burglar but she runs into trouble when stumbling upon three dead bodies at a break in. Somehow the murderer knows she was there and the search to find her leaves a trail of destruction behind.

Intense and so real, I found myself jumping at the slightest sound but I couldn't put it down. A thrilling read I definitely recommend.

Thank you to the publisher, author and to Net Galley for the review copy. My opinion is my own.

I am a big fan of the author's work and have read his entire body of work. I love his thrilling writing style and the subterfuge plots as they build suspense. This book was a thrill to read and one of my favorites.

I love the main character Ellie Stowell. She is only 24 and very petite yet she is very intelligent highly skilled house thief. She plots out her victims houses while she keeps in shape running in Los Angeles. She steals from the rich and this is how she supports herself by reselling their goods. The detail the author wrote of was fascinating of how she knew the secrets of people's hiding places and what to look for. She makes a good living and has a relationship with some in the underworld who she must. She has been stealing for most of her life and has a professional approach to her craft.

When she enters a house one night she finds three bodies shot in bed together. She also finds a recorder. This leads to her being in extreme danger and her life begins to take a sinister turn when the killers will stop at nothing to find her. She must disappear from her former life and move through hotel to hotel and is running for her life. As in the tradition of his Jane Whitefield series, he is a master of making people go underground and disappear. The details she must go to are heart pounding as she is pursued by the killers.

Wow what a great plot this was as the subterfuge of the story kept changing and the clues kept this reader guessing. . I found myself unable to part with this book until the last page. I would love to see Ellie in a future book . This is a fun read in the grand tradition of mystery thrillers that will appeal to all mystery lover.s. Another great read by Thomas Perry the master of suspense. Very well done to the author.

A unique look at burglary. The burglar and heroine of this story walks into a surprising dilemma while trying to make a (dis)honest living. Her morality drives her to solve a crime she stumbled upon. An intriguing tale of criminals and mystery.

Intriguing story with lots of twists that will keep you guessing. Interesting characters that are wrll developed. A burglar turns detective to find her best friend murderer.

Elle is a small petite, twenty four year old with an odd profession. She is a burglar. She blends in with the neighborhood. She gets in, gets what she wants, gets out and doesn't get caught. She goes into what she thinks is an empty house and finds three dead bodies. Now someone is after her. If she doesn't find out who the murderers are, she may be the next dead body. One of her friends has already been killed. Who is after her and will she escape this one last job? Action packed thriller. I really enjoyed it. I received this book from Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for a honest review and no compensation otherwise. The opinions expressed are my own.