Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I was not familiar with the previous Butcher’s Boy books, nor am I generally a big fan of stories written from the murderer’s point of view, but from my limited exposure to his work I had enough confidence in Thomas Perry to try this one. If you forget that you are reading about a professional killer, the book doesn’t feel all that different from a Lee Child novel. You have a protagonist roaming stealthily around the world, deploying his finely honed skills and specialized training to take care of a series of dangerous situations and foil the people trying to kill him. Instead of being disturbed that this guy is a killer, you spend most of your energy wondering how he will escape the next threat to his life, neutralize his enemies, and avoid the law. Eddie’s boy uses all kinds of clever means to defeat his opponents at every turn, and it’s compelling to watch him use that creativity (not to mention his exceptional marksmanship and other training).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital advance review copy.

Loved this, the story revolves around Eddies boy, a trained assassin. As an adult he lives a very pleasant life with his aristocratic wife in England. When the latest batch of killers come to settle old scores he decides to end the chain for good. The story is told with flashbacks to his youth and was a very satisfying read,

They've come again. Michael Shaeffer and his wife have just hosted a party at her aristocratic home in England. Michael is an American and never thought he'd end his days married to a woman with a long family heritage and a fortune that put his own in the shade. He had retired to England when his business had made an exit necessary. Michael was a paid assassin, working mainly for the Mob. After he set up a Mob boss who hired him and then didn't pay him but tried to have him killed instead, the United States was too dangerous. Twice before in his long years in England men have come to kill him. Now they've come again.
There are four this time but Michael is able to get the jump on them and kills them all. He disposes of the bodies but he knows he has to go back to the US and take care of the problem. He sends his wife to stay with friends and is on a plane by morning.

Michael was orphaned at age three, his parents recent immigrants to the Philadelphia neighborhood. Michael was headed to social services and a life in the system but the neighbors got together to discuss the situation and Eddie, the local butcher, volunteered to take Michael in and raise him. That was agreeable to everyone so Michael had a new home. But Eddie wasn't just any butcher. He was a hitman and he taught Michael his trade. Michael made his first kill at fourteen and spent years becoming the best in the business.

Now as he returns to America he learns that the boss he had imprisoned all those years ago is up for parole. He has to be the one causing Michael's problems. Michael has a lifeline to a federal prosecutor whose life and children he saved years ago so he gets some information from her. Then he sets out to solve his problems once and for all.

This is the fourth in the Butcher Boy series. I wasn't aware of that when I started this novel, and it didn't make any difference although I will definitely go back and read the first three. Thomas Perry is also known for his series featuring a woman who helps people disappear. In both series, his ability to lay out logical sequences of precautions and the planning that is necessary for success is evident. The reader will know he shouldn't be cheering for Michael but won't be able to help doing so. This book is recommended for readers of thrillers.

A complex and well written thriller that kept me on the edge till the end.
Excellent storytelling and character development, a tightly knitted plot that never bores.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Can a professional hit man ever retire? This is the compelling question posed in Thomas Perry in “Eddie’s Boy.” Readers are drawn into the world of a hitman, long retired, but always prepared. “Michael Shaeffer” killed people for about forty-five years. He had a long life for a man in his line of work. Now he and wife Meg are living a peaceful retired life in an English country manor house. Unfortunately, Michael’s past has come to England for him; he has not killed anyone for years, but this night he must.
Perry skillfully maneuvers back in forth in time so readers know “Michael” both then and now. His old age is possible because Eddie had made it possible, teaching him how to live and survive when he was young. These permanently entrenched habits, reflexes, and skills enabled him to expertly kill and survive then, and he needs them to survive now. Adversaries from his past have returned, and he must kill them or die himself. Michael’s search is deliberate, planned, and organized; however, there are plenty of unusual developments, surprising connections, and unexpected opponents. Michael is racing against time. The danger is imminent, and the tension is intense.
“Eddie’s Boy” is book four in the series, but new readers will easily follow along. Past events fold into current scenarios as Michael scrutinizes the past to unearth the enemies of the present. I received a review copy of “Eddie’s Boy” from Thomas Perry and Atlantic Monthly Press. It is a fascinating look at a character growing old, living through time, one that readers do not often see.

This book circles back to Perry's early book, The Butcher's Boy, and yet manages not to just be a retread, several books into the story of the protagonist. Part of Perry's strength is in managing to have even the most minor characters have a depth and reality sketched out in only a few words.

Recommended.

Anytime I see that there is a new Thomas Perry novel, it’s cause for celebration. Finding out that it was a new story in his Butcher’s Boy saga was even sweeter. I loved this book and sincerely hope there’s at least one more tale to be told!

This is a good thriller full of nuances.There is a good level of complexity to it, and it keeps you interested till the end.There are some likable characters and the narrative is clear and concise.4 stars for Eddie's Boy.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is the 4th book in the Butcher's Boy series. It's an odd series, in that the books appear every 10 years or so, and the events of the books happen 7-10 years after the previous book.

The main character, "Michael Shaeffer," is known as the Butcher's Boy. He was orphaned as a child, then raised by Eddie, the local butcher. While Eddie taught him how to be a butcher in the traditional sense, he also taught Michael his other occupation - an assassin for various Mafia figures. Not a member of any Mafia family, but a contract killer.

Each book in this series involves his attempts to get Mafia people to stop trying to kill him. In the first book, he got many of them angry with him. In each succeeding book, they start up trying to find and kill him once again, at long intervals. While he has made a new life for himself in England, they keep trying to kill him - and what Eddie taught him is that if someone is trying to kill you, you need to strike at them fast and furious!

This book is interesting, in that a lot of it is backstory, as the title might suggest. We learn about how he developed his skills, what Eddie taught him, and what happened to him as a young man, learning his trade. This alternates with his current activity, trying to take out enough Mafia people to convince them to leave him alone.

Like Thomas Perry's other books, it's pretty much non-stop action and murder and mayhem. The other piece of the plot, in all four books, is his continuing involvement (in a professional, not romantic sense) with Elizabeth Waring, a Justice Department official. It's a complicated relationship, as she tries to convince him to become an informant for the Justice Department.

It's a wild ride, and keeps the reader interested. One caveat - I read the previous 3 books just before reading this one, and there are quite a number of discontinuities from book to book. I just decided to ignore this, and enjoy the ride, but be aware in case this is the sort of thing that drives you crazy!

I got this through NetGalley. This is my second Perry book and the fourth book in the Butcher's Boy series. It is my first read in the series. It reads like a standalone. Michael is a retired businessman that is being pursued by people from his past. It was an interesting look into the making of a hired killer.

I’m a Thomas Perry fan-read the first in this series-THE BUTCHER’S BOY-about 30 years ago. This one doesn’t disappoint. Michael Schaeffer is older, grayer, a retired assassin happily married and living in England, but someone from his past wants him dead. From England, to Australia, and multiple cities in the US, he puts his well honed skills to use. Best part-you get enough retrospectives on his previous life that the book can bd read and appreciated on its own.

Thomas Perry’s latest novel, Eddie’s Boy, traces the lives of Eddie (a butcher by trade and a part-time hit man for the gangs of New York) and his boy (an orphan he takes in). The novel begins in he early part of the 20th century and depicts the rise of the rival gangs dealing in the numbers, protection, liquor during prohibition, prostitution, drugs, etc. and continues to the mid 20th century and the rise of the Mafia families.
If you desire to read about frequent grisly murders vividly described and mobsters dealing with the FBI and the Department of Justice, this book is for you. There are few, if any, likable characters and certainly none with whom the average reader can identify. However, there is a somewhat surprising conclusion that may make you feel that the book was worth reading.

4.5 Stars
Book 4 in Butcher's Boy, Eddie's Boy is a thrilling read. The story is well written and takes you on a journey of mystery, mob wars and no end of suspects. Do yourself a favor and read this book and series truly you will not be disappointed.

Eddie’s Boy is the fourth installment of the Butcher’s Boy series by Thomas Perry. It is essentially a laundry list of the killing exploits of Michael Schaeffer, who is a retired contract assassin and hasn’t killed in years, or had attempts on his life in years. Schaefer is living in the UK with his wealthy wife and someone tries to kill him. This sets off a series of killings as he kills off everyone – different mafia families – who tries to kill him. Miraculously, he always gets his men, and miraculously, he never gets killed himself.

Although Schaeffer is a well-developed character, the novel has essentially no plot. The only thing that happens in the book is mafia men come after him and follow him around the globe, and he kills them. That’s about it. There is nothing particularly thrilling or suspenseful in the story; there is nothing particularly interesting in the story. Actually, there is nothing particularly appealing in the entire novel. The book sums up the history of Schaeffer as he evolved from a child who was raised by a contract assassin to a retired assassin. There are some interesting parts; readers may be curious as to how a serial killer is made, but as intriguing as those items are, it doesn’t make for a plot or actual thriller novel.

All told, unless readers like to read about killing ad nauseam, this is probably one of those novels that should be skipped. Perry has written dozens of better novels that will let readers feel that they have actually read a good book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Published by Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press on December 1, 2020

Eddie’s Boy is the fourth book in Thomas Perry’s Butcher’s Boy series. It should probably be the last. Perry coasts through this one because the series has run out of gas.

Some thugs travel to England where they try to kill Michael Schaeffer but Schaeffer kills the assailants first. Schaeffer reasonably concludes that his life is in danger so he leaves his lady love in England and travels to Australia where more thugs try to kill him (multiple times) before he kills them first (multiple times). To get to the bottom of the assassination attempts, Schaeffer returns to the US, taking time to recount memories of and life lessons supplied by Eddie, the mentor who adopted him and taught him how to be a contract killer. Some of the memories seem random and disconnected from the story (particularly the women who seduced him as he was delivering their meat).

Most of the life lessons involve killing people, survival, and killing people to survive. Eddie was a butcher so Schaeffer also learned how to sharpen knives. Eddie had a buddy teach Schaeffer to assemble a gun while blindfolded, an important thriller world skill that comes in handy if an adversary blindfolds the thriller hero and leaves a dissembled gun within his reach. That must happen surprisingly often since every thriller hero learns how to assemble guns while blindfolded. I guess readers are supposed to be impressed.

Schaeffer easily figures out who wants him dead. In fact, everything comes easily to Schaeffer, from killing multiple people at a time to breaking into houses (in one case, by reaching through a dog door to unlock the door latch — how long are this guy’s arms?) to hiding in an unidentified spot that keeps him from being discovered during the (apparently cursory) search of a barn. Even bringing Schaeffer’s plan to fruition is remarkably easy. The plot builds little tension because Schaeffer is never challenged.

Some of the flashbacks are tedious. Let’s face it: every gun range story is the same gun range story. Other stories involve killing lots of people. Those are tedious only because the killings aren’t terribly original. Even the descriptions of shagging housewives while making meat deliveries are a bit lackluster.

Part of the problem with Eddie’s Boy and Thomas Perry novels in general is that Perry writes in a journalistic style that has no flair. His prose is clear but the narrative has a plodding quality. The novel lacks energy. In a story that’s filled with murders and memories of murders, it feels like nothing happens. That’s not a good sign in a thriller.

Despite Perry’s writing style, I like his novels when he delivers a clever and credible plot. He doesn’t do that in Eddie’s Boy. The reason the evil guy has for ordering Schaffer’s death is unconvincing. The plot holds no surprises. I’m on the fence about making this a “Not Recommended,” but the story moves quickly and has some mildly interesting moments. Still, it isn’t a book I would put high on a TBR list.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

This is the fourth book in this consistently good series and it has a plotline fairly similar to the previous book, i.e. the Butcher's Boy is found in his England home by some folks hunting him, BB takes care of them and is soon hunting those responsible. The book is still quite enjoyable and has plenty of twists and turns and action to keep us entertained. If the author should ever revisit BB again, I will be there to take in those new adventures.

I didn't like this book as much as some of Perry's previous books. It has a lot of action - much of it rather unbelievable - and plenty of flashbacks to Eddie's unconventional parenting views. It was rather appalling to read about a person training a young boy to be a hired killer!!

I didn't really connect with any of the characters and though the story was somewhat interesting, I'm hoping Perry's next book will be more to my liking.

Plodding

Thomas Perry has written a lot of books. I have read only a few. The first two I liked a lot, but since then I have been disappointed. Here we have another disappointment.

Michael Shaeffer is a retired assassin who has been left alone and anonymous for almost a decage. Suddenly the bad guys are swarming all over him. The mafia, probably, have put a big contract out on him and broadcast it world wide.

The book is nothing more than Michael running around the world fighting off bounty hunters. Shoot, run. Shoot, run. Hide, shoot, run.

I REALLY don't like this kind of story.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙮. 𝙃𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙝𝙞𝙢.”

This is the fourth book in the Butcher’s Boy series. Although I haven’t read the earlier books, there is substantial backstory in this book to work as a standalone. I picked it up since this series has been highly praised over the years.

Michael Shaeffer, a former hitman known as Butcher’s Boy, is now retired and living peacefully in England with his aristocratic wife. When one night after a summer party four armed intruders show up at their estate with intent to kill Michael, he immediately realises the answer has to lie somewhere in his past. With no idea who they might be, he decides to head to Australia as his wife, Meg, also suggested. But once again his pursuers find him and he has to venture for the States to settle his old scores once again.

From here the story starts to alternate in the present and the past. Michael reminisces about his childhood with his mentor, Eddie Mastrewski and his came to be known as ‘the Butcher’s Boy’and how they had pitted two prominent mafia families against each other to eliminate his enemies one by one.

The story is well paced and I like the backstory involving Michael’s life with Eddie, the butcher. It has a lot of action throughout the story which always results in high number of body counts. Although a plausible story, it seems a bit too far-fetched at times, especially when Michael looks invincible and able to kill as many as mafiosi without even getting a scratch. Still a worthy read.

* Thank you to Grove Atlantic (Mysterious Press), NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC of this book.