Slow and steady

I did enjoy this book, but it didn't have any of the heart-thumping moments that I enjoyed in other books by this author.

The plot has two parts, with a lawyer as the connecting point and both parts involving purloined funds. His mother's con man (second) husband stole a lot of money from her, then. died. Years later the son tries to get her money back. He also helps a woman whose investment advisors stole money from her accounts. Although there are some scenes where lives are in danger, it is all and all a pretty calm book. I won't re-read this every few years like I have Butcher's Boy or Metzger's Dog, but it was a solid, if uneventful, read.

So I love Thomas Perry. I'll read anything he writes, or has written.

This was not my favorite.

It has the effortless prose I've come to expect, the interesting angles on a crime story that are his trademark, and the fun details and internal strategies he delivers like no one else.

But it wasn't my favorite.

Maybe it was the thin love story, maybe it was the way it leaned into fraud and inheritance in ways that didn't grab me, or maybe it was the late arrival of not-that-formidable villains. I enjoyed the book, ripped through it in a few days...

... but it wasn't my favorite.

Great book. This is like two stories in one. There plot is entertaining and the characters likeable. I hope there is another book contouring the story

An interesting thriller from an author I have never read. Pro Bono goes so many different directions that once you think you have the book nailed down, it twists a different way. Found this book to be engaging and I kept wanting to go back to it! Overall a fun read and hope this begins a series of Charles Warren books!

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

I have been a fan of Mr. Perry's for a while - specifically his Jane Whitefield series - so I was interested when I saw this new stand alone available as an ARC. This book has a bit of a different theme from the previous books that I've read from him.

We meet Charles Warren - first as a young man who helps uncover a scam being played on his widowed mother by an extremely talented con man, and then later as an attorney who seems to find himself in a similar situation with a different woman.

While the premise of the story was interesting, it felt almost like we were just getting the outline of a story and the contents still needed to be filled in. There was a lack of depth regarding certain circumstances, while at the same time it almost felt like we were then lost in the minutia of certain accounting issues. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not. I think that what was lacking the most was the character development that I have come to expect from this author. The characters felt more like cardboard cutouts and it was hard to feel engaged past a certain level.

I liked Charles as a character, but had trouble feeling anything for any of the other characters in the story. There are a couple of characters that are placed directly into the plot of the story - two ex convicts - that I had a hard time making their situation make sense. Then there are the "bad guys" who end up almost being caricatures of themselves.

In the end, it was a quick and easy read and the storyline does have a completed story arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Penzler Publishers | Mysterious Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone. This book will be out for publication on January 14, 2025.

I have loved every Thomas Perry book and once again he has written a great one.
I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Charles’s an attorney skilled at recovering money from embezzling etc. … when he was young his mother married a man who stole her money.
A young widow asks for his help as someone is stealing her money. Someone doesn’t want him finding the money as he is followed, shot at, and his briefcase is stolen- but nothing will stop him. This was a nail biter!

I really enjoyed this as a thriller novel, it had that element that I was hoping for and enjoyed about this type of story. The characters worked with the plot and was written in a realistic way that I was invested in. Thomas Perry has a strong writing style and was able to create that conspiracy and tension that I was looking for.

Another good novel from author Thomas Perry. An attorney tries to help a woman who has been conned retrieve her assets. the trials and tribulations that lawyer Charles Warren goes through include putting his own life at risk. I love Thomas Perry novels, but oncede that Pro bono is a bit uneven. Worth the read, though.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Wow. Thank you for the opportunity to preview Pro Bono by my favorite author. This is a book with many aspects. My head was spinning and when I think I know what’s going on I am totally taken by surprise.
It starts with a con man who has just stolen a woman’s life savings. A bunch of prisoners driving a bus from a job on their way back to prison. And last but not least a young man driving a fast car on the highway and he’s on a mission.
Worlds collide and so begins our novel. That’s all I can say for now except this is my favorite book of the year so far. 5 stars!!!!recommend highly.

Pro Bono tells the story of a con man who marries or otherwise seduces women enabling him to manipulate and steal their assets. One of these women engages the services of an attorney in an attempt to find and recover money stolen or embezzled from her investment accounts. There are several interesting twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued. Along the way, the attorney is followed, shot at and undeterred in his attempt to investigate this case on behalf of his pro bono client. The novel is a quick and enjoyable read and I thank NetGalley and Mysterious Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to its publication.

3.75 stars rounded up

Parts of this book took the reader a n a thrill ride. However, this book felt like 3 different stories blended into one and sometimes a little disjointed in the transition.

The story starts with an incredible opening scene. It moves forward from the past time to the present.

I watch the series The Old Man by Thomas Perry and had loved it. Did I love it because of the actors or the writing. Both. I had an expectation of something as high caliber. It’s not to say it didn’t live up to an incredible story but it’s like there’s this scene where two guys are killed and it’s never mentioned by the main characters who they discovered who it was.

The final action scene of the book had me scratching my head. Why would these woman need “more” money that led them to want to kill Charlie’s mom. And we don’t get a scene after the police show up to tell us what happened.

Great action but at times we got step by step of meetings to fire people that seemed excruciatingly long and whole scenes not even mentioned after, for instance, the shoot out at the office.

Love how this author writes but I think there are areas I would edit.

Thanks for the advance copy to review.

First, thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a welcome return to form for this author as I was thoroughly entertained by this book. A widowed mother gets scammed by a con artist who sweeps her off her feet, and the son who saves her sums in up in a nutshell. The characters were believable and relatable, and I enjoyed how the author weaved together a few different threads into the story and ultimately brought it to a satisfying ending. My one complaint would be that the ending seemed abrupt, but this is a minor detail as in reality I would have to say that the author probably didn't have a lot more places to go and this was certainly better than meandering at the end. Bravo Mr. Perry! I look forward to your next book with eager anticipation. 4-stars!

The author is a true artist, and he’s crafted another very good story. We meet the protagonist as a youth and then again as a lawyer specializing in finances. Two cases dominate the novel as women have been cheated out of their money. The plots in both are well designed, interesting, and entertaining. The characters fit their roles very well, and keep the story moving. Looking forward to the author’s next book already.

I am a huge Thomas Perry fan, and have been for longer than I care to remember. Perry writes old-school mysteries and thrillers, and I mean that in the very best sense of the phrase. I have to honestly say, however, that PRO BONO is a long way from his best.

The plot is convoluted and a little difficult to keep straight, and it occasionally seemed to come to false endings, only to lurch forward again. The cast of characters is enormous and, since all of them have very common names, it was sometimes difficult to keep them straight. I found myself more than once having to flip back several chapters to figure out who somebody was.

I'll read anything that Perry publishes, but PRO BONO was a modest disappointment to me.

I long ago gave up caring what any particular novel by Mr. Perry was about. I just dive right in and read whatever he writes in the expectation that I will love it or at least really really like it. He has several series and a bunch of stand alone novels. (Some of the stand alones have references showing they take place in the same realty as other stand alones.)
Pro Bono is a stand alone novel. If there are any references to characters from other novels I missed them in my eagerness to devour this book. Which I did in very nearly a single sitting, only taking a minimal amount of time from it to answer some work emails.
I hate giving spoilers when chatting about books and the general plot you can get from the cover copy.
What I think I can say is that at 31% in I said to my spouse "huh, the stories done but I am less than a third in. I wonder what he (Mr. Perry) is doing next?" I was not worried, just intrigued. This novel has a somewhat different structure than his others. Though, looking back, I can see elements of Pro Bono's structure in his Small Town.
If you have not read any Mr. Perry's novels before you won't go wrong starting with Pro Bono. Then you will have the joy of discovering his many others.

As someone in the legal field this was really fun to read. Very interesting, however Patterson has done at least 10x already so it didn't feel original.