Dead Aim: A Novel [Hardcover]

Thomas Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 2002

“[Thomas Perry is] a master of nail-biting suspense.”
—Los Angeles Times


In this explosive new novel from the Edgar Award–winning author of The Butcher’s Boy, Blood Money, and other novels of “dazzling ingenuity” (The New York Times Book Review), Thomas Perry gives us a thriller even more startling than his most recent bestseller, Pursuit. In Dead Aim, an unsuspecting man tries to help a young woman on the edge, and finds himself drawn into a lethal struggle with a deadly adversary--and then another, and another, and another.

Robert Mallon has lived for ten quiet years in affluent Santa Barbara, California, when an encounter on a beach with a mysterious young woman shatters his peaceful, carefully constructed life. Despite Mallon’s desperate attempts, he loses her, and he becomes obsessed with discovering why. He hires detective Lydia Marks to uncover the secrets of this stranger’s life, and what they learn propels them into a terrifying underworld of sinister secrets and deadly hatreds. Set against Mallon is the master hunter Parish, a man with an expert understanding of evil, who preys on rich people’s desire for dominance and revenge.

Thomas Perry’s writing is “as sharp as a sushi knife,” said the Los Angeles Times about Blood Money, and the same can be said about this new novel by the author hailed as “one of America’s finest storytellers” (San Francisco Examiner). With Dead Aim, Thomas Perry gives us another brilliant novel of spine-tingling suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though propelled by a tantalizing premise-the investigation of a peculiar suicide-Perry's latest eventually droops under the weight of flat, unengaging characters and predictable plotting. Robert Mallon, a wealthy land developer, has retired early to the gentle climes of Santa Barbara. While he is gazing at the ocean one morning, a young woman, Catherine Broward, calmly walks into the water and disappears under the surf. Mallon rescues her, takes her home, and over the next several hours, the two develop a bond of sorts. Broward won't tell Mallon why she tried to kill herself, but insists she's now OK. The next day, she is found dead in a local park from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Mallon, crushed, wants to know why. He quickly finds several clues-a failed romance, an old murder-yet the most promising lead takes him far into the hills above town, to a self-defense training school, where Broward had spent a month, at great expense, gearing up for some sort of confrontation. On closer inspection, Mallon discovers that the school teaches clients not only how to ward off attackers but how to engage in an ultimate form of excitement-thrill kills. Perry's 13th novel (after the Edgar-winning The Butcher's Boy; etc.) again proves a showcase for his considerable talents-taut prose, finely crafted scenes, solid research. Yet his initially promising plot winds up following the most commonly traveled grooves, concluding with Mallon, hardly a skilled warrior, taking on half a dozen armed, battle-trained killers. It is equally disappointing when, along the way, Perry either kills off or writes out several characters who seem more intriguing than the bland Mallon.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A retired land developer and millionaire, Robert Mallon has been living peacefully in Santa Barbara, CA, for a decade. Then one day on the beach, he meets a young woman whom he saves from suicide. A few hours later, however, she shoots herself, and Robert feels that he should have done more to help her. Guilt drives him to hire his old partner and now a private investigator, Lydia Marks, to help him uncover what motivated Catherine Broward. They find that her last year included time spent at a California ranch specializing in teaching rigorous self-defense. A visit to the ranch is soon followed by an attempt on Robert's life, and he finds himself pursued over Southern California. Perry, an Edgar Award winner and creator of the Jane Whitefield mystery series, never writes the same book twice, and here he chooses a theme that most Americans would probably find implausible. However, in his capable hands the plot becomes totally engrossing and believable. The reader remains gripped in unending suspense and a shocking denouement. For all fiction collections. Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (December 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400060036
• ISBN-13: 978-1400060030
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,426,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

THOMAS PERRY is the author of 19 novels including the Jane Whitefield series (Vanishing Act, Dance for the Dead, Shadow Woman, The Face Changers, Blood Money and Runner), Death Benefits, and Pursuit, the first recipient of the Gumshoe Award for best novel.
He won the Edgar for The Butcher's Boy, and Metzger's Dog was a New York Times Notable Book. The Independent Mystery Bookseller's Association included Vanishing Act in its "100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century," and Nightlife was a New York Times bestseller. Metzger's Dog was voted one of NPR's 100 Killer Thrillers--Best Thrillers Ever.
Thomas Perry was born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester in 1974. He has worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and a writer and producer of prime time network television shows. He lives in Southern California.  His website: www.thomasperryauthor.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Substandard Perry, February 22, 2003

By 

R. H OAKLEY "roboakley" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Aim: A Novel (Hardcover)

Thomas Perry has written a number of excellent thriller; his last one, Pursuit, was well-plotted. Unfortunately, Dead Aim features uninteresting characters, a dubious premise, and an unbelievable ending. The main character, Robert Mallon, is a successful builder forced into an early retirement after a bitter divorce results in him having to sell his business. The plot begins with Mallon saving a woman from committing suicide, only to have her later leave him and finish the job. He eventually discovers that she killed a former boyfriend; she was given training in how to do this from a group of people who run a self-defense camp and who will help their trainees kill people for a fee. Since the trainees kill their victims for a motive (this is not a camp attended by serial killers), one would expect that they would be questioned by the police at some point, and that sooner or later one would give away the scheme. However, nothing like this ever happens.

Not helping matters is that Mallon is a very bland character. A female private detective he hires is more interesting but doesn't survive long enough to carry the book. ....

Let's hope that Perry's next book is a return to form.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perry makes a horrifying premise believable..., December 21, 2002

By 

Legends Fine & Rare Books (Pomona, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Aim: A Novel (Hardcover)

Thomas Perry is, by far, one of the most original storytellers I have read. This is the author who brought to life such characters as The Butcher's Boy, Jane Whitefield, Chinese Gordon and Dr. Henry Metzger and I believe there are more to come. Perry does not disappoint with the steadfast Robert Mallon, from his latest, Dead Aim. Perry is not only gifted and talented, he has an uncanny sense of timing ---he understands when his characters are in danger of becoming stale, cardboard imitation of what they once were. So what does he do? He creates anew, and we are captivated and enthralled once more.

In his new novel Perry has taken a horrifying evil premise and makes it believable.... once the action starts, the reader is swept away, all the way to the last page.

This story begins with Robert Mallon, a wealthy retired landowner, saving a young woman from attempting suicide. He takes her to his home, where upon she runs away while he is out picking up dinner. Days later he reads in the paper of her suicide and he goes down to the police station to file a report. He soon becomes obsessed and must find out why, after he thought he had saved her, given her a new beginning and perhaps a new beginning with him (or for him a new beginning with her) she would kill herself. Either way he blames himself, feeling he did not say the right words or do the rights things or she wouldn't have followed through with her suicide. Mallon hires a private detective. One he knows but has not seen in 10 years. His attorney also makes an appearance when the police start to question him and his motives. It takes Perry awhile to lay the groundwork for the action but once it starts, Mallon takes on an evil that Perry brings to life in only the way he does.

Whether you are a long time Perry collector or just someone who enjoys a great read, Dead Aim is for you. After all, this is Thomas Perry we are talking about!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay but far from his best, December 17, 2002

By 

"jfross4" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Aim: A Novel (Hardcover)

Thomas Perry is one of my favorite authors. At his best, there is no one better. His storylines take you places and show you things you have never even imagined.
Unfortunately, the premise for Dead Aim doesn't stretch credibility, it tears it up into little pieces. Here is what we are expected to swallow:
A month-long "self defense" school for rich people that costs over $1000 a day, where students are screened for revenge issues and those students are discreetly told that they can "hunt" their enemies (or some stranger) for $25,000 a head. For this $25K, the customer gets individual training from several people, who also research the target, set up the spot for killing him, and also kill all witnesses (five in one case we see, four in another) who see the customer make the assassination. This goes on for several YEARS.
We are to believe that this school schedules multiple murders involving rank amateur assassins, and no forensic evidence or routine police investigation work (i.e. who had motive and opportunity) ever trips them up, and NO ONE of these amateurs ever says something to someone who says something to someone else who drops a dime. We haven't seen fiction this implausible since Clancy's Rainbow Six.
Finally, there is one *massive* coincidence near the end that is inexcusable and unnecessary. You'll read it and want to throw the book down.