Island [Paperback]

Thomas Perry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This absorbing adventure should reap even more raves than did Perry's award-winner, The Butcher's Boy, and its successors. Exciting, funny and moving moments blend in events set afoot by Harry and Emma Erskine, abetted by fellow con artists. Flying from a mobster Harry cheated, the couple land in Miami where they enlist a Caribbean smuggler, Lord Carnavaron, in a new scam. Aboard his boat, the three travel to various locales where they recruit other partners on the way to Harry's objective, an uninhabited island far off the shipping lanes. The companions turn the place into an exotic attraction for wealthy vacationers who fulfill Harry's dream of the riches he and his friends intend to accumulate. But they have established the island as an independent country, home to uprooted Caribbeans, and its affluence draws the attention of secret government agencies as well as the Mafia. Here the story builds into unexpected, irresistible dimensions. As armies attempt to take over the country, the author intensifies our feelings for his beguiling group, roguesrogues in name only.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Harry and Emma Erskine are con artists who leave the States with a lot of money not their own. They team up with Vickers, a professional soldier, and a couple of other less than reputable characters. Poring over maps, they discover an unregistered island that they build up into a tax haven and touristy attraction so successful someone tries an invasion. What begins as a caper soon oozes out in all directions until the cuteness fades, the action becomes predictable, and too many new characters and plot lines appear. The book fizzles out to a boring conclusion of confusing patrotism, Haitian immigrants, and deja vu . A disappointment from the author of Metger's Dog . Robert H. Donahugh, Youngstown and Mahoning Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (April 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380706636
• ISBN-13: 978-0380706631
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,101 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

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to find, worth the search, April 18, 2002

By 

Erik D. Jens (Bainbridge Island, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Island (Hardcover)

Much as I enjoy Perry's Jane Whitfield tales, I regret that his wonderful pre-Jane novels are almost all out of print: Butcher's Boy, Big Fish, Metzger's Dog, and especially Island. These books all side with hard-boiled yet intrepid, dryly humorous (sometimes hilarious) bands of petty larcenists stealing from even worse characters than themselves. Island has a married couple absconding with the Mob's money, which they use to create a pile of garbage on a sandbar somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle. They then announce the creation of a new nation (and tax haven), import some Native North Americans for an instant indigenous population, and they're off. Complications ensue as the years pass, bigger fish take an interest in Harry and Margaret's scam, and the islanders start forgetting it's all a scheme and begin to get downright patriotic about their tiny island paradise--much to Harry's consternation. Perry has rarely shown the whimsical touch and dry humor in his Whitfield stories as he did in Island and his other early works. I advise anyone finding a mystery-themes used book store to hoover up any old Perry volumes you can find...

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars adds new meaning to the terms long-con and hostile takerover, July 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Island (Paperback)

Island is possibly one of the best caper mysteries ever. Certainly the best I've ever read. Thomas Perry has the unique gift of creating both interesting characters and an engaging and complex thriller/caper plot. His other books are all must reads but this one is a stand alone as we watch how a group of con-artists running from the mob attempt to pull off one of the biggest cons ever-- it's not everyone who can make their own country.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite Book Ever, March 20, 2006

By 

Christine A. Hassan (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Island (Hardcover)

Island is a masterpiece of adventure, suspense, charm, and of all things - nation building - literally! I can't understand why they haven't made a movie of it(Johnny Depp as Harry?). I read constantly in almost every genre and Island remains my all time favorite.