Hero

A Booklist, Kirkus, and Deadly Pleasures Magazine Best Thriller of 2024!

A private security agent finds that being branded as the City of Angels’ latest hero could also make her its next victim.…

Justine Poole takes her job seriously providing security for wealthy and high-profile Hollywood stars. When she prevents a brazen robbery at the Beverly Hills home of two of her clients―killing two of the five armed robbers in the process―she is initially lauded in the media as a local hero. But the spotlight soon puts her in the crosshairs of the crime kingpin behind the burglaries.

Unable to stand the embarrassment of his lackeys having been defeated by a lone woman, Mr. Conger puts in a call to the one man who can make his problems disappear. Known for his swiftness and subtlety, Leo Sealy will kill anyone for a price. All he needs is a name and a face, any starting point to pick up his victim’s trail. Luckily for him, the local news is as eager as he is for any information about the heroic bodyguard―and quick to broadcast their findings, regardless of what it might mean for her safety. But Sealy isn’t prepared for just how quick and resourceful Justine can be. So begins a cat and mouse game between two people who know more about how to take down one’s enemies than anyone else in the business.

Justine finds herself up against both a hardened killer and a fickle media landscape that can just as soon turn on her as celebrate her in this high-stakes thriller from the author of The Old Man.

A cat-and-mouse tale done to a turn by a veteran who doesn’t waste a word or a tear.”
―Kirkus STARRED REVIEW

So suspenseful it should be required reading for thrill seekers … A tour de force.”
―Booklist STARRED REVIEW

A fast-paced thriller for those who like novels in which antagonists attempt to outsmart each other.”
―Library Journal

Perry is a gifted storyteller with a perfect sense of pacing and a knack for conjuring up fascinating characters.”
―CrimeReads

The cat-and-mouse suspense that Thomas Perry creates here is quite viable and done in that easy, old-school style that he has mastered so well. . . . Justine proves to be much more than Sealy bargained for, which is what drives HERO to its breathless finale.”
―BookReporter

An original, simply riveting, and a fun read from start to finish.”
―Midwest Book Review

A fine romp, a blood-flecked cartoon of deadly intentions and random chaos.”
―Deadly Pleasures Magazine

Thomas Perry is the bestselling author of over twenty novels, including the critically acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, The Old Man, and The Butcher’s Boy, which won the Edgar Award. He lives in Southern California.

See more titles by Thomas Perry