Vanishing Act - (Jane Whitefield) by Thomas Perry (Paperback)

About the Book

Jane Whitefield is in the one-woman business of helping people disappear, teaching fugitives to live with new identities. But this time, Jane walks into a trap that will take all her cunning to escape.

Book Synopsis

A disgraced police officer's request sends Jane Whitefield on a perilous adventure of sacrifice, betrayal, and vengeance--a "gripping" (The Washington Post Book World) novel from the award-winning author of The Butcher's Boy.

"A challenging and satisfying thriller . . . [with] many surprising twists."--The New York Times

Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness--not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fool any pursuer, cover any trail, and then provide her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. Jane knows all the tricks, ancient and modern; in fact, she has invented several of them herself.

So she is only mildly surprised to find an intruder waiting for her when she returns home one day. An ex-cop suspected of embezzling, John Felker wants Jane to do for him what she did for his buddy Harry Kemple: make him vanish. But as Jane opens a door out of the world for Felker, she walks into a trap that will take all her heritage and cunning to escape. . . .

Review Quotes

"Thomas Perry keeps pulling fresh ideas and original characters out of thin air. The strong-willed heroine he introduces in Vanishing Act rates as one of his most singular creations."--The New York Times Book Review

"One thriller that must be read. . . . Perry has created his most complex and compelling protagonist."--San Francisco Examiner

"Riveting . . . satisfying . . . Nobody writes thrillers like Thomas Perry. . . . His books are unpredictable, action-packed, and fueled by a cynical wit and observant eye for detail. . . . In Jane Whitefield, Perry has created a unique heroine, an ultracompetent woman attuned to the ancient ways of her ancestors and to the harsh realities of the moder, bureaucratic world."--San Francisco Chronicle

"The action is nonstop."--Detroit News

"On one level Vanishing Act is a typical classy and quirky Perry thriller, full of the sort of syllogistic logic in which things snap into place like so many Lego blocks. But it is also a very rational book about the limits of rationality . . . it is more than merely entertaining: It is brave."--The Boston Sunday Globe

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Thomas Perry won an Edgar Award for The Butcher's Boy, and Metzger's Dog was one of the New York Times's Notable Books of the Year. His other books include The Face-Changers, Shadow Woman, Dance for the Dead, and Vanishing Act. Thomas Perry died in 2025.