The Butcher’s Boy (1982) was the first novel from Thomas Perry, one of my favourite authors of late.

It’s remarkably mature and sophisticated.

 Perry won the 1983 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel.

According to Stephen King, “there are probably only a half dozen suspense writers alive who can be depended upon to deliver high voltage shocks, vivid, sympathetic characters, and compelling narratives each time they publish. Thomas Perry is one of them.”

Rochester.edu

The Butcher’s Boy, features as its protagonist a professional hitman …

After dispatching an innocent union member and a U.S. Senator, he arrives in Las Vegas, Nevada to pick up his fee. Instead of a payoff he finds himself on the wrong end of a murder contract.

The Butcher’s Boy seeks to collect the debt by terrorizing the Mafia – the lifelong source of his freelance jobs and current nemesis – into backing off. …

A fascinating character.

The second story line follows Elizabeth Waring, a bright young, unmarried analyst in the Justice Department, who seems mostly incompetent in trying to catch up to the killer. Her role was unimportant to me — but she appears again in the sequel ➙ Sleeping Dogs.