The Old Man

...I had been watching the series but got distracted and recently decided to see if there was a book and I'm glad I did. It was a refreshing change and now I've got another authors work I like 👍

Thomas Perry is the master thriller writer when it comes to depicting fugitives on the run. His most famous creation, the Butcher's Boy, is a hit man running from both the Law and the Mafia clients who left him out to dry.When I saw the premise of "The Old Man," a novel about a former military intelligence officer who is living a life on the lam because of a covert mission gone wrong in his youth, I was eager to read this (Full Disclosure: I am a former military intelligence officer, still involved in national security consulting, who likes to review books anonymously and pretend I am a secret agent... and I am an "old man," too!).Dan Chase is a seemingly harmless retiree living in Vermont. A 60ish guy with a couple of dogs, his adult daughter nicknamed him "The Old Man." But as a younger man, he was in a compromised operation in Libya in which he recovered $20 million dollars meant to arm a band of Libyan rebels but which, instead, was stolen by the political leader of that group. Unbeknownst to Chase, his US handlers were content to let this corrupted leader keep the money as an influence payment to maintain him in the US orbit. But that meant sacrificing the rest of the rebels. Chase (not his real name), is shocked by this corruption and naively decides to recover the funds... which puts him at odds with his own US handlers. Abandoned by the US government and left "holding the bag," Chase spends the rest of his life putting his operator skills to work living under false identities. He is willing to return the money but circumstances make it impossible so he uses it instead to fund his new life... and to invest it so it continues to provide for his wife and daughter, even as he builds contingency identity after contingency identity, waiting for the inevitable day when someone, US or Libyan, decides to enact their revenge on Chase. That's the premise...The novel is about what happens when the corrupt opposition leader becomes the new Libyan head of state. And the US government, eager to please their client, allows Libyan agents to track Chase down and neutralize him so they can have their revenge.The depiction of the fugitive, assumed identity lifestyle in this novel is a pleasure to read. If you ever fantasized about such things, Thomas Perry gives you a lot of fun pointers in the machinations of Chase as he moves around the country. But that's the highlight of the book.In order to create a storyline from all this, numerous plot twists that don't always make sense are brought to bear. Chase relocates to Chicago, meets a woman who takes him in, manipulates her, drags her into his life on the run and then drops her like a hot potato. And we aren't really sure why but it ends all sympathy for our hero.Then we are introduced to the US military intelligence operative who is helping the Libyans. He's a contractor who secretly respects Chase (whose real name, we learn, is Michael Kohler). And this leads to a couple of more plot twists, plus a needlessly long secondary story about this character's love life.Then we are given a long, needlessly absurd backstory about the woman Chase abandons while on the run. Apparently she has some sketchiness in her own life.Then the novel has a climactic ending in a foreign country that is meant to set everything right. I won't spoil it but it felt too clean and easy to be real. It was a plotted out deus ex machina that I am sure many people really liked. But alas, it felt unsuspenseful and ridiculously forced to me.I know Thomas Perry fans will hate my review, but this is just not that great. The premise is, and the fugitive stuff is fun... but that's a Perry staple.Anyway, giving this three stars won't diminish Perry's fan base or book sales one iota.I even hear this is being made into a TV series. It should. It's a brilliant premise.Recommended for the good stuff... if you can stomach the mediocre parts.

Saw and enjoyed the show, decided to try the book. This is the first one of Perry's I've read and I generally enjoyed it. It's a quick read, liked the author's style and would put this into the category of a "good airplane" book.The book while entertaining is a bit of a one-trick pony: The old man who is on the run is nearly caught, he outsmarts the 'bad guys' and gets away. Rinse and repeat like 3-4 times. I found the background in how the old man stages his life on the lam and escapes interesting and the author goes into details about this. The finale seems a bit rushed and a bit underwhelming but again, it's a bit of (somewhat) mindless entertainment.Now comes the controversy: I think the TV show was superior. The book has basically three major characters and they are well-written and well-rounded. The old man, Zoe, and Julian (the 'assassin' in the show). Haper, the old man's daughter, the real bad guy, and his wife (nonexistent in the book) are basically missing in the book. In the show, the relationship between the old man and Harper, their relationship with the old man's daughter (who works for Harper), and even the Waters character are far, far more interesting and played out. I will admit I kind of hate Zoe in the show but at least she's someone to pay attention to. In the show's dream sequence, the old man blows her brains out in the 2nd episode and I was happy until I found it, it didn't really happen. In the book, the two are loving but the motivations for this are iffy. Yes, the book and show are very different! I just think the showrunners have developed a far more interesting interaction with the characters. The details of how the old man set up his 30 years of survival, well outlined in the book and interesting, isn't something that would translate to the show.Bottom line: if you saw the show first and are thinking about the book, go for it. Don't expect a lot of character-driven movement like the show.What I think everyone should agree with, both book and show are the dogs (Dave and Carol) are wonderful and are missed.

At times I had to get all the characters back in line but book was well written and I always enjoy military reads.

Overall a good action packed novel. The author added good amount of details without making it a "driver's education book about how to get from point A to point B".Recommend this to anyone that enjoys action and intrigue.

I liked the reality of it. Very real and believable. I would have preferred a bit more at the end to wrap things up.

And this one is right up there in my favorites.

Fantastic premise that sucks you into the story immediately and takes you on a thrilling ride.A great look at what happens to an honest man in a dishonest trade, that is government sanctioned.Nice to read about a character that has "snow on the roof".You will fall in love with "Dave and Carol". Tell me you don't!

Difícil interromper a leitura. A autor administra muito bem a sequência dos eventos, mantendo a expectativa desde o início de como o personagem principal vai conseguir manter-se vivo até o final. O “Old Man” ganha desde o início a simpatia do leitor que aceita nem os inevitáveis exageros das habilidades do herói, temperadas por doses bem administradas de certas atitudes um tanto condenáveis mas indispensáveis para sua sobrevivência. Gostei muito!

Having read the majority of Perry's novels I read this one in disbelief at the contrived stupidity of the story and the characters.The only good in the book are Dave and Carol - the two dogs.If the humans had been one tenth of them this novel might have stood a chance. But they weren't and it didn't.Can't understand how and why this book came to be written.

This is a wonderful read. Perry seems to be hitting a high average with most of his stories, and this is no exception.

My first. Not my last. I liked the characters and was surprised by the ending. Well reseatcjed, no obvious errors.