Strip by Thomas Perry

The Book:

Gangster Kapek was robbed be a masked man and he is enraged. His men hunt for the robber and after some questioning around come back with the name of “Joe Craver”. Kapek is not concerned if Craver is his man, but he knows that he needs to punish someone to instigate fear. Meanwhile Jefferson (the real robber) and his new girlfriend Carrie continue to rob Kapek.

Is Craver going to hide or fight back? Has Kapek’s luck run out and are his friends going to make use it?

The View:

I decided to give Thomas Perry a shot as he was highly recommended by my community librarian. I did very little research (because of my source) and picked up his latest work “The Strip”. This was my first book by the author and it is not going to be my last.

The story of “The Strip” was different and fresh. I detest gangster books as I find that most of them are very raw and distasteful; however looks like I may change my opinion soon. The beginning of the book was catchy and kept me glued but as I kept progressing the story got sluggish. This was in spite of the fact that lots was still happening (probably too much). At the end the vigor and rush was back and it only got better with each page-turn. I don’t want to give any spoilers but for me the best part was understanding who were allies or the enemies.

The characters were well described. Joe Craver is a man of substance who chooses to face the gangster Kapek and explain things to him. Seriously??? You wish you saw more of him every now and then as he seems to be missing a lot. I felt sorry for Kapek (I think this would be a first) but he was a poor judge of character. He was being betrayed by everyone. Carrie was the most annoying sociopath and am glad she died.

“The Strip” is an entertaining read with some juicy twists. It has a lot going on and while it may look like there are many plots; you will realize that they are separate pieces to the whole. A 4 on 5 but make sure you hang on to the book during the boring chapters.

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