REVIEW by @Fidget78: Vanishing Act By Thomas Perry

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…. 


For all the ladies out there who shy away from books written by a male author, you’ll love this book and the whole series.  This book was published in 1995 before the cell phone revolution so you can’t read it based on today’s technologies.  It just wouldn’t work.  There’s a latter book in the series that acknowledges how the methods used in the first several of the Jane Whitfield Series, wouldn’t be viable today.  It still makes a good read.  I was very skeptical about a book written by a male with a female main character but my sister-in-law just wouldn’t give up.  I broke down and ordered the first book in a used paperback.  About a third of the way through, I reordered the book in hard cover and then ordered the rest of the series.
Jane Whitfield is of Native American descent.  She keeps a very low profile and doesn’t have a lot of friends.  Her next door neighbor, Jake Reinert, a somewhat nosy old man, has known Jane since she was born and he tries to keep an eye on her for safety’s sake.  If he didn’t know that she made her living with a “research and consulting business “, he would be extremely worried about where her money came from.  Sometimes Jane is gone a couple of days but other occasions several months.  She keeps weird hours and strange people are  always showing up at her house.
Jane is a guide.  Not the sightseeing type but the kind that helps people disappear, alive but gone forever.  Not only is the story fascinating but if you like in-depth research about Indian culture, Mr. Perry provides it in quantity.  I’ve read this series several times and the Indian history doesn’t get old.  I always pick up something new.  Jane’s resourcefulness and brains make this the series that it is.  She is a strong. tenacious female lead but not flashy or predictable.  Mr. Perry’s descriptive ability is awe inspiring.  You actually see and feel what Jane does.  Take a chance on Jane and let her inspire you.
As I stated in my bio, I don’t often give 5 Star ratings but this book earned it on it’s own.  (Since I’m starting with my all time favorite oldies, you’ll see several 5 Stars coming at you, but I’m not fickle, really)