THE OLD MAN
BY THOMAS PERRY
REVIEWED BY LINDA WICKLUND

I've never read Thomas Perry before, but I found this spy story one that moves along nicely and relevant to many stories you see on the news about monies given to foreign countries to help them in many different ways.  This is the story of a military intelligence officer who has been hunted for 35 years, for trying to do the right thing.

The story begins with Dan Chase taking his two big mutts, Dave and Carol, for their daily four to five mile walk in Northern, New England. Dan wore a pair of short leashes hanging around his neck.  His belief was "that all dogs wanted to be good dogs" so if he saw a stranger, he could snap the leashes to their collars. It's at this point that his instincts kick in and he senses that he is being followed. When he returns home there  are no signs that whoever was following him had broken in. But as a cautious man, he sets up some old fashioned security - tin cans connected to invisible fishing line around the entry ways.

I'll leave you hanging right there, but it gets pretty exciting at this point... He collects his escape kit loaded with two guns, spare magazines, three wallets with different identities as well as American and Canadian passports and lots of cash.

As you will find out, as a young man he was discharged from the Army and moved into a civilian special ops status that left no records. His first assignment was to deliver a huge amount of money to Libya to a middle-man named Faris Hamzah. Dan stayed there for two months waiting for the money to do it's work. The insurgents were short of food,  weapons, and fuel. Meanwhile, Faris Hamzah, was driving a new car, a Rolls-Royce and his body guards were driving two new Range Rovers. When he reported this to his handler, his reply was "you only gave him twenty million". It was then that he made the decision that changed the course of his life.  To try to do the right thing.

Throughout the book Dan takes on several identities and moves several times.  There was even time for a little romance.

 The sad part is that it's not only the Libyan assassins that have him running, but our own government who have falsely labeled him a traitor and a thief as part of a cover-up. I'm sure you've gotten the gist of this story by now.  There is lots of action and exciting parts that have you wondering if he will come out alive.  He's been living on the edge for so many years he's not afraid of death, but would rather be alive enjoying his long walks with his two dogs and maintaining a long-distance relationship with his daughter and two grandsons.

'til next time, happy reading!!!