Book review: A hider of people is hunted in 'Left-Handed Twin'

“The Left-Handed Twin” by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)

Since she married a wealthy surgeon, Jane Whitefield has been trying to leave her old life behind, but when a friend sends a terrified young woman named Sara to her, Jane feels compelled to help.

Working with her boyfriend, Sara had been making a lot of money as a Hollywood party planner. But that was before she cheated on him and he found out. After he killed her lover right in front of her, she testified against him. But when a jury failed to convict him, he vowed to kill her for her double betrayal.

So begins “The Left-Handed Twin,” the ninth novel in Thomas Perry's series featuring Whitefield, a modern woman with the sensibilities of her Seneca Native American ancestors, who is an expert at helping terrified people disappear.

This time, however, it isn't just the person Jane is helping who is being hunted.

Sara's boyfriend seeks the Russian mafia's help to track her down. They agree, but not because they care about finding Sara. They've heard whispers about the mysterious woman who has helped dozens of people disappear and know that there are others who would pay dearly to learn the woman's secrets.

So it is Jane, not Sara, whom they are really after.

The result is a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that unfolds as Jane, intent on protecting Sara even at the expense of her own life, leads pursuers on an often violent chase that begins in the Buffalo, New York, suburbs and veers from New York City to Boston to Maine's Appalachian wilderness.

The tension is thick, the story unfolds at a rapid pace, the characters are well-developed, and, as usual in a Thomas Perry novel, the tale is tightly written.