Sleeping Dogs

By: Thomas Perry

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

He came to England to rest. He calls himself Michael Shaeffer, says he's a retired American businessman. He goes to the races, dates a kinky aristocrat, and sleeps with dozens of weapons. Ten years ago it was different. Then, he was the Butcher's Boy, the highly skilled mob hit man who pulled a slaughter job on some double-crossing clients and started a mob war. Ever since, there's been a price on his head. Now, after a decade, they've found him.

The Butcher's Boy escapes back to the States with more reasons to kill. Until the odds turn terrifyingly against him...until the Mafia, the cops, the FBI, and the damn Justice Department want his hide...until he's locked into a cross-country odyssey of fear and death that could tear his world to pieces.

©2008 Thomas Perry (P)2009 Tantor

this is it

EVEN THOUGH I WAS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE BUTCHER'S BOY, I DO LIKE THOMAS PERRY'S OTHER OUTINGS ( METZGER'S DOG, BIG FISH, THE JANE WHITFIELD SERIES...) AND THOUGHT I'D GIVE THIS ONE A TRY. AM I EVER GLAD I DID. THOUGH IT CONTAINS MANY OF THE SAME CHARACTERS FROM THE BUTCHER'S BOY, SLEEPING DOGS IS A FAR SUPERIOR NOVEL. THE STORY OF THE BUTCHER BOY THWARTING AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE, AND THEN HIS SUBSEQUENT REVENGE IS SUBLIME ENTERTAINMENT. THIS ONE HAS ALL THE PERRY TRADE MARKS: FANTASTIC PACING, HUMOR, AND DETAILED SET UPS AND PAY OFFS THAT MAKE THOSE ACTION SEQUENCES SO VIVID. AND MICHAEL KRAMER DOES A SUPERB JOB WITH THE NARRATION OF THE WORK. VERY PLEASED WITH THIS ONE.

It is possible to root for the "bad guy"!

This edition of the Butcher's Boy series is an incredible piece of writitng that just had me mesmerized. I loved being carried along in this stream of coincidences and mistaken identities as the Butcher's Boy once again makes his way across the U.S. on a mission, and my suspension of disbelief was firmly in place as I listened.

I don't know how to give a review of this book beyond my astonishment that I thought it was so good. It's both a simple and complex plot, and the characters are coming from different angles at the same information, with the listener in the background just drinking it in and thinking (at least I was), "No! That's not it at all!" We want to root for the government girl (Elizabeth), of course, but we want to root for the the assassin-protagonist (the Butcher's Boy), too. And in all of this, there is poignancy, sadness, suspense, and an undertone of humor that I think is a little bit of Thomas Perry's magic.

I recommend that you read the first installment (The Butcher's Boy) to have a full appreciation of this one, but I don't think it's totally necessary. Perry gives enough information when referring to events of 10 years before that you wouldn't be lost.

And of course, Michael Kramer's narration is superb.

Amazing!

Pure Entertainment

This is my 2nd of the three book series and I found I enjoyed this one as much, if not better than the first one. well written, suspenseful and exciting. What else would one want from a book?

Ok

It’s ok but just to many stupid errors yank you from story, people waiting for a hit let him in because he pulled up in a security car but doesn’t have on a uniform just regular civilian clothes, could have killed female and got away but this one time had conscious, etc. The writer says he wants us to like him but keeps killing good guys or setting them up to be killed and will kill a four year old child if necessary. That ain’t the way writer. I would try something different from the writer but nothing in this series.

Definitely read The Butcher's Boy First

Really good book; events that happened in the Butcher's Boy are referred to and summarized, but you really need to have read that book. Both are great. I couldn't quite believe this one ended as it did, and yet in retrospect I don't know how else it could have ended. I recommend it - so long as you read BB's first.

I wanted to like it

I really wanted to like this book after reading The Butcher's boy. I really liked that book. I think i liked Butcher's Boy because the main character spent so much time with the female character (cant remember names). I felt invested in those two characters in the first book of this series. But Sleeping Dogs had nothing similar. The whole book was about the main character, whose name changes in the book, evading others and taking out those who wanted to take his life. It was about how he plotted each event and a lot about how he thought and planned. But there were so many different characters. I had to keep replaying sections because I would ask myself "who is this guy?" I didn't feel invested in any of the characters in the book and it seemed boring. I had a hard time paying attention. It just wasn't for me.

Fast paced and well written

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes... depending on the friend. I didn't need to have read any of the previous "Butcher's Boy" stories to find this book lots of fun.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were developed early and none of the back-story was badly inserted (many authors don't master this)

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favorite?

The Butcher's boy, by any other name.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but not mandatory.

Any additional comments?

This was the first book I read of this series, and was excited to read the others; unfortunately the prior books did not measure up.

A dark comedy of errors

This is what thrillers look like when they grow up. Dark, sardonic, very funny; full of well-grounded movement; a solid idea of how the world works; wonderful characters, some of whom you end up caring about a great deal. To see just how well Thomas Perry does all this, compare it with one of the cheap knock offs, say Tom Woods' The Killer.

I've read the novel several times, and if the narrator wasn't right, I wouldn't have touched the audiobook. Michael Kramer gives the kind of reading that works so well you can't imagine doing it any other way.

Entertaining

Very good pulp fiction with over the top action. Need to leave reality behind and just enjoy the excitement. I have next in series in my library.

The assassin is back!

Thomas Perry gives us an assassin that you want to root for! The man is a killing machine, and you hoping he gets away, one more time. You cheer for the bad guy as he goes through his adventure, one close call after another all the way to the ending.