Bingo: Left. Main antagonist leaves home to start his “life of adventure” as he puts it, a life of crime
Thomas Perry’s Pursuit is not really a mystery and not quite a thriller. Two men—one a killer for hire, the other not much different but with a little less sociopathy—chase each other around the country to kill the other one.
Varney, the main antagonist, is a young man with a dysfunctional family background. He leaves home for what he calls “a life of adventure” and ends up a highly skilled killer, usually embroiled in some criminal enterprise or another, while maintaining his loner lifestyle. Killing is not just his job, it’s his need.
Prescott, the protagonist, is not much different but he is typically hired to go after bad guys. Cold and ruthless, he has a moral code of sorts, but at base he only seems to be different than Varney in his tempered sociopathy. Is there such a thing as a more honorable sociopath?
Varney commits a mass shooting in a local restaurant. Cooks, waiters, patrons and children are mown down. A criminologist called Milliken is brought in, and feels this was the murder of a particular individual and the rest just collateral. The father of one of the victims wants the killer discovered and killed. Though reluctant, Milliken connects the father to Prescott.
The book follows Prescott and Varney as each pursue the other. Varney, used to being the most adept and clever killer, is enraged as he becomes aware of Prescott’s pursuit. As Prescott manages to almost corner Varney time and again, Varney’s bruised ego fuels his determination to kill Prescott.
While diverting, the crazy traps Prescott creates for Varney are ludicrously elaborate. Twice he sets up spaces in an office and then a whole house to lure Varney in. The places are modified to the last detail. The set ups take a ton of time and money, and at least one is thwarted by Varney in an unlikely scenario of his own. There are a lot of moments like this, untethered to any kind of realism. As long as the reader understands this, the book is a mildly suspenseful read.
