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Peril: A Novel
Sara Labriola is a married woman haunted by the shattering secrets of her past—and terrified of the future. Tired of living in fear—and knowing that if she stays in her marriage she'll be killed—Sara decides to do the only thing she she makes herself disappear.
One afternoon, without telling a soul, she packs a single suitcase and leaves her life in Long Island behind. In New York City, she will reinvent herself. She will change her identity, and maybe even get the happy ending she's always dreamed of. But that dream is about to become a nightmare when her father-in-law decides to make her pay for abandoning his son.
Leo Labriola runs his modest but lucrative criminal organization like he does his family—with unspeakable brutality and zero tolerance for disobedience. He's determined to teach Sara a lesson and he'll stop at nothing to do it. Now six differently desperate and dangerous men—each with the power to destroy her—are on Sara's trail. But none of them suspect that the woman they are seeking has a dangerous secret of her own. For Sara is leading all of them down a path of private demons, past sins, and the deadliest peril.
One afternoon, without telling a soul, she packs a single suitcase and leaves her life in Long Island behind. In New York City, she will reinvent herself. She will change her identity, and maybe even get the happy ending she's always dreamed of. But that dream is about to become a nightmare when her father-in-law decides to make her pay for abandoning his son.
Leo Labriola runs his modest but lucrative criminal organization like he does his family—with unspeakable brutality and zero tolerance for disobedience. He's determined to teach Sara a lesson and he'll stop at nothing to do it. Now six differently desperate and dangerous men—each with the power to destroy her—are on Sara's trail. But none of them suspect that the woman they are seeking has a dangerous secret of her own. For Sara is leading all of them down a path of private demons, past sins, and the deadliest peril.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 25, 2005
21 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Thomas H. Cook
99 books358 followersThere is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Thomas H. Cook has been praised by critics for his attention to psychology and the lyrical nature of his prose. He is the author of more than 30 critically-acclaimed fiction books, including works of true crime. Cook published his first novel, Blood Innocents, in 1980. Cook published steadily through the 1980s, penning such works as the Frank Clemons trilogy, a series of mysteries starring a jaded cop.
He found breakout success with The Chatham School Affair (1996), which won an Edgar Award for best novel. Besides mysteries, Cook has written two true-crime books including the Edgar-nominated Blood Echoes (1993). He lives and works in New York City.
Awards
Edgar Allan Poe – Best Novel – The Chatham School Affair
Barry Award – Best Novel – Red Leaves
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – The Chatham School Affair
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – Red Leaves
Herodotus Prize – Fatherhood
Thomas H. Cook has been praised by critics for his attention to psychology and the lyrical nature of his prose. He is the author of more than 30 critically-acclaimed fiction books, including works of true crime. Cook published his first novel, Blood Innocents, in 1980. Cook published steadily through the 1980s, penning such works as the Frank Clemons trilogy, a series of mysteries starring a jaded cop.
He found breakout success with The Chatham School Affair (1996), which won an Edgar Award for best novel. Besides mysteries, Cook has written two true-crime books including the Edgar-nominated Blood Echoes (1993). He lives and works in New York City.
Awards
Edgar Allan Poe – Best Novel – The Chatham School Affair
Barry Award – Best Novel – Red Leaves
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – The Chatham School Affair
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – Red Leaves
Herodotus Prize – Fatherhood
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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September 8, 2025erkekler aşırı aptal ve beyinsizler ya gerçekten
February 5, 2012
I enjoyed this book, I read it in a day as I couldn't put it down. It wasn't the strongest of plots, but it was entertaining. Easy to follow, not too descriptive and to the point which was great. I liked the dialogue, and I found myself really making a gangster movie in my head with all the voices as I read. I would read more by this author.
July 8, 2016
The story is a little difficult to keep track of because there are so many characters. However, you soon get used to the style and realize that each character's story flows nicely from one to the next.
October 6, 2007
Could be used to define the term "page-turner," though it strains credulity a tad. Cook allows a charming -- and unexpected -- sense of humor to enter his work this time around.
January 6, 2020
My first finished book of 2020 is Thomas H. Cook’s 2004 novel Peril. Unlike most of the other books I’ve read by Cook, which have generally focused on one narrator, Peril lets the reader see the same set of circumstances through a variety of lenses.
Sara Labriola is hoping to disappear. After nine years of marriage to Tony, she can’t go on and so one day she packs her clothes, leaves her wedding ring and takes the bus into Manhattan.
Tony is devastated when he discovers Sara missing, but his father, Leo, is furious. Leo is a thug who berates everyone around him, including Tony who has never had the nerve to stand up to him. Leo tells his guy Caruso to find Sara and Caruso leverages the help of Mortimer Dodge because he owes Leo money. Dodge works for a guy named Stark, a guy whose job it is to find people.
Need a chart yet? Let’s recap.
Sara runs away from Tony.
Tony wants to find his wife before his father does because he knows that if Leo finds her first the consequences will be grim. He tasks his employee and friend Eddie with helping him.
Leo gets Caruso on the job. Caruso gets Mortimer on the job. Mortimer gets Stark on the job.
Sara is in NY and thinks she has found a job singing in a night club owned by Abe, who happens to know Mortimer.
It all sounds way more complicated than it is and it’s actually way more compelling than this, too, and that’s because, well, Thomas H. Cook wrote it.
You know how you can read some thrillers or mysteries and they’re just straight ahead books that are driven by plot but not much else? Yeah, that’s not Cook. There is not a character in this novel who doesn’t have a totally believable backstory that makes them, even when they are not particularly likeable, sympathetic. (The exception here is Leo Labriola, who is a misogynistic asshat.) And I mean every character, even characters we only meet a couple times, like the mother of Sara’s neighbour, Della.
And if you think all this backstory is going to bog down the plot – which would be bad, too – forget about it. You’ll turn the pages lickety-split because, well, Thomas H. Cook. He balances character and story and even if some of what happens here seems a tad too coincidental, you won’t care. At all.
There’s something old school about Peril. It’s like a noir film, peopled with shadowy gangsters in crumpled hats, a beautiful, fragile heroine who earns the good will of the men she meets, and a bunch of guys who ultimately, turn out to be loyal and decent.
You will NEVER be wasting your time to read a Cook book. (Couldn’t resist.)
Sara Labriola is hoping to disappear. After nine years of marriage to Tony, she can’t go on and so one day she packs her clothes, leaves her wedding ring and takes the bus into Manhattan.
Tony is devastated when he discovers Sara missing, but his father, Leo, is furious. Leo is a thug who berates everyone around him, including Tony who has never had the nerve to stand up to him. Leo tells his guy Caruso to find Sara and Caruso leverages the help of Mortimer Dodge because he owes Leo money. Dodge works for a guy named Stark, a guy whose job it is to find people.
Need a chart yet? Let’s recap.
Sara runs away from Tony.
Tony wants to find his wife before his father does because he knows that if Leo finds her first the consequences will be grim. He tasks his employee and friend Eddie with helping him.
Leo gets Caruso on the job. Caruso gets Mortimer on the job. Mortimer gets Stark on the job.
Sara is in NY and thinks she has found a job singing in a night club owned by Abe, who happens to know Mortimer.
It all sounds way more complicated than it is and it’s actually way more compelling than this, too, and that’s because, well, Thomas H. Cook wrote it.
You know how you can read some thrillers or mysteries and they’re just straight ahead books that are driven by plot but not much else? Yeah, that’s not Cook. There is not a character in this novel who doesn’t have a totally believable backstory that makes them, even when they are not particularly likeable, sympathetic. (The exception here is Leo Labriola, who is a misogynistic asshat.) And I mean every character, even characters we only meet a couple times, like the mother of Sara’s neighbour, Della.
And if you think all this backstory is going to bog down the plot – which would be bad, too – forget about it. You’ll turn the pages lickety-split because, well, Thomas H. Cook. He balances character and story and even if some of what happens here seems a tad too coincidental, you won’t care. At all.
There’s something old school about Peril. It’s like a noir film, peopled with shadowy gangsters in crumpled hats, a beautiful, fragile heroine who earns the good will of the men she meets, and a bunch of guys who ultimately, turn out to be loyal and decent.
You will NEVER be wasting your time to read a Cook book. (Couldn’t resist.)
January 28, 2014
Every THC book has that something about it which I cant explain unless you read it. This book like many of his others has that as well. His prose is still here which is a plus as always but this book does not compete with Chatham School Affair or Breakheart Hill. The story is all over the place and hard to follow at first because of so many characters but you manage by the time you reach the halfway mark. The only downfall to this book I think is that there were too many characters and a few were not really necessary (Della and her mother). Aside that, the book is interesting and engaging and the twist is decent in the end.
June 11, 2014
Another "quiet" stunner by Cook. Sara runs away from her home and husband leaving no clues behind. However, her father-in-law, a faux old-time Mafia "don" wants her found. So the string of those looking for Sara starts.
It's an amazing strand. A professional "finder" who has a secret dread, his partner (who has discovered he has approximately 3 months to live, the husband, and several more.
Although the story is told in 3rd person, the viewpoint shifts and each chapter allows several viewpoints - under headings so you know who is the focus.
Every time you think you have an idea what's going to happen - yeah, he only has 3 months to live so what does he care? - the plot twists again, like real life. The ending is marvelous and, for me, totally unexpected. A small clue to it is dropped earlier in the book, but I had almost forgotten it, and then - WHAM! Plus, the characters all have inner lives - regrets, decisions, second thoughts - that make them richer and, in a sense, harder to understand.
This is a great book for anyone who likes complicated mysteries with realistically drawn characters and a slice of real life thrown in.
It's an amazing strand. A professional "finder" who has a secret dread, his partner (who has discovered he has approximately 3 months to live, the husband, and several more.
Although the story is told in 3rd person, the viewpoint shifts and each chapter allows several viewpoints - under headings so you know who is the focus.
Every time you think you have an idea what's going to happen - yeah, he only has 3 months to live so what does he care? - the plot twists again, like real life. The ending is marvelous and, for me, totally unexpected. A small clue to it is dropped earlier in the book, but I had almost forgotten it, and then - WHAM! Plus, the characters all have inner lives - regrets, decisions, second thoughts - that make them richer and, in a sense, harder to understand.
This is a great book for anyone who likes complicated mysteries with realistically drawn characters and a slice of real life thrown in.
June 13, 2019
Another winner by Thomas Cook. Each novel he writes has a totally different plot, no sequel after sequel for this guy. More realistic characters, especially Leo. For once all his foul language was appropriate to the story, as many Italian men really talk that way!!
November 29, 2023
Brilliant
July 17, 2016
https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#
I won't give you synopsis of the story; that's easy enough to read. But I will tell you why I gave this book a 5 star rating and why I'm going to look for more books by this author.
Admittedly, it did start a tad slow, ambiguous, and perplexing. I don't always have patience with stories that unravel piece by piece at a snail's pace, but I was hooked from the beginning. Cook is an author new to me, and I wanted to give it a fair chance.
The entire book is written in chapters or sections dealing with each individual character. None are in first person, though, and keeping characters straight was surprisingly easy despite the number of them continually involved throughout the book. Not the style I usually choose, but well done in this instance.
Transitioning from one character to the next takes a moment of thought, setting the scene in one's head and calculating the timeline in terms of the overall story. That's fine with me; I like a book that makes me think without making me think I'm just not getting it (LOL).
Right up until the final pages, which I held off until Sunday morning to savor the suspense, there were twists and turns, unexpected events, and links between characters I did not see coming. It's a well crafted piece, leaving just enough to the imagination while defining the characters and their settings. A very nice balance in that regard, allowing the reader to draw upon his/her imagination.
I hope Cook's other novels are as compelling. I'll be looking for more of them at my library, and hope you will check out this title for yourself.
I won't give you synopsis of the story; that's easy enough to read. But I will tell you why I gave this book a 5 star rating and why I'm going to look for more books by this author.
Admittedly, it did start a tad slow, ambiguous, and perplexing. I don't always have patience with stories that unravel piece by piece at a snail's pace, but I was hooked from the beginning. Cook is an author new to me, and I wanted to give it a fair chance.
The entire book is written in chapters or sections dealing with each individual character. None are in first person, though, and keeping characters straight was surprisingly easy despite the number of them continually involved throughout the book. Not the style I usually choose, but well done in this instance.
Transitioning from one character to the next takes a moment of thought, setting the scene in one's head and calculating the timeline in terms of the overall story. That's fine with me; I like a book that makes me think without making me think I'm just not getting it (LOL).
Right up until the final pages, which I held off until Sunday morning to savor the suspense, there were twists and turns, unexpected events, and links between characters I did not see coming. It's a well crafted piece, leaving just enough to the imagination while defining the characters and their settings. A very nice balance in that regard, allowing the reader to draw upon his/her imagination.
I hope Cook's other novels are as compelling. I'll be looking for more of them at my library, and hope you will check out this title for yourself.
March 2, 2013
A Southern girl with a past but living on Long Island, lives in constant fear. She fears that if she stays in her marriage, she will be killed. So she leaves, disappears. She will hide in New York City. However, a team of desperate men are determined to find her. At the head is her well-connected criminal father-in-law Leo Labriola. Yet Sara has secrets of her own.
The story was good. However, I felt there were too many coincidences in the plot and that the characters were two-dimensional stereotypes of gangsters. It is, however, worth the read. I would put it in the read at airport or on airplane category. It is fast and easy.
The story was good. However, I felt there were too many coincidences in the plot and that the characters were two-dimensional stereotypes of gangsters. It is, however, worth the read. I would put it in the read at airport or on airplane category. It is fast and easy.
December 17, 2016
I love Thomas H. Cook's books, but this one is different from the others. The characters were developed well and you could get to understand what drove each one of them. There is a lot of tension throughout the book, Thomas makes a great job of making the reader feel that something terrible is about to happen, which makes the book really hard to put down. However, when I got to the end, I was very disappointed, as it seemed that all this previous build-up led to nothing at all. Once I finished the book, I realized that while some characters had gone through a lot and changed a lot, ultimately it didn't matter much because nothing else did.
August 15, 2010
i couldn't finish this one - i love thomas cook, but this - one of his earlier works, i think, was not my cup of tea. i couldn't get attached to any of the characters - no one to like. there was a mobster-like theme going and, while i'm no prude, my ears were assaulted with f-this and f-that and f-the other thing continuously and i just couldn't get into it. some of the dialogue was a bit boring, as well. i gave it 100 pages and then gave it up.
September 7, 2012
Another fabulous book by Thomas Cook - what more can I say?
Sara, the daughter-in-law leaves home and Daddy puts a tail on her. The trail becomes so convoluted, who knows who is trailing whom? Can they find her before the opposing person stumbles on her trail. Someone either has to save her, or kill her - - depends on who gets to her first.
December 17, 2017
I actually stopped reading it a few years ago and lost interest. I picked it up again, finished it and now doing the review I can't remember how it ended. In theory the plot was good but not enough suspense for my liking.
September 9, 2007
Quite a disappointment from his usual work.Too predictable, characters not as complex.
September 28, 2009
Easy to read crime thriller. No real surprises in this plot but an enjoyable read.
April 19, 2016
What the heck???
May 21, 2017
"...enjoy the small happy endings..."
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews