Runner is Jane's return after those nine years.  She was living a quiet life in Amherst, New York until a bomb goes off during a hospital fund-raiser.  When she learns that one of the patients, a young, pregnant girl, is being pursued by a team of hired hunters, Jane quickly returns to her old heroic ways.  But Jane's task has become more challenging since 9-11.  Back when Perry started the series, a person could still get on an airplane without anyone asking him for identification.

"Since I set the series aside," Perry says, "whole federal agencies have been formed for the sole purpose of preventing people from doing what Jane does--living under false identities, manufacturing credentials, traveling with false documents.  None of these obstacles can be ignored in a story about Jane taking a runner to safety."

As a writer, of course, there was also the challenge of recovering Jane's voice.  With such a beloved character, readers would know immediately if it wasn't truly Jane.  Perry had to remember who she was, what she thought, how she felt and how she sounded, and then age her bit to bring her up to date.

Perry says that the challenge of the character, especially of writing about a strong female protagonist, was one of the things that attracted him to Jane.  By the early 1990's he had earned a living writing for some time but wanted to know if he could write convincingly about a female protagonist.  If not, he was determined to learn.  And he did have a secret weapon.

"It took some work, and some watching and listening. Fortunately, my wife, who also has a Ph.D. in English and was my writing partner in television, was willing to tell me the truth when I went wrong.  She would say things like, "That's not a woman, it's a man in drag." And I would fix it."

He says writing about Jane for five years made him much better at writing women, and made his later books stronger.  And now that he has brought Jane back fans will not be disappointed.  This is certainly the woman we knew a decade ago, and Perry says she's only here because readers demanded it.  During those years half his email was from readers asking when he would get around to the next Jane Whitefield book.

"These readers have given me a career," Perry says.  "I owed it to them to respect their opinion of what was good, and to try to give them what they asked for."

With Runner, Perry he has truly fulfilled his fans' wishes.  Booklist calls Runner a first-class thriller, with a premise that demands remarkable attention to detail.  The pace pumps into overdrive, and to quote Library Journal, "the roles of hunter and hunted are reversed with devastating affect."

If you're a long-time fan, you'll love Jane Whitefield's latest adventure.  If you're new to the series, get your copy today, sit back, and prepare to be thrilled.

Contributing editor Austin S. Camacho has written a series about private detective Hannibal Jones and a series of adventure novels featuring mercenary Morgan Stark and jewel thief Felicity O'Brien.  To pay the mortgage he answers media queries for the Defense Department.  Camacho lives in Springfield, Virginia with his lovely wife Denise and Princess the Wonder Cat