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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just met Joe Pike, can't help but like him even if he is a bit scary. Elvis Cole is cool, too. Lots of action, deep thinking and very little talking
A little too typical. Big, strong, silent brute wants to protect helpless, spoiled female and finds a way to love her anyway, despite no substantial interaction between either of them.
Fast, fun, and exactly what I hoped it would be. I'll be reading more of this author.
I was looking for a good audiobook and so I searched Audiofile Magazine. I can’t remember exactly why this title caught my eye since this novel was totally out of character for me. Crais writes hard boiled, suspense filled crime novels and my usual crime novels are more cozy mysteries than adrenaline filled adventures. I have read an occasional Dennis Lehane or James Lee Burke, but not for a long time and I don’t think those authors are quite so hard boiled.
I may have to change my usual plea that I can’t stand suspense so I don’t read any. I usually say that I couldn’t even deal with Lassie back in my childhood. However, Joe Pike and Elvis Cole were well worth meeting. I liked their attitudes, their humor and the way they worked well together.
I had no trouble suspending my disbelief with this tale. It was violent, scary and full of twists that had me very concerned for the heroes and the woman they were protecting. However, Crais hooked me. So I was ready to drive almost anywhere so I could listen to more of the story.
I think this would be a good story for people who read Lee Childs, Robert Parker or Harlan Coban. I know that I have found Dennis Lehane’s books to be also adrenaline filled and so if you read him, you should try Crais.
Mysteries that I have read that might have some things in common with Joe Pike:
Black Cherry Blues
Christine Falls
The Comedy is Finished
Fifty to One
Penumbra
None of these are the best matchups for Crais, but he is not my usual read.
I may have to change my usual plea that I can’t stand suspense so I don’t read any. I usually say that I couldn’t even deal with Lassie back in my childhood. However, Joe Pike and Elvis Cole were well worth meeting. I liked their attitudes, their humor and the way they worked well together.
I had no trouble suspending my disbelief with this tale. It was violent, scary and full of twists that had me very concerned for the heroes and the woman they were protecting. However, Crais hooked me. So I was ready to drive almost anywhere so I could listen to more of the story.
I think this would be a good story for people who read Lee Childs, Robert Parker or Harlan Coban. I know that I have found Dennis Lehane’s books to be also adrenaline filled and so if you read him, you should try Crais.
Mysteries that I have read that might have some things in common with Joe Pike:
Black Cherry Blues
Christine Falls
The Comedy is Finished
Fifty to One
Penumbra
None of these are the best matchups for Crais, but he is not my usual read.
This was the first book by Robert Crias that I have read and it was a great introduction. I love Joe Pike! I wish the author had gone more into his background and thoughts. Maybe the book should have been about Joe and not Larkin. But that's just me being selfish and greedy.
My only complaint, and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5, is that the main female character, Larkin, was referred to as "the girl" throughout the whole book. At one point, she was called "that little girl over there". Larkin was like 20 years old. A grown woman. It wasn't until the last few chapters that her name was used. Perhaps that's a commentary on how all of the characters viewed Larkin as a thing to take care of and not a real person. Like Larkin's father, they didn't really see her.
My only complaint, and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5, is that the main female character, Larkin, was referred to as "the girl" throughout the whole book. At one point, she was called "that little girl over there". Larkin was like 20 years old. A grown woman. It wasn't until the last few chapters that her name was used. Perhaps that's a commentary on how all of the characters viewed Larkin as a thing to take care of and not a real person. Like Larkin's father, they didn't really see her.
My first Crais novel, and I like it. Joe Pike is a great character. I love how quiet he is. This book was a good first read, as you get to know Pike both through various revelations in the book, but also through the way he relates to Larkin, the young woman he is trying to protect. On the outside, they couldn't be more different, but Pike "sees" her and in her, himself. At one point telling her, "We're the same." And he's right. And she knows it too. She realizes that he actually really sees her, unlike anyone else in her life. Because they share the same loss, the same desire--to have a father who sees, loves, and appreciates them. And both of them are old enough and wise enough to realize that it is not going to happen. And they are again the same because they choose to go on and they choose to love their fathers anyway.
The other thing I liked about this novel was when Pike is remembering his early days as a brand new LAPD officer, or "boot." His wise training officer immediately gets to the heart of the matter with Pike, "You'll see some sorry bastards out here...but people aren't so bad. I'm going to each you how not to lose sight of that, because if you do, you'll end up hating them and that's the first step toward hating yourself. We can't have that, can we?" This is the same message I try to get out to my employees (though not nearly so eloquently)--working in child welfare, it's easy to get discouraged, and it's easy to focus on the worst in people and what separates us, rather than on those things that bind us together.
The other thing I liked about this novel was when Pike is remembering his early days as a brand new LAPD officer, or "boot." His wise training officer immediately gets to the heart of the matter with Pike, "You'll see some sorry bastards out here...but people aren't so bad. I'm going to each you how not to lose sight of that, because if you do, you'll end up hating them and that's the first step toward hating yourself. We can't have that, can we?" This is the same message I try to get out to my employees (though not nearly so eloquently)--working in child welfare, it's easy to get discouraged, and it's easy to focus on the worst in people and what separates us, rather than on those things that bind us together.
Content warnings: violence
Addictive
Well-written
4★: it was really good
Addictive
Well-written
4★: it was really good
