Sunday, January 19, 2020

A Dangerous Man (Robert Crais, 2019)

My introduction to Robert Crais came courtesy of my late Aunt Lenore.  She was always a voracious reader, but after retiring she became whatever status is beyond that - I can't even think of an appropriate word.  I'm pretty sure there were times when she could finish three novels in a day.  For the most part, she read crime novels, and after a while she simply ran out of room to store them.  She'd put together boxes of paperbacks, letting me take whatever I wanted, sometimes making a suggestion or two.  And that was how I ended up with "L.A. Requiem,"  the 8th Crais novel to feature his star protagonists, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

Little did I know that not only was "Requiem" Robert Crais' masterpiece, but also one of the great crime novels of the past 50 years.  In a way, it was also a turning point for Crais, as if he realized that it was going to be really difficult to ever top - particularly if he didn't take a break from Elvis and Joe.  So he did, writing a couple of standalone novels which introduced new characters before resuming the saga of Elvis and Joe.  After that, the Elvis/Joe novels were a bit different.  Some have been billed as "Elvis Cole novels" and some as "Joe Pike novels," but since they all included both characters, Crais seems to have settled on "Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels," although in some Cole gets more "page time," and in others it's Pike.

Pike is the lead in "A Dangerous Man," and the story begins with him.  He's making a deposit at the bank, and as Isabel Roland - the teller who handled his transaction - walks out for an early lunch, she is forced into a van by two kidnappers.  Pike overcomes the kidnappers, ensures they are arrested, and makes sure Isabel makes it home safely.  Upon their release on bail, the kidnappers are murdered, Isabel vanishes, and the game is afoot.  The story is full of dangerous men - Hicks, Riley, Ronson, Stanley, "the Cowboys" - but none are so dangerous as Pike and Cole.  Over the course of the story, they begin to unravel the mystery of Isabel, and why she would be of interest to so many dangerous men.  John Chen, LAPD criminalist (and neurotic) extraordinaire, plays a part in the story, as do various members of the LAPD, LA Sheriff's Office, and US Marshals.

As always the book is tightly written, and as always the book is suspenseful.  It's a good and fun read, but it also feels slightly as if Crais was going through the motions - he's gone the "Elvis and Joe save damsel in distress" route on more than one occasion, and it's unclear whether this entry adds anything to their history and lore that we didn't already know.  You'll never hear me complaining about a novel written by Robert Crais and featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.  But I don't think "A Dangerous Man" represents top tier Crais, or top tier Elvis & Joe.

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