A Dangerous Man (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Book 18)

The new Robert Crais novel, A DANGEROUS MAN, is billed as an Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel. It is really more of a Joe Pike and Elvis Cole Novel, since Joe is at the center of the action and is the person referred to in the book's title. The premise is implausible but intriguing. Joe is going to the bank. One of the tellers is directed to take an early lunch. She is walking down the street and is then suddenly abducted by two men. Woe be to them, for Joe is there. He aborts their (as yet unexplained) plot and saves the girl. The men are taken into custody, make bail, and are immediately murdered. Whoa, what has Joe walked into? The rest of the novel contains the answer to that question, with Elvis detecting and Joe delivering various forms of mayhem. Along the way they meet a delightful U.S. Marshal, investigating the murder of a comrade in the Antelope Valley. That fellow marshal is the 'uncle' (not blood relative, but close friend) of the girl saved by Joe back in Los Angeles. The FBI are also interested in the case, so that Joe and Elvis find themselves protecting the (putatively) innocent girl but also dodging the lawmen and women who may frustrate their investigation. It's all complicated but completely intelligible and, ultimately, completely transparent and, within the world that Crais creates, plausible. I liked it. I enjoyed it, but then I've never met a Robert Crais novel that I didn't enjoy and I've read them all, from THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT forward. Crais is among the most polished crime writers in America. He began writing scripts for major television crime series and then gave us Elvis Cole (twice the king, presumably). Joe Pike is what I have termed the 'avenging angel' character in the series—the invincible sidekick (like Spenser's Hawk) who is always there when the chips are down, softening up a room and then supervising the body count. A DANGEROUS MAN delivers precisely what I would order. There are some dissenting voices. Elvis is no longer the jokester and wit that he once was. True, but that has been so for many volumes now, and he still gets off a good one-liner from time to time. There has also been criticism of the book's length and the amount of white space on its pages. Note that the writer's and NYC editor's rule of thumb is that a book should be 40% dialogue. This book is thus comparable to a book by the late Bob Parker, but A DANGEROUS MAN is approximately 100 pages longer than the average Parker novel. Absent the rapid-fire dialogue, novels risk being lugubrious and here's an interesting fact (at least I think it's a fact): readers want the pages to fly by when they're reading. One of the raps on, e.g., the Great Books of the Western World series is that it put so many words on the page. DON QUIXOTE should be 600-800 pages, not 80-100. We want to feel that we are making progress when we read and the physical size and length of a novel is part of the reading process. We can feel the plot rhythms as we move further and further into the book and suddenly realize that we are physically reaching the conclusion. Reading on tablets is different from reading in hard copy. Bottom line: a solid Crais novel, with Pike being the dominant figure.

I had not read a Joe Pike/ Elvis Cole book in years. I started this one and couldn’t put it down. The usual cool partnership between Elvis and Joe, another hostage saved and the bad guys get killed. Formulaic, yes but oh so enjoyable.

This stand-alone is easy to follow and difficult to put down. No editing errors, gratuitous violence or drag-you-down drama. Intriguing storyline that lacks the usual Elvis and Joe teamwork and wise cracks. What is happening with John Chen? Realistic procedures, actions and reactions. Believable characters with distinct personalities. Thought-provoking and memorable dialogue. (I thought Elvis’s car was Jamaica Yellow.) A man’s character is his guardian divinity. HERACLITUS An old con named Marty Plumb, in for life on a third-strike bank robbery, had warned him about lingering at a crime scene. “Only dipsh@@@ and slackjaws think they can beat the clock. First sign of trouble, get your a@@ gone. If you wait, you’re only waiting for jail.” I gave this story 5 stars as I enjoy Robert Crais’ writing, there were no editing errors or gratuitous violence. I will re-read parts of this story and always look forward to new works by this author.

This was a great read, one that grabbed you from the first moment. It never let you go. Joe Pike was making a simple bank transaction. His teller, a young woman named Izzy, became the victim of an attempted kidnapping immediately after, which Joe Pike thwarts. Who is trying to kidnap Izzy? Why do they want a young, single woman with no surviving family? Elvis Cole and Joe Pike want to find out, and what follows is a fascinating story with lots of twists and turns, and will certainly keep you up late attempting to solve the various mysteries. In typical Robert Crais fashion, the story is intense, but never rushed, with full character development. The ending was totally satisfying. An excellent read, as are all Crais novels.

I've found Joe Pike to be a fascinating character since I first read The Monkey's Raincoat, 18 years ago. I think this is one of Crais's best Pike/Cole books. Interesting and plausible plot driver, and some really good Pike, both in terms of his all-around badassery and the human touch, pro and con - his affection for criminalist John Chen as well as the damsel in distress, but also his inability to connect in the ways that everyday humans with normal backgrounds too. I think we learn a lot about Pike (and if you've read a lot of Crais's Pike stuff, aren't you just always wanting to learn more about Pike?!) without *learning* about him (i.e. background biography), but I find all flashes into his character intriguing. I've read some of the other reviews, including those by people this one didn't click for, but to me, it hit on all cylinders. -DFO

I enjoyed this book, excellent story in the series. Creative and original, exciting to read! Neutrally told from the perspective of an objective witness, that makes it very funny to read.

Yet another excellent Joe Pike and Elvis Cole story from Robert Crais. My copy arrived at 1452 this afternoon and I've just finished reading it now at 2048. That's always the problem with Mr Crais' books, they can't appear fast enough. It's been two years since The Wanted, I just hope I don't have to wait another two years for the next. I like the recurring characters, John Chen is back SPOILER and I thought this might prove to be his swansong - but thankfully no. Also, Ray Depente has changed his first name to Eddie which doesn't suit him, unless he's a relative, but he only gets a mention, not even a walk on part, shame. There've been some great characters in the 18 book/32 year run and I hope more return in the future. This book is all action, no wasted words. There's more of Pike than Elvis, but less of him than The Watchman. I don't mind, I like the action, I'm trying to manage expectation - you don't get further insights into Joe or Elvis, bar the reiteration of Joe's father signing the consent forms for Joe to join the Marines. All in all, I've thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon's reading and intend to re-read it again tomorrow.

Robert Crais did it! He invented a damsel in distress with an I.Q. of 10. This damsel managed to get herself in so much unnecessary distress, that had I been Joe Pike, I would, early on, have given her a clipper, then put her on a soft piece of furniture to snooze the rest of the book away while I got busy getting the 'bad guys.' But since Joe Pike's patience is as fictional as he is, he didn't, thus enabling the damsel to get not only herself, but her BFF friend in ever more distress, all of which was life threatening to Pike and Cole. This damsel elicited head shakes and groans from this reader and in my opinion, said damsel didn't deserve what she got in the end. Spoiler alert ... she didn't get herself killed thanks to the tireless efforts of Pike and Cole and assorted 'good guys.' But, here goes, good bye Robert Crais!

Tres bon

These characters Cole and Pike have a beautiful relationship and this story and the build up around is well crafted and holds your attention till the end. I believe this is the best book to date in this amazing series. Once I read this - I spent the next week going back through the catalogue and loving the stories all over again. The Elvis - Joe is a cornerstone of these impressive books.