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

I have been reading Robert Crais novels for years. Elvis and Joe only get better and better. I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

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.

As always, Crais doesn’t disappoint. An exciting, can’t-put-down story with bad guys you love to hate, and good guys you’d love to know in real life. The author’s descriptions of action (sleuthing, chasing, shooting) read real and the characters have depth. A fun read.

When the Robert Crais novel,The Monkey’s Raincoat, was released in 1987, the reigning king of hard boiled detective fiction was Robert Parker with his classic Spenser series. Parker’s Pale Kings and Princes (Spencer #14) came out that year and it may have signaled a high point of the series. As satisfying as the Spenser novels were the news slowly began to spread that there was a new kid on the block, someone who reflected a younger generation with left coast sensibilities. Crais having worked as a screenwriter for Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey, and Miami Vice there were no rough edges to the early Cole/Pike novels as the slew of awards Raincoat won attested. Slowly Crais began collecting a following, with L.A. Requiem (Pike/Cole #8/1999) becoming a breakout novel taking four major awards. The satisfaction quotient stalled only a little as his lead character, Elvis Cole, became enmeshed in romantic relationship with Lucy Chenier that did little to enliven the series (need I mention Spenser’s Susan Silverman to drive the point home?). Elvis’s love life aside, the release of The Watchman (Pike/Cole #11/2007) proved that Joe Pike was at least an equal partner to Elvis Cole and could carry the main drive of a novel very well, withblockbuster sales droving home the point. Chasing Darkness (Cole/Pike #12/2008) followed and seemed a miss, pointless and rambling, gaining no momentum as if Crais was taking a breather from the first rate outpouring of The Watchman. Since then Crais has released one well written, polished adventure after another with his poise and mastery of the English language on display. His last novel The Wanted (Cole/Pike #17/217) showed a masterful understatement and brevity that let the eventual high points stand out even more. At this point Crais is capable of turning out polished work as a matter of course with the caveat that as long as he does not get bored with the series we will not get bored with his releases. The Wanted pointed to possible eventual writer fatigue in this area so how did he fare with this latest release? Joe Pike is carrying the load in this one with timely/critical help from his partner, Elvis Cole, a given. In the course of visiting his bank Pike saves a young woman from a kidnapping and gradually finds himself pitted against a large, competent, well funded, well run, and ruthless bunch of bad guys with unknown motives and mysterious antecedents. Calling on Cole for help they get drawn in deeper and deeper in a effort to protect the innocent girl while staying alive themselves. The characterizations of the various players are done with mastery by a writer at the top of his game. One newly introduced character, a deputy U.S. marshal is particularly striking and I hope to see more of him in the future. On our way to the author’s signature big shootout at the end Crais develops a side plot with particular finesse. For returning fans, remember John Chen, geeky, socially inept Chinese American crime tech that was always convinced that if if had the right car the ’tang (chicks) would flock to him? He is finally given more that just a throw away part. Crais handles it with a subtlety that is surprising and touching. Despite being one of the shorter works in the series A Dangerous Man delivers first rate reading pleasure.End of review, skip the following if paying $14.99 for a slim novel is no big deal for you. The book is 352 pages long. It is divided into 60 chapters, the chapters fluffed with a significant portion of blank page at the beginning and end of each chapter, plus the 60 chapters are divided among 7 sections, each section with a separate full title page even though none of the section titles is over four words. Add in the filler at the beginning and the end of the book and you have roughly 270 pages of body, less than five pages per chapter or based on the typical read time slightly over four minutes reading time per chapter. This makes for a slim novel, add in the $14.99 purchase price and you have one of the most expensive fiction reads I have come across. Note: Publishers do not want to leave money on the table and when the next Robert Crais novel is released A Dangerous Man will drop in price. For example, the previous release, The Wanted (Cole/Pike #17/2017), is currently priced for Kindle at $9.99, or in used hardback at $6.02 shipping included. One of these may eventually be the future choice for me with one of my favorite authors.$14.99/book price divided by Amazon typical read time of 4 hours, 12 minutes=$3.57/average hourly reading cost

Pike was front and center so the dialog was not as witty as it is with Elvis as the lead. No question as to the outcome, but it kept you involved with the plot.

I don't like characters who do stupid things as a plot device.But still vintage Joe Pike.Can't wait for the next one.

As usual another excellent read from Mr. Crais. You just can't go wrong with a Joe Pike - Elvis Cole adventure. The guy just keeps churning them out. I would highly recommend it

A fun read

I’ve read every book he’s written. To the point where I can’t wait for the next one to be published. I love his work.But I really didn’t love this book.I found it a quick read with an unusually shallow story for Crais. It’s almost like this one was fulfilling a publisher contract.Hey, musicians and bands sometimes dip - that’s the creative process. This one is Robert’s dip.Pike and Elvis allow these silly girls to do things that are just uncharacteristic for two hardened heroes. The plot is flawed, the rescue shallow and the dialogue, frankly, off piste for Crais. I even wondered, at times, whether Crais had really written this himself - that’s how disappointed I was with it.I’ll read the next one and await it with baited breath. I just hope it’s a major step up from this one. Otherwise i’m moving on. Sorry to say.

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.

I love Elvis Cole and joe Pike books.This one is a disappointment.1) it is actually a Joe Pike story with a bit of Elvis sprinkled in. So, not enough Elvis for me.2) the cat does not make an appearance and I love the cat!3) there was no intense feeling or thrill. It just felt like a straightforward story with no twist or mystery.I enjoyed revisiting Joe and Elvis but it was a quick read and nothing much seemed to happen.

OK looking at the other recent reviews, I seem to be the only person who has never read Robert Crais before. How can that be? So what was good? Fast pace, good action, good sense of place, adequate characterization. Michael Connolly (any), James Ellroy (the LA Quartet) and to some extent Joseph Wambaugh (notably Harbor Nocturne) are the masters of LA atmosphere but this was pretty good. What was bad? Well as others have commented, the girls were annoying (and an unoriginal device - see Schwarzenegger in True Lies and endless episodes of the X-Files) and also the denouement/money laundering theme was totally uncompelling. Invested $19 plus million in cash and absolutely no trace? - more research needed there, my man, even if it was supposed to have been 25 years ago. But these are comparatively minor criticisms so a collective one point off. Will I read more Robert Crais? Definitely!

So I used to look forward to any Elvis Cole & Joe Pike novel. I pre-ordered this book some time ago and waited with bated breath for its release. I shouldn’t have bothered: a pathetic juvenile yarn written as if Crais had to write something quickly to honour a contract. No heart, no soul, no nothing. A stinker.