Robert Crais writes a great private detective series (13 and counting) featuring Elvis Cole, who bills himself as 'The World's Greatest Detective". Cole doesn't look too dangerous, but he's a former US Army Ranger and when needed he draws upon those skills. His sidekick is Joe Pike, also a vet and a former cop. Joe Pike doesn't waste time with too many words.
In a turnaround, The First Rule features Joe Pike with the lead role and Elvis as the sidekick.
A home invasion gang hits the Meyer home and the unthinkable happens - the entire family is murdered in cold blood. Joe Pike was in the Marines with Frank Meyer. When the authorities intimate that Meyer was involved in illegal gun running, Joe sets out to clear Frank's name and find the killers. No man left behind. Things become more complicated when it looks like the Serbian mob had a hand in things....
Crais' novels are action packed page turners with great recurring characters and well constructed plots. The First Rule lets us explore the psyche of Joe Pike in greater depth. He's a wounded warrior, but one you'd want on your side.If you like Lee Child's Jack Reacher character, then Joe Pike is the man for you. Fans of Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series would love this pair. Crais is firmly on my must read list.
4 comments:
Great review! This sounds really interesting.
Do I hear movie? Sounds like it would be a great action adventure.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
I love books like this! I haven't read any of Crais's books and would want to start way back at the beginning.
I was a bit disappointed. I started to count all the paragraphs that began with "Pike..." The writing was not as good as the plot.
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