ROBERT CRAIS: REVIEWS - THE SENTRY

"A rip-roaring read, and a smart and careful character study."
--Entertainment Weekly

"It’s a routine Southern California day when former cop and sometime mercenary Joe Pike intervenes to break up the gang shakedown of a sandwich shop. The shop is run by Dru Rayne and her uncle, Wilson, two refugees from Katrina starting a new life. The chemistry between Pike and Dru is immediate, prompting him to keep an eye on the store; the gang leader, Venice Trece, will surely return to deliver revenge. But as Pike and his sidekick, private detective Elvis Cole, soon learn, nothing about Dru and Wilson adds up. Even as he’s negotiating a truce with the duplicitous leader of the gang, Pike learns that Dru is likely not the innocent she seems. The latest Pike novel is a testosterone-fueled caper with tough guys doing hard things to bad people, but it doesn’t pack the emotional wallop of Crais’ best work. High-Demand Backstory: Crais’ last Joe Pike novel reached number two on the New York Times best-seller list; longtime fans may find this one not quite up to the author’s high standards, but the demand will still be there."
--Booklist

“Near the outset of Crais's impressive third thriller featuring L.A. PI Joe Pike (after The First Rule), Pike notices two suspicious characters enter a Venice, Calif., sandwich shop. Pike, an ex-Marine and former LAPD patrol officer, walks into the shop just in time to rescue its owner, Wilson Smith, from a vicious assault. Pike soon takes an interest in Smith's niece, Dru Rayne, whose "smart eyes" and warm smile lure him into a lethal gangland battle involving La Eme, the Mexican mafia, and a Bolivian drug connection. The LAPD and the FBI both try and fail to warn Pike off, but PI Elvis Cole, the lead in nine other Crais books, is as ever ready to support his pal. Heartbreaking ironies, frustrated desires, and violent nonstop action make this a standout. Crais just keeps getting better at giving depth to the laconic Pike and the anguished Cole, who still pines for his lost love, Louisiana attorney Lucy Chenier.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"'War is what I do,' Pike tells (his nemesis) when they first square off. Roger that, and prepare the body bags."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Master of crime fiction Robert Crais continues his dominance with
'THE SENTRY.' (A) tight, riveting thriller with jaw-dropping plot twists and page-turning suspense...should be mandatory reading."
--Associated Press

"Joe Pike could have stood at Thermopylae, taken a place at the Round Table, raised the flag on Iwo Jima, and that makes him the most distinctive character in current crime fiction. By performing a simple good deed at a sandwich shop, he is drawn into fierce gang wars and an assassin hunting two thieves. As always, Pike stands firm and, with the aid of Elvis Cole, provides a stirring plot accompanied by deep introspection."
--Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor

Return to REVIEWS