Tangled Web UK Review March 2007
The Watchman by
Robert Crais
pbk out March 07
(Orion)
at £11.99
For Elvis and Joe the action is getting a little close to home. Pike owes a bad man a
big favour and the favour is to protect the life of Larkin Conner Barkley, a spoiled rich
girl who happens to be a federal witness in a case against the mob.
When Pike and the girl come under intense fire, he hatches a plan: disappear into the
anonymous underbelly of Los Angeles, turn the tables and hunt down the hunters.
Enlisting the help of Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals in which even
the cops aren't who they seem. But as the body count rises, it becomes clear that Pike's
biggest threat may be the girl herself - a vapid soul determined to destroy herself - unless
Joe can fill the void in her bruised heart.
Pike is a creation approaching genius. Dark and brooding, with an inability to smile,
he could very easily overstep the mark and become clichéd. Yet he never does and so
instils a sense of safety in the reader that seems to extend beyond the page.
With Elvis Cole as his alter ego, the pair work so well together it is easy to see how
Robert Crais has become so vaunted amongst his peers and if this is the first Elvis Cole /
Joe Pike novel you read, it doesn't matter. So well crafted is the novel it's like starting
from the beginning of the series anyway and so makes The Watchman a book not to be
missed and Robert Crais an author whose back catalogue should be trawled immediately.
The Watchman is as slick as it gets, filled with fantastic dialogue, a relentless pace and
fascinating drama. In short a book to be devoured in one sitting.
(
Chris High
Chris High - Author Multi-media Promotion Service www.chrishigh.com)
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