4.0 out of 5 stars
could have been better, July 18 2004
Unfortunately, Elvis Cole is not in this novel. Instead we get a new character-former demolition expect and cop, who was so traumatized by the explosion three years ago that she can't exist without booze and pills. Give me a break. He goes on about this woman like she is some tough chick. R. Crais must have led a pretty sheltered life. Story itself is not bad if you don't pay attention to the struggles of the main character and don't count the number of pills she is popping.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
This didn't blow me away - too ffar fetched, Jun 22 2004
I'm sorry but this book just didn't work for me. I do really enjoy fiction as long as it is credible. In the way that engineers sometimes call a report ffinal with two fs when it really is final, I have to describe this book as ffiction to show that it is "over the top" fiction and too far fetched to be enjoyable. There is no way you can relate to the hero of the story or indeed any other player.
The main characters are an expert from the LA bomb squad, our Demolition Angel, Carol Starkey, a weird psychotic bomb maniac, Mr. Red, and an ex-ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives) agent, Jack Pell. Thanks to Google for helping me with ATF.
Carol is an alcoholic still carrying physical scars from a bomb explosion 3 years earlier and mental ones from the loss of her lover to the same bomb. Jack too was badly injured by another bomb explosion some years before. Carol slugs back the gin with a vengeance, on the job or off, to satisfy her addiction. She smokes heavily. Every chapter she devours Tagemets by the handful. Thanks again to Google - these are proprietary heartburn and antacid tablets not known in Australia.
Mr. Red is your ultimate weirdo, adopting multiple disguises, skin tones, spoken lingoes and travelling around the country like a ghost leaving only a trail of bombs and not necessarily innocent victims. He is skilled, insecure, evil and extremely dangerous.
Carol and Jack's paths cross early in the story and whilst Mr. Red is ever present and often closer to Carol & Jack than anyone would like to admit, his path inevitably crosses with theirs towards the end of the story.
The finale is much as anyone would expect - no surprises at all - so after a disappointing start there's a disappointing ending too. Unfortunately this is the first book I have read by Robert Crais who otherwise has a fine reputation and several best sellers to his credit. I can only assume that they were finer stories than "Demolition Angel" and I look forward to reviewing him more favourably in future.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Plot And Procedure, Characters So-So, Jan 14 2004
This was the fifth Crais book I'd read. It's a departure from his Elvis Cole series. Overall, pretty good. The police procedural aspects are reasonably well done - he has a commendable disclaimer at the front indicating that this book won't tell you how to build or defuse a bomb. I'd just read three of Paul Bishop's Fey Croaker series, and the contrast between the female protagonists was not in this books' favor. OTOH, this book has a large number of characters, which makes it harder to develop as deep a sense of a protagonist's personality. So, an interesting change from the Elvis series, and a better than average read - recommended.
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