Rating: 
Summary: great police drama; a real page-turner
Review: 'Demolition Angel' is a real treat. The author delves into the world of bomb disposal experts and the scary individuals who develop such bombs for kicks ("bombers without a cause"). As with his better known "L.A. Requiem", Robert Crais writes in a tight yet fast-reading style which simply makes the pages fly by.In our story we have a police heroine who leads the charge in finding a serial bomber ('Mr Red'). The story has *plausible* twists and turns, with an unexpected and thrilling ending. And the author has seemingly done a fine job researching this bizarre world of bombers and bomb disposal experts; I found it educational. However 'Demolition Angel' isn't perfect. Robert Crais is a great storyteller, but he isn't a great writer. His characterizations are somewhat shallow, and he expends no effort in giving the reader the *feeling* of the setting. It is as if he wrote the book in haste. But these are mere quibbles. Bottom line: terrific (and frightening) story. Job well done.
Rating: 
Summary: White hot and explosive!
Review: At first, I was somewhat disheartened to learn that this would not be an Elvis Cole novel. One the one hand I was looking forward to something different from Crais because he is a fantastic author, but on the other hand I need my Elvis fix! But I can now say that after reading Demolition Angel I have forgotten about Elvis (temporarily, of course). Demolition Angel is much darker and edgier than the Elvis Cole novels. The main character, Carol Starkey, is on a path to self destruction. Bitter, alienated, and self-abusive since the bomb blast death of her partner, she must regain control of her life or be destroyed herself. While struggling with her personal demons, she must catch the killer who is targeting bomb squad technicians in a series of explosions. Is Mr. Red the mad bomber or is it someone else? Non-stop action, intense suspense, and plenty of twists along the way lead to an explosive climax. An intelligent, multi-dimensional thriller, Demolition Angel will keep your heart racing and keep you on the edge as you race through the pages. Crais at his best matches up with anyone else. Period.
Rating:
Summary: A Highly Explosive Thriller!
Review: Demolition Angel is very well written and will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout most of this dark thriller. As to the plot, Crais demonstrates his ability to introduce bombshell after bombshell that, at least figuratively, will "blow you away." Crais also creates very strong, credible and interesting characters. Carol Starkey, the main character, while not always very likable, is one of the more powerful and multi-dimensional female protagonists I've come across in quite some time. In many ways she reminds me of Clarice Starling. Further, I guarantee you won't be able to forget "Mr. Red." While I rated Demolition Angel 4 stars, I would have liked to be able to give it 4 1/2 stars. It just falls short of a 5-star rating, due to its dragging very slightly in some sections. Demolition Angel is one of the better thrillers I've read in at least the past six months, and is one I'd definitely recommend that you include near the top of your reading list. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Bang Bang. You're hooked!
Review: I like Robert Crais. I'm one of many. People often have, at least I do, ambivalent feelings about our favorite writers exploring uncharted territory. For example here, with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, on the one hand we enjoy the dialogue, courage, integrity and overall, the prose of Cole & Pike. We even go to the peculiar step of stating 'which Cole' we like more, the early Cole or the later Cole, or in which novel he's 'more Cole.' But the end result of our attentiveness to Elvis and Joe is predictable. Eventually we'll tire of Cole, or like Spenser, Cole will continue to take on the bad guys while taking metamusil and geritol, both pumping iron . . . and taking it. So we want our favorite authors to explore different characters so we don't know so much about them, so that there still are surprises, and so that we don't get too used to them. In Demolition Angel (great title, Bob), Robert Crais does an exceptional job with Carol Starkey and Jack Pell, using their physical trauma to represent their emotional limitations as well. They want so much to be together and although we're hooked on the pursuit of evil and the drama of the chase, we hook into their characters as well. Kudos to him. And besides, a darn good read, too. I don't know if we'll see Carol again. But I'd like to.
Rating: 
Summary: This didn't blow me away - too ffar fetched
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Crais has a new fan...
Review: Michael Connelly spoiled me. It is very hard to embrace other dectective series novels. Crais' "Demolition Angel" was good place to start in order to sample this praised writer. It was a fun and suspenseful read. The plot was twisting, but never pandering. The characters are strong and LA plays a part as it should. Starkey is hard to love, but you embrace her anyway. It is not easy to pull off a female heroine in this genre (when written by a man I mean), yet Crais does it. What's next? Elvis Cole. Crais has me hooked.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Won't Have You Seeing "Red"
Review: Taking a break from his successful Elvis Cole mystery series, Robert Crais has come out with this amazing novel. DEMOLITION ANGEL is a fast-paced, non-stop thriller that you will not be able to put down. Carol Starkey, once Los Angeles' best "bomb squad" technician, is now struggling as a detective in the Criminal Conspiracy Section in the LAPD. It has been three years since she was pronounced dead at the scene of bomb detonation, and she is suffering through alcoholism and a Tagamet addiction. Starkey is called to the scene to investigate an explosion that has killed an officer, and she is in for the ride of her life, trying to catch one of the country's biggest terrorists. Crais does an awesome job of piling on plot twist after plot twist. The book flies by and you can't help but get caught up in this amazing, yet totaly believable storyline. Crais brings together a super group of interestingly diverse characters and meshes them together incredibly well. This is a well-written book that thrills the reader with suspense, intrigue, and "fireworks." You will not be able to put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: Carol Starkey is a detective. She's also a drunk.
Review: The books of Robert Crais are a revelation in series mystery/thrillers. Friends recommended his satirical, well-sketched detective, Elvis Cole to me some months ago. It took me a little while to speed through the eight novels that feature Cole and his mystery partner, Joe Pike, and I couldn't wait for more! Crais departed from his success with Cole to write two non-series novels in recent years. Each featured a different main character ("Demolition Angel" and "Hostage"). Many novelists fail in their attempts to develop beyond a one-dimensional character focus, because their fans won't let them. Following the path that Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben have set, Crais proves to be the master at proving that he can create multiple marvelous story lines. The two "nonseries" novels met with critical acclaim and quickly hit best seller status. Of the two, I much prefer "Demolition Angel". Carol Starkey is the disenfranchised heroine of the book. Starkey is one of a rare breed of "bomb squad" cops who treat bombs like sophisticated puzzles. We join Starkey (now off the bomb squad) several years after her lover had died in a freak accident; a minor earthquake set off a bomb that Starkey and Sugar are trying to assess and defuse. Starkey died that day, as well, but they somehow revived her. She's not sure that was a good thing. Since the accident, Starkey's been a walking disaster area; subsisting on Tagamet, coffee and cigarettes, her failures at therapy and her unwillingness to form any meaningful relationships are destroying her energy, in the same way that liquor is destroying her career. Starkey is a drunk. Another squad technician, Charles Riggio, is fatally blown up by an explosive device as the novel opens. The device bears the signature of madman bomber "Mr. Red". The reader is allowed to spend some time exploring the theory before being introduced to Mr. Red, himself. Complicating the search for the bomber, and toying with Starkey's emotions, is an ATF agent, Jack Pell, who's an expert on Mr. Red. It's Starkey's case. Solving it will cause her to relive the most horrible day of her life. Many of the leads she turns up are false, and it seems that even Pell wants her to take the easy way out in solving a series of explosions that are devastating the landscape. The powerful story of how Carol Starkey breaks through the pain to follow her instincts without losing her life, will haunt you for days, once the tale is finished. An excellent introduction to Crais that will make you want to get involved with Elvis Cole, as well! One of his best, and that's saying a lot!
Rating:
Summary: Crais is in good form here
Review: This book is one of the better Crais mystery's out there. It describes a broken detective named Carol Starkey and how she works on a case to find a national bomber.
Without going into details, it's a fun, fast paced book with a smart plot. Crais successfully weaves characters into a single case involving a mysterious and intelligent bomber. The main character, Starkey is a fallible officer who has to battle more than a few problems along with the bomber case, and is shown to be both smart, dumb, rigid, uncaring, and determined. For a typical supermarket thriller, she is surprisingly complex.
The only unfortunate thing about this book is that Crais ends it with a predictable and cliched ending that just makes you shake your head.
All in all, it's just a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Very Exciting
Review: This was definitely one of Crais best. Not apart of the Elvis Cole series, he takes on an exciting and serious subject matter - bombs. I found this extremely interesting because he wrote this before 9/11. Since then, writers are very careful about what they write about the type of person who enjoys creating this kind of horror and mayhem. The ending pulled together with too many coincidences, detracting from the pleasure. But I would definitely recommend it.
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