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Summary: Another Great Book from Robert Crais!
Review: Wow! I have to say that I was a little disappointed that this was not an Elvis Cole novel but all my reservations were cast aside when I read it. I read 176 pages the first night and I had to force myself to put it down. I just loved the story about the Bomb Squad, a mad bomber, a scarred female detective, and the LA backdrop. Buy this book now!
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Summary: Demolition Angel Rocks!
Review: Unplug the phone. Call in sick for work or school. Once you start this awesome new novel, you won't be able to put it down!Robert Crais is a master at creating believable characters and delivering a white-knuckle ride of suspense. Readers of his Elvis Cole novels already know this. Demolition Angel is his first stand alone book and it's an amazing novel. Carol Starkey was horribly scarred and her lover was killed in a bombing. A few years later, Carol is tough as nails and determined to overcome her troubles. Pulled into an investigation of another bomb tech who was blown away, she has to face down all her old fears to stop a serial bomber who takes pride in killing bomb-techs. With fully realized characters and blistering conflict, Demolition Angel takes you inside the world of the bomb squad. Wait until you meet Mr. Red, the bomber who wants to be on the FBI's Most Wanted list. This is a brilliant novel. Even while Crais gets your heart racing, he manages to explore a great many emotional truths along the way. The depth of emotion heightens the suspense. I read this book in one sitting. Robert Crais has outdone himself with this one. Don't miss it!
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Summary: Brilliant
Review: I read Demolition Angel by Robert Crais. I loved the book--in fact I think I like this one a little better than the "Elvis Cole" novels. It was full of suspense right from the start, and I had a hard time putting it down. I would recommend it to all suspense readers. Hope he writes more with the Carol Starkey character. Loved it.
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Summary: Summer Hots Up with a Bang!
Review: In the book's description, Carol Starkey, the protagonist of Robert Crais' "Demolition Angel", is likened to Clarice Starling of Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal" novels. While both characters are strong, hard-shelled women trying to find their way in the stubbornly male enclave of law enforcement, I feel the character that Starkey most resembles is Carol O'Connell's Kathleen Mallory - if you haven't read O'Connell's Mallory books, do so immediately! Carol Starkey is a former bomb squad technician who was caught in an explosion when a bomb that she and her partner were disarming was set off by a minor earthquake (the action takes place in California). Her partner - who was also her lover - is killed by the blast and Starkey herself was 'dead' until paramedics managed to revive her. Plagued by guilt and the psychological trauma of the incident, Starkey finds it increasingly difficult to fit into the flow of the everyday detective work that the start of the novel finds her assigned to. However, after a bomb squad technician named Charlie Riggio is killed by a serial bomber (known to authorities only as Mr. Red), Starkey finds herself in the thick of an investigation where her skills and talents as an ex-bomb squad member becomes crucial. Mr. Crais has crafted an intelligent, taut thriller with a well-rounded protagonist. Starkey is tough on the outside, but the reader also gets to see her vulnerabilities. The theme of deceptive outer appearances is very effectively and consistently dealt with throughout the novel, giving it depth and a layered feel so often missing in books of the techno-thriller genre. Some readers may take issue, and understandably so, with the fact that the Mr. Red character remains shadowy throughout, with little in the way of character development. However, it's a minor quibble here because the story is more about Starkey - and bombs - than anything else. "Demolition Angel", according to its author, is meant to be a stand-alone novel. However, with Mr. Crais' success at turning his Elvis Cole character into a series, I wouldn't be surprised if Starkey makes a return in a future novel. Fans will note that Mr. Crais' penchant for Mickey Mouse watches continues...I won't say who it appears on. All in all, a great read and perfect for the start of summer reading.
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Summary: Tense Thriller
Review: This one works. A complex plot peopled with complex characters should put this one on everyone's thriller list. Action starts before chapter 1, so don't skip the Prologue. Carol Starkey is a bomb-hardened Los Angeles Detective-2 in the Criminal Conspiracy Section working her way back to the bomb squad. A simple-looking pipe bomb detonates in a shopping mall and turns out to be much more than your standard pipe bomb. It's Starkey's turn in rotation, and she begins the investigation. The FBI Bomb Data Center and the ATS National Repository turn up similarities between this bomb and others found around the country, which lead her into the more complex world of a "chronic", a person who is addicted to bombs and the excitement of seeing their effects. Sometimes her own worst enemy, Starkey manages to move from one extreme to the other and back again during the chase. Many twists, dead ends, and convolutions make this a test of your predictive and investigative skills. Tightly plotted, tightly written, and complex with non-stop action. This will keep you reading into the night.
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Summary: could have been better
Review: 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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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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