The First Rule (Joe Pike Novels)
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: Robert Crais List Price: $26.95 Our Price: $17.79 You Save: $9.16 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours  |
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 | Product Details: Hardcover 320 pages Release Date: 12 January 2010 Publisher: Putnam Adult ISBN: 0399156135 Rating:   Sales Rank: 14410 | | Look for similar books by subject:
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| | Customer Reviews: ..a tightly plotted story that moves quickly (07 September 2010)This is a tightly plotted story that moves quickly. The action starts with a home invasion where a man and his entire family including the babysitter are murdered. Joe Pike, the protagonist, is a former military colleague of this man. Pike focuses on solving this murder and extracting revenge for his friend. Along the way we encounter the Serbian mob, Crips gang members and the smuggling of Chinese weapons. As in most of Crais's books, law enforcement (here the LAPD and the AFT) is characterized as incompetent and standing in the way of justice. Several characters from earlier books support Pike, but no real character development occurs. There are no surprises as the mystery is solved. In this book Crais has turned away from his primary protagonist, Elvis Cole and focused on Joe Pike, Cole's muscled sidekick. All of the attributes that make Cole such a likable character - a sense of humor, a full range of emotions, reasonable social interactions - are absent in Pike. As a central character he leaves a lot to be desired. His primary trait if you don't count his vegetarianism is a penchant for violence. His lack of emotion, solitary existence and clinical approach to violence leave me cold, although I suppose his some folks will like his inscrutability and manliness. For me bring back Elvis Cole, "the world's greatest detective" In summary, good read for an airplane or when you need to escape for a couple of hours. Driving action (05 August 2010)Crais has learned how to integrate his taste for the double hero story into a form of plot that drives to a conclusion and keeps his reader turning the pages. Many of today's action writers have fallen into the trap of the aging heroes whose biographies over forty years or so have become tests of creditability. Crais has managed to avoid the time trap and in this novel he brings in Elvis Cole as Pike's sideman to a greater degree than in THE Watchman. This is good entertainment for a couple evenings after time at the beach or when the TV gives a nasty recipe of idols and obscure sporting events. Of course if you can't wait, read it when you get it. It's worth the ticket. Joe Pike brought to life (11 July 2010)The best part of this second Joe Pike book is the decidedly different tone that the book uses to tell the story from Joe Pike's point of view. We have had many descriptions of Joe from the point of view of Elvis Cole from the previous books in the series, but this book really speaks in Joe's voice. As a result, we don't get the wisecracking and the same fast pace as the Elvis Cole books. I really think Robert Crais did a fantastic job of allowing us to truly experience this book through Joe Pike's eyes. There are instances throughout the book where we get glimpses of how Joe Pike thinks and feels, which is not something that we get from an Elvis Cole book. For example, Joe was at Elvis' house and thinking about how happy he is when he spends time there. We know from Elvis how much the cat loves him when he is there, but we never knew what Joe Pike himself was feeling when he was there. Now we do. It is those little nuances that made me really appreciate that we were being told this story strictly from Joe Pike's point of view. I loved this book and the glimpse into the mind of Joe Pike. I do recommend reading all the books in the series first, it really will increase your enjoyment of this installment. Great opening...weak finish (09 June 2010)I have been a Robert Crais fan since THE MONKEY"S RAINCOAT. He has written three of the finest crime novels I've ever read: THE WATCHMAN, THE TWO-MINUTE RULE, and the classic L.A. REQUIEM. This book is not in their class. He takes a great opening, and an interesting premise, and it all sort of deflates toward a weak conclusion. One of the most interesting details is never explained. Joe Pike is softer at the end of this novel than in any other book in the series, and it weakens the character. It's a fast read, and will hold your interest. It may even keep you in suspense at times. There is an absolutely terrific scene at a trailer park. I wish the rest of the novel had that caliber of writing. Crais Keeps Getting Better and Better (08 June 2010)There is nothing better than good storytelling in a novel. I love the experience of sitting down during the course of an afternoon, cracking a book open and wondering where the time went some several hours later, with 300-plus pages having flown by. Robert Crais is one of those authors who consistently delivers the goods, developing a straightforward plot line but throwing in a surprising twist or two before all is resolved. Until recently, Crais has earned his bread and butter almost exclusively with a stretch of novels featuring wisecracking private investigator Elvis Cole. In 2007's THE WATCHMAN, his focus switched to Joe Pike, Cole's more or less silent partner in the firm. Following the brilliant CHASING DARKNESS, Pike returns as the center of attention in THE FIRST RULE. Set aside an afternoon; you won't want to stop reading once you start. Loyalty is the fuel that runs the engine of Pike's personality. Pike used to be a professional military contractor, unapologetically doing the rough work that permitted decent people to sleep peacefully in their beds. He worked with a man named Frank Meyer --- who left that job and Pike behind --- and achieved the American dream of a loving wife, family and successful business. But that idyllic existence ends abruptly when Meyer and his family are horrifically murdered in a home invasion, the latest in a series of crimes taking place in the Los Angeles area that have been visited upon criminals with large caches of cash or drugs. Pike is on a two-fold mission: revenge for Meyer, a friend with whom he had not spoken in 10 years, and clearing his name. He sets about this endeavor single-mindedly, calling in favors for information, following one thread to another and seeing where it all leads. Cole is there to help, his wiseguy remarks masking a clear-edged competence. Jon Stone, a stone-cold operative who worked with Pike and Meyer in the past, is also along --- and gladly so --- as Pike follows a trail that leads straight to a quarrel with the Eastern European organized crime syndicate, which is fueled by guns and...something else. It is that "something else" that got Meyer and his family killed, and when revealed, it will also uncover a side to Pike that has heretofore remained hidden. Along the way, Pike must make a deal with the FBI, one that compromises the promise he made to himself on behalf of his dead friend. His dilemma, accordingly, is how to fulfill each. Watching him do it is what keeps the book humming right down to the final paragraph. Crais, who has been mesmerizing since his first novel appeared well over a decade ago, keeps getting better and better. It will be hard for him to top THE FIRST RULE, a dark journey through the furnace of L.A.'s criminal underground. I have a feeling, however, that he will. | |
