Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The Sentry (Joe Pike) by Robert Crais


Joe Pike has the lead in Robert Crais' newest action thriller. When Joe walks in on a store owner getting beaten up he takes action. With that heroic deed he gets involved in an FBI investigation into La Eme, the Mexican Maffia.
His buddy, Elvis Cole, finds out the restaurant owners are not what they seem, however. Meanwhile a psychopathic hitman is stalking the restaurant owners.
This is not Crais' best. It's great to see Joe and Elvis back in action, doing what they do best, because I love the characters. The story seemed to be a bit lacking, often I had the idea Crais didn't know exactly where the story was going either and improvised it with every chapter. That only worked partly for Robert B. Parker whose last few novels weren't up to the old standards either.
I felt the plotlines were wrapped up a bit too suddenly and the mystery behind it wasn't very interesting. Also, I think the psycho assassin was dealt with a bit too easily after the whole set-up.
In short, it's good because it's Crais, but it should have been better because it's Crais.

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE Joe Pike. He has such a deep sense of honor, and will do anything to protect those he loves. If I were to ever need rescuing I would want Joe. If you really want to get to know him you should start with what I consider to be the first Joe Pike novel, L.A. Requiem.

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