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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. fav author list, rec for keith (  )  julialabonte | May 25, 2009 |  Every sensitive detective needs a tough-guy partner to do his dirty woork, and just as Spenser has Hawk, Elvis Cole has Joe Pike. Pike is an interesting character, with his own quirks and demons to battle. Larkin is not quite the spoiled righ kid she seems on the surface (although I still found some of the ending to be pretty out of character). If you're an Elvis Cole fan, you'll enjoy this - there's a lot of expanding on Elviss background, his relationship with Joe and the way they started working together. If you've always like Joe Pike (and I always crush on the sidekicks), this is a great chance to get to know him better. ( ) LisaLynne | Feb 6, 2009 | A Joe Pike novel. Normally, I’m not one for the hard-boiled hero type of either police procedural or thriller. I do have my exceptions, however, such as Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus. Both series are so well written that they transcend, it seems to me, the genre. I now can add Robert Crais’s Joe Pike/Ellis Cole series to the list. Joe Pike is a co-partner, along with Ellis Cole, of a private investigative agency. In a way, he’s your standard no nonsense, tough guy, hard a nails protagonist: ex-marine, ex-L.A. cop, and ex-mercenary. He has the entire skill set necessary for such a protagonist: go for 36+ hours without sleep, stand in one place without moving for 12 hours, drop a fly with a bronze-tipped arrow at 600 yards—the whole shmear. Yet somehow, in this novel where Joe has taken on the protection of a Paris Hilton type figure, he comes out far more interesting. As does Larkin Barkley, the “wild young heiress,” by the way, and I am no fan of celebrities. I put it down to the writing, which is very good, and the plotting, which is also very good. Pike has an interesting background, and Barkley has appealing intelligence. I wouldn’t make such an extravagant claim as to say there is terrific character development within a novel that is clearly thriller-type entertainment, but there is some and it adds to the appeal of the book. All the characters, from the protagonist on down to the major baddies, have distinct voices. This is not a wooden book depending simply on body count (which is significant) and gore and atrocities (of which there is hardly any) for its appeal. It moves nicely, its characters are appealing or repellent as necessary, and the plot resolves well. All in all, a very good read and one that left me eager to read more in the series. Highly recommended. (  ) Joycepa | Jun 22, 2008 | This is Crais's best book, and that's saying a lot (all of his writing is very high quality). Every single library patron I have recommended the book to loved it. The main character of the Watchman is Joe Pike, who appears in most of Crais's other books as Elvis Cole's partner (like Hawk to Spencer). Action, mystery, great characterization, great writing. (Note: Joe Pike is very much like Lee Child's Jack Reacher--if you like Lee Child you'll love this book, and probably all of Crais's books.) (  ) MediaWrite | Apr 18, 2008 | My mom has been a Crais fan for years, so when the airport bookshop failed to offer anything in my typical reading genres I decided to give this one a try. I was disappointed. Which isn't to say that this is terrible. It may be just the ticket, if you're in the mood for a mindless, quick-paced, "shoot-'em-up, "Lethal Weapon"-ish sort of escapism, with a made-to-order Paris-Hilton-trying-to-act-like-she-has-some-substance-and-an-excuse role. But somehow I expected more from this author. (  ) clong | Apr 7, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Larkin Conner Barkley lives like the City of Angels is hers for the taking. Young and staggeringly rich, she speeds through the city during its loneliest hours, blowing through red after red in her Aston Martin as if running for her life. Until out of nowhere a car appears, and with it the metal-on-metal explosion of a terrible accident. Dazed, Larkin attempts to help the other victims. And finds herself the sole witness in a secret federal investigation.
For maybe the first time in her life, Larkin wants to do the right thing. But by agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, she becomes the target for a relentless team of killers. And when the U.S. Marshals and the finest security money can buy can't protect her, Larkin's wealthy family turns to the one man money can't buy -- Joe Pike.
Pike lives a world away from the palaces of Beverly Hills. He's an ex-cop, ex-Marine, ex-mercenary who owes a bad man a favor, and that favor is to keep Larkin alive. The one upside of the job is reuniting with Bud Flynn, Pike's LAPD training officer, and a man Pike reveres as a father. The downside is Larkin Barkley, who is the uncontrollable cover girl for self-destruction -- and as deeply alone as Pike.
Pike commits himself to protecting the girl, but when they immediately come under fire, he realizes someone is selling them out. In defiance of Bud and the authorities, Pike drops off the grid with the girl and follows his own rules of survival: strike fast, hit hard, hunt down the hunters. With the help of private investigator Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals, and the stunning revelation that even the cops are not who they seem. As the body count rises, Pike's biggest threat might come from the girl herself, a lost soul in the City of Angels, determined to destroy herself unless Joe Pike can teach her the value of life...and love.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400)
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