Demolition Angel

Except for the feeling that I might get lung cancer after finishing this book, I really enjoyed it. For some reason, the author felt compelled to have Carol Starkey sucking on a cigarette during most of her waking hours. Perhaps it was to demonstrate her fragile hold on reality after having been killed as a Bomb Squad member of the LAPD. or maybe she was a smoking bomb. She was clinically dead for a period of time and then revived. Her partner and lover was not so fortunate. Transferred from that position to the Criminal Conspiracy Section of the LAPD (Dective-2) she catches the lead in investigating the death of another Bomb Squad member. It appears that the bomb in the case she is investigating was made by a serial bomber known as Mr. show more Red who, while available as a killer for hire with his pyrotechnics, is apparently killing a bomb squad member or two, just for the fun of it. To tell more of the story line would give away some of the twists, turns and quirks of this very well told tale of revenge and betrayal. To do that would be to spoil the soup. Again, this book is evidence of the growth of this author from his early and popular Elvis Cole novels. show less

Everyone I know loves Crais. I tried one of his series once and it just didn't do it for me. My friend, the bookshop owner, gave me this one for my birthday. It's not part of his series and it is amazing. Carol Starkey is a victim of her job in many ways. As part of a bomb squad, she was nearly blasted to bits. And now, another bomb squader is a bomb victim and she's leading the team to find out who did it. I did not like any of the characters in the book. This is usually a quick ticket to putting it down. But, the first chapter of this book is the most compelling first chapter I've ever read and I was sucked in and glad of it.

I like reading Robert Crais. His novels are always action-packed, have just enough sill puns and brillianlty flawed characters.

In Demolition Angel we get to know Carol Starkey, a tough bomb tech. After being broken, she's trying to get her life back together, survive in a male-domiated world and pretending she's okay (and greatly failing at it). Add to that a mad bomber/killer and a rogue cops and you get the thrilling read this novel is.
My one point of critique: the last two pages feel too sacharin-sugar like. I understand the want to close the story, as this story seems to be intended as a stand-alone, but I feel it would have been better without the 'After' chapter and with an open ending instead.

This is one of Crais' rare novels that does not have Elvis Cole of Joe Pike as the main protagonists. Carol Starkey is a bomb squad expert who is still suffering from the emotional and physical affects of having survived a bombing. In fact she was dead for a couple of minutes before being revived by first responders.

Her current case puts her up against a truly powerful and sick bomber plus she is fighting off her attraction to a federal agent who she sees taking over her case. Crais includes a great deal of detail about bomb making, bomb effects and police procedure in bombing cases. He does explain in his introduction that he has not included in everything.

My one criticism would be the lack of humour that one has come to expect in show more Crias' novels. It always pacifies the often grim and violent scenarios he comes up with. Starkey is often a very unpleasant woman and difficult to warm up to although one has to consider what she has gone through in the previous three years. show less

Carol Starkey died in the bomb explosion, but she was resuscitated. A bomb technician for the LAPD she has been asked to head a team searching for Mr. Red, a very sophisticated and clever bomb maker who targets specific bomb experts hoping to one day make the FBI’s top Ten Most Wanted List. She’s haunted by the explosion that almost killed her, and, because her partner and lover had been killed in the explosion that almost took her’s. The problem is that she discovers evidence that leads her to believe a copycat killer is trying to emulate Mr. Red and take credit for his work. Jack Pell, an ATF agent who has been seeking Mr. Red, links up with Carol and despite her initial reluctance, afraid she might lose the case to the show more “feebs,” they join forces.

All is not what it appears, however, and Starkey’s sources tell her that Pell is a rogue agent. He had been injured in the first bomb blast attributed to Mr. Red and because his retinas had become loosened he was gradually losing his sight and he had sworn to get the bomber on his own. Carol and Jack use a computer chat room populated with bomber wannabees to contact Mr. Red. Mr. Red is upset that his bomb technique is being emulated because he believes it will hinder his getting on the Most Wanted List. Carol discovers that the copycat bomb was identical except for one small detail that was not known to the police, so she begins to suspect that her partner had been murdered by someone in the police department who had had access to the specific details of Mr. Red’s bomb construction.

Crais is the author of the Elvis Cole detective series, books that I have enjoyed very much. This one is very different and perhaps a little less satisfactory, although it’s hard to say why, perhaps I just miss Cole’s wisecracks. show less

A member of the Los Angeles police department bomb squad is killed inspecting a suspicious package and detective Carol Starkey is assigned to investigate. Starkey, introduced in two earlier Elvis Cole novels, was formerly a member of the bomb squad who was “killed” three years earlier in an explosion. She is suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome; she drinks heavily and has difficulty relating to people.

Starkey is hoping to be reassigned to the bomb squad but is so psychologically damaged that it is difficult to imagine her even holding on to her job as a detective. Her heavy reliance on gin and smoking to manage her stress make it unlikely that she will be able to function again as a healthy member of society. Those problems show more also made it difficult for me to identify with her as the protagonist. I found her compulsive smoking to be particularly distasteful. Nevertheless, I found myself warming to Starkey despite her flaws.

A serial murderer known as Mr. Red is the suspected bomber but he is an enigma; his motivation is unclear, his identity is unknown, there are no known pictures of him, and his whereabouts is a mystery. The FBI and ATF believe that he sells his services as an executioner when it pleases him but several of his bombs appear to have targeted members of various municipal bomb squads for unknown reasons.

As Starkey investigates the case she finds evidence that makes her question the identity of the bomber. The mystery is further deepened by the presence of an ATF agent who appears to be hiding something.

“Demolition Angel” poses a multifaceted mystery that leads to a number of surprises. The ending is a bit too melodramatic but most readers will find it to be a compelling read. show less

That is not entirely accurate. Carol doesn’t know she’s the next target until almost the end of the book. The ATF guy Pell knows but he’s not telling anyone. I figured out almost at the beginning that Pell wasn’t quite on the level. He was acting weird and it turns out he’s not in the ATF anymore because he’s going blind. He was in a warehouse when Mr. Red blew it up. His retinas became injured and are pulling away from the optic nerve. He has weird episodes of semi-blindness and is bent on revenge.

Carol was a piece of work. Normally the kind of behavior she was exhibiting was reserved for fictional male cops. Too much drinking, smoking and late nights. Too little food and normal social behavior. The only thing missing was show more the strip clubs. Anyway…she’s got a female partner and they don’t get along very well. Beth ratted out Carol for her illicit drinking and that made things go from bad to worse.

Carol figures out by the way the plumber’s tape was wound around the ends of the pipes, that the bombs were made by someone other than Mr. Red. She has a hard time convincing anyone else. Especially Pell who is completely fixated and obsessed on Mr. Red.

He hasn’t even been identified yet which is keeping him off the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List, much to his annoyance. When he finds out through a creepy bb service for pyros and mad bombers that someone is blowing things up with his MO, he freaks out and heads for L.A. to see how he can stop it.

The upshot is that Carol finds out that Riggio was killed by his boss because he was having an affair with the boss's wife. At first Carol thinks it’s a section chief but it’s not. It’s the head of the bomb squad. He didn’t know about the tape winding and now he knows that she knows. Just when he’s constructing a bomb just for her, Mr. Red finds him and kills him with his own bomb. Then he goes after Carol.

During this investigation, she gets a lead on Mr. Red’s strange explosive via a prisoner who used the same exotic substance. Mr. Red also learns of this prisoner and goes to deal with him to get some of his left over stash. The copycat bomber/cop has it. That’s how Mr. Red knew he was the copy-cat. But he’s not as smart as he thinks. When he was with the prisoner, the guy asked Mr. Red to look at his scrapbook of bomb related stuff. He accosted Carol with it because she was in it. She had to sign it. She knows that Mr. Red killed him because he would tell that Mr. Red came to see him. And she knows that he had to have handled the stupid book. She gets it printed and lo and behold, they get a name.
Now he’s on the 10 Most Wanted.

Meanwhile, she’s been having a couple of breakthroughs in her screwed-up mental state. She sees a tape of herself and her lover/partner being blown up and puts it to rest. The nightmares stop. Then she admits to Pell that she likes him. He freaks. She gets pissed. Then she finds out he’s not really with the ATF. She doesn’t turn him in. Her superiors find out. She’s suspended pending criminal charges.

But she can still get Mr. Red through the creepy bb and she convinces the superiors to let her try. Her trap fails, as we knew it was destined to. Mr. Red is at her house. He handcuffs her to an iron fireplace grate and leaves a bomb. Of course Pell decides to go back and try to make peace with her. Of course he gets there when Mr. Red is still there. They fight and Pell shoots him. But the fight has caused Pell’s retinas to completely detach. I could see this coming – Carol has to be his eyes and he disarms the bomb with Mr. Red still alive in the house. There is a tense moment when the wires are cut and there still might be a second trigger method. But that’s not what they have to worry about. Mr. Red is getting to his feet and strapped to him is another bomb. Pell uses the key hidden in the first bomb to unlock Carol and they bolt and make it, just barely, out of the house.

They end up together in the end. Him blind and her sober.

One thing that was very effective was Mr. Red’s use of Carol’s full name each and every time he addressed her. Carol Starkey. Carol Starkey. Carol Starkey. Over and over again until something that should make you proud and empowered seemed much more like a snide insult. It made Mr. Red seem more psychologically twisted and menacing. show less