::READERS REVIEWS::

3 stars is generous - I read Hostage a few years back and found that to be a TRUE keep-you-awake-all-night compelling read. I finally got around to reading Demolition Angel and figured it would be as good, if not better, based on the premise. Unfortunately it fell far short of my hopes and expectations. Too much of the character development was overly drawn out; at 375 pages, the book perhaps could have been cut down by a good 75 of them by simply not being so thorough in that development. Where Hostage just seemed to flow at a great pace, this one was nearly laborious to get through. Good plot and good characters - but just not enough to rate above 3 stars. Two and a half would be the most accurate rating in my humble world.

Extremly great. - I closed the book slowly, running my hands all over it, before I held it tightly to my heart for a few moments. I do that after great reads. One of the best Detective titles I`ve red. Oh, man, man, MAN.... what a book! I have just now read the final words.

Along similar titles I also recomend these books:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Secret Adversary: A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery!

If At First Your Books Aren't Optioned... - Actually, Robert Crais is so talented and so hip to the Hollywood jive, I can't understand why any number of his books haven't made the leap to the big screen. Apart from "Hostage", a lousy film from his poorest (in a relative way, so to speak) novel, This lack of success remains a mystery. Enter "Demolition Angel", an obvious attempt to kick-start his cinema career. An okay plot with a wholly preposterous denouement, an unfullfilling reading experience and a wish that RC hadn't pandered so! Is anyone besides me sick to death of hard-bitten, self-alienating, alcoholic wimmen cops what live on antacids, breathmints, cigarettes (in no-smoking allowed workspaces, yet!) who chase the whole unwholesome trio guzzling neat Bombay Sapphire Gin??!! I sure as shootin' am! Tired! Of! It! Crais is so much better than this book and his legion fans deserve better than predictable drivel. So does the LAPD Bomb Squad! I had the privelege to watch them in action one time twenty or so years ago, from call-out to resolution of the incident and they are truly remarkable men and women. Oh well, this book completed my Robert Crais reading experience and I know just how much better the "things to come" have been, here's to the next one!

MR. RED - A substantial mystery thriller, however with not too much character substance other than the famed Mr. red. He is Obviously the best character in the book. starkey is great but, she is an extreme bore. Mr. red, although not much of an explored character has the most intriguing personality with a strong mentality for destruction. It is apparent that this book is nothing without a great anagonist like him.

4.5 stars - I listen to these Robert Crais books as audible books and they are great that way. Strongly recommend.

Impossible to Put Down - In Demolition Angel, Robert Crais tells the story of Carol Starkey, the LAPD bomb tech who was killed when an earthquake occurred while she was on a bomb call and was brought back to life. I first met Carol Starkey when I read The Forgotten Man and have kind of worked my way back in the series to learn her story.

Robert Crais is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I enjoy the seamless way he blends the personal lives of his characters with their professional lives and appreciate the way that he makes me care about them and want to know more about them. In this book, three years after Carol Starkey was brought back to life, she is still trying to put her life together, trying to deal with her death and resurrection and the lasting death of her partner and lover. Now a detective in the Criminal Conspiracy Department of the LAPD, she is the lead on another case involving a detonation that kills another bomb squad detective.

I found this book impossible to put down. Not only is it a great police procedural, but it's a terrific detective story as well. Starkey is a complex character, on the surface hard to like, but underneath you recognize her devotion to protecting the people she serves, and her own vulnerabilities. This is an excellent addition to my Robert Crais library, one I will probably enjoy reading over and over again.