The Sentry
By Robert Crais
G.P. Putnam's Sons
$26.95, hard cover, 306 pages, 978-0-399-15707-3 (2011)
“Damn you Robert Crais,” I said under my breath. I had a lot to do. I needed to write four book reviews and had at least six other novels to read when The Sentry arrived by FedEx. I’d wasted the entire evening reading this book when things to do were ahead of it. Now I’d have to play catch-up with the rest of my work (let alone my legal practice, household chores, family obligations, etc.) all because this novel was so engrossing.
You could have written a book that wasn’t so mesmerizing. But noooo, you had to write something I just couldn’t put away until I’d finished it, didn’t you? I smiled, knowing that if given the chance, I’d do it all over again.
Crais usually writes thrillers about a detective named Elvis Cole, and his tough-guy partner, Joe Pike. A few years ago he wrote The Watchman – a novel featuring Joe Pike (Elvis Cole played a small role). Next came The First Rule, Crais' second Joe Pike novel. It rose to #2 on the New York Times bestseller list – higher than any of Crais’ other New York Times bestsellers.
I’d received the third Joe Pike novel, The Sentry, late in the afternoon and thought I’d just quickly skim at the first couple of chapters to get a sense of the plot. As far as the outside world goes, that’s the last thing I remember until late last night when I finally finished reading the last page.
That’s how good The Sentry is.
The novel starts with Joe Pike getting gas and noticing a couple of guys across the street.
As Pike closed the hood, three women biked past on the opposite side of the street, fine legs churning, sleek backs arched over handlebars. Pike watched them pass, the women bringing his eye to two men walking in the opposite direction – blink – and Pike read them for trouble, two men in their twenties, necklaced with gang ink, walking with what Pike during his police officer days had called a down-low walk. Bangers were common in Venice, but these two weren’t relaxed like a couple of homies with nothing on their minds; they rolled with a stony, side-to-side swagger showing they were tensed up and tight, the one nearest the curb glancing into the parked cars, which, Pike knew, suggested they were looking for something to steal.
Pike watches the men and when they enter a sandwich shop, he decides to cross the street to investigate.
The events unfolding inside the takeout shop had happened quickly. When Pike reached the door, the two men had an older man on the floor, one punching the man’s head, the other kicking his back. The man had rolled into a ball, trying to protect himself.
The two hitters hesitated when Pike opened the door, both of them sucking air like surfacing whales. Pike saw their hands were empty, though someone else might have been behind the counter or in the back room. Then the guy throwing the punches went back to pounding, and the kicker turned toward Pike, his face mottled and threatening. Pike thought of nature films he’d seen with the silverback gorillas puffing themselves to look fierce.
“You wan’ this bitch? Get outta here.”
Pike didn’t get out. He stepped inside and closed the door.
After rescuing the man, Pike takes an interest in his niece, Dru Rayne. When the pair are later kidnapped, Pike is drawn into a gang battle involving the Mexican mafia, La Eme, and a Bolovian hitman named Daniel and his elusive buddies, Tobey and Cleo. Just to make things interesting, the LAPD and FBI are also involved. Fortunately for Pike, his best friend Elvis Cole has his back.
As for the three Joe Pike novels written so far, The Sentry stands unmatched.
Buy it on Amazon here.
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