Suspect by Robert Crais

   
   

I love Robert Crais.  I believe I have mentioned that here before, but it bears repeating.  I love Robert Crais.  Not in a romantic way. I am happily married.  And after all, he could be creepy and weird and stay hunched over a typewriter all day long shouting for his wife and kids (assuming he has those) to bring him coffee or beer or cursing them when they interrupt. 

Robert Crais is a phenomenal writer and I love him in the way that when I get one of his books I stay up late reading it and then get up early to finish it.  Suspect is one of those books.

I first read Robert Crais in the late eighties and have continued to read him.  His funny, yet highly competent private detective, Elvis Cole, is a hoot and grabs you by the throat and keeps you hanging until he solves the mystery.  I always like a good Elvis Cole mystery.  The Joe Pike novels are equally good, but you aren't allowed to know Joe as well as Elvis.  You would probably like to invite Elvis Cole over for dinner.  You might be too afraid the have Joe Pike over, but if you had a serious problem, he could be your best friend.

I hate when I love an author for a particular series and then they write a stand alone novel and they let you down. Or it is good, but not as good as you were hoping or expecting. That is not the case here.  If you like a good mystery or police procedural you will like this novel.

Suspect starts with introducing you to Maggie, a Marine dog in Afghanistan. She proves heroic, but loses her handler in a terrible way and comes home with canine PTSD.  Then the lead human protagonist, Scott James, has an equally horrific event where he is severely wounded, loses HIS LAPD partner and also develops a case of PTSD.  These two find each other when James joins the police K-9 unit and gets Maggie for his dog.  They each seek to connect and heal and then solve the case that injured James.

Dog in jeopardy, partner in jeopardy, a buddy story, loyalty even after death and revenge against evil.  How can you not love that?  There were parts towards the end that were so suspenseful that I had to put down the book and pet the cat to calm myself before I could continue.  Of course, part of that is that I didn't want the book to end and by stopping I put off the inevitable. This was a great book.  Go get it.

The only thing that is keeping me from being upset that the book isn't longer or part of a new series is that I have a new David Rosenfelt book waiting in the wings and I am about to dive in.