The Two Minute Rule [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Crais (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2007

Two minutes can be a lifetime.

Ask anyone on the wrong side of the law about the two-minute rule and they'll tell you that's as long as you can hope for at a robbery before the cops show up. Break the two-minute rule and it's a lifetime in jail. But not everyone plays by the rules. . .

When ex-con Max Holman finally gets out of jail, freedom doesn't taste too sweet. The only thing on his mind is reconciliation with his estranged son, who is, ironically, a cop. But then he hears the devastating news: His son and three other uniformed cops were gunned down in cold blood in Los Angeles the night before Holman's release. When the hit is exposed as a revenge killing and the question of police corruption is raised, it becomes a father's last duty to clear his son's name and catch the killer. With all the elements that have made Robert Crais one of the very best crime writers today, The Two Minute Rule is gripping, edgy suspense from the author who sets the standard when it comes to surprising plot twists and powerful characters.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two minutes, in and out, that's the rule for robbing banks in this page-turning action ride around L.A. from bestseller Crais (Hostage). Break that rule, and you can end up like Marchenko and Parsons, dying in a violent shoot-out on the streets, the fortune from their string of heists deeply hidden. Max Holman certainly knows the time limit better than most. Dubbed the "hero bandit" by the press, he got caught during a robbery after he stopped to perform CPR on a bank customer who had a heart attack. About to leave prison on parole, the 48-year-old Max hopes he can establish contact with the son he never really knew, now a cop. When Max's son is murdered, suspected of being in a ring of dirty cops seeking the Marchenko and Parsons loot, Max needs to know the truth. The only person he figures can help him is Katherine Pollard, the fed who nabbed him, who's now ex-FBI and a struggling single mom. The perfect odd couple, they keep this novel personal and real as it builds to an exciting twist on the bank-robbing rule. 200,000 first printing; 15-city author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Most reviewers are slaphappy with praise for Robert Crais's 13th novel. While some critics note a preference for his Elvis Cole books, they find that believable, complex characters, the vibrant settings around Los Angeles—from the dive bars to the straitjacketed Los Angeles river—and heartfelt emotions separate The Two Minute Rule—and Crais—from the bulk of crime fiction. The sharp note of dissent from the Oregonian only serves to reinforce the impression that middle-of-the road Crais is better than many other writers' best.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416514961
• ISBN-13: 978-1416514961
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (157 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Crais is the author of the best-selling Elvis Cole novels. He was the 2006 recipient of the Ross Macdonald Literary Award.

A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in a blue collar family of oil refinery workers and four generations of police officers. He purchased a second-hand paperback of Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister when he was fifteen, which inspired his lifelong love of writing, Los Angeles, and the literature of crime fiction.

He journeyed to Hollywood in 1976 where he quickly found work writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice, as well as scripting numerous series pilots and movies-of-the-week for the major networks.

Feeling constrained by the collaborative working requirements of Hollywood, Crais resigned from a lucrative position as a contract writer and television producer in order to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a novelist. His first efforts proved unsuccessful, but upon the death of his father in 1985, Crais was inspired to create Elvis Cole, using elements of his own life as the basis of the story. The resulting novel, The Monkey's Raincoat, won the Anthony and Macavity Awards and was nominated for the Edgar Award. It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

Crais conceived of the novel as a stand-alone, but realized that, in Elvis Cole, he had created an ideal and powerful character through which to comment upon his life and times. Elvis Cole's readership skyrocketed in 1999 upon the publication of L. A. Requiem, which was a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller and forever changed the way Crais conceived of and structured his novels. Larger and deeper in scope, Publishers Weekly wrote of L. A. Requiem, "Crais has stretched himself the way another Southern California writer, Ross Macdonald, always tried to do, to write a mystery novel with a solid literary base." Booklist added, "This is an extraordinary crime novel that should not be pigeonholed by genre. The best books always land outside preset boundaries. A wonderful experience."

Crais followed with his first non-series novel, Demolition Angel, which was published in 2000 and featured former Los Angeles Police Department Bomb Technician Carol Starkey. In 2001, Crais published his second non-series novel, Hostage, which was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and was a world-wide bestseller. The editors of Amazon.com selected Hostage as the #1 thriller of the year. A film adaptation of Hostage was released in 2005, starring Bruce Willis as ex-LAPD SWAT negotiator Jeff Talley.

Robert Crais lives in the Santa Monica mountains with his wife, three cats, and many thousands of books. Additional information can be found at his website, www.robertcrais.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Flat Out Great Rule, February 9, 2006

By 

Michael D. Trimble (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Two Minute Rule (Hardcover)

Flat out great, is how I describe most of the books written by Robert Crais and this book exceeded my high expectations.

In the Two Minute Rule, Crais has written bittersweet story of a friendship, of loss, of father's love for his son, and ultimately a story of redemption. All that, between the covers of well told mystery.

Max Holman has spent a good portion of his life behind bars. When he was free, he was breaking the law, thinking about ways to break the law, and generally self-absorbed in the pursuit of personal pleasure. Holman's recent ten year prison stint, has however, produced a change, and all Holman wants now, is to know the son he abandoned, well before he ever went to prison. Unlike the father, Holman's son followed a different path. He joined the police force. The night before his release, Max learns that his son has been murdered, and it doesn't stop there. Author Crais continues to take from Holman, to the point, that you find yourself saying "please don't hurt this man anymore." Holman is driven by two desperate needs, the first is his desire to find the killer, and the second is his need to discover the truth about his son. Was Max Holman's son a good cop or a dirty one?

This story is superb and it is memorable. The Holman character is a three dimensional flesh and blood person who evokes great empathy from the reader. The dialogue is tight, gritty, realistic, and essentially as good as it gets for a book full of characters living on the marginal fringe of polite society.

My highest recommendation! This book will appeal to a wide variety of book lovers. It is a mystery for sure, but one that rises to the level of suspenseful (not nearly enough mysteries do this). I can almost guarantee this book to be a weekend read. There is not one wasted word and you are going wish there were another 100 pages or so, when you get to the end.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book went down faster than an oyster!, February 26, 2006

By 

Naomi Johnson "beauvallet" (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Two Minute Rule (Hardcover)

I can't believe it was over so soon. Sure, I got my money's worth but I always finish a Crais book and am left wanting another new one right away. In this story, Crais gives us a variation on his favorite theme: The father-son relationship. In the Elvis Cole books, we always see the relationship from the perspective of two sons, Elvis, who never knew his father, and Joe, who knew his all too well. In 'Two-Minute Rule,' the perpective is from that of a less-than-stellar father, Max Holman, and the story combines action and angst as Max goes to great lengths to make whatever amends he can to a son he never knew, a son who had long ago written off Max as a loser. This book was solid, not as elegant and atmospheric as 'L.A. Requiem,' perhaps, but I read it so fast maybe I missed something. I won't mind a second read-through, that's certain.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STELLAR READING OF SUSPENSE FILLED TALE, March 6, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Two Minute Rule (Audio CD)

The relationship between father and son has often been a focus in literature. There have been unbreakable bonds between the two, distrust, hate, reconciliation, love, all manner of emotions. Yet, I expect that few examinations of this relationship result in a scenario as explosive as the one devised by Robert Crais.

The author's rather catchy title comes from the knowledge that if you're going to rob a bank, you have about two minutes to get away with the money before the police arrive. Protagonist Max Holman knew that dictate well but he lingered long enough during a robbery to help a person suffering a heart attack. The result? Sympathetic press for Max and ten years in jail.

Like many other prisoners Max thought of what he would do when he was released. Uppermost in his mind was setting things right with his son, a policeman. Tragically Max learns on the very day of his release that his son and three fellow officers have been shot and killed. The official story is that they have been gunned down by a gang leader, Juarez. Max doesn't buy that but there's no help for him from the LAPD.

The only person he can think of who might help is the FBI agent who arrested him - Katharine Pollard. She has retired and living peacefully, comfortably. There are just a few people in this world that she wants to avoid and one of them is Max. Nonetheless, when Juarez becomes an apparent suicide she has to reluctantly agree that the official story doesn't make much sense.

She and Max join forces and begin to investigate on their own. What they uncover is not only shocking but dangerous.

The pleasure in listening to a story by Crais is his ability to intricately plot and surprise with every turn. Christopher Graybill offers a laudable narration, moving from the determined voice of a father who wants to avenge his son's death to the longing and sadness in the voice of a man who finds himself drawn to a woman he doesn't think he deserves.

- Gail Cooke