The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As the subtitle suggests, Joe Pike, the intriguing, enigmatic partner of L.A. PI Elvis Cole, takes center stage in this intense thriller from bestseller Crais (The Two Minute Rule). To pay back an old debt, Pike is coerced into protecting Larkin Barkley, a hard-partying young heiress whose life is in danger after a "wrong place wrong time" encounter that quickly escalates and spins out of control. The enemy is shadowy, violent and relentless—but the fierce, focused Pike, one of the strongest characters in modern crime fiction, is equal to the challenge. The breathless pace and rich styling are sure to appeal to readers of hard-boiled fiction in general, but since up to now Pike has mostly remained in the background, some fans of the Elvis Cole series (The Forgotten Man, etc.) may find the explicit picture that emerges of Pike at odds with the image they've constructed for themselves. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Robert Crais wrote for the hit television shows Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and L.A. Law, among others, so it comes as no surprise that his novels (including 11 featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike) have a hard-boiled feel and seamlessly incorporate cutting dialogue (see the recently reviewed The Two-Minute Rule, HHHJ May/June 2006). In The Watchman, Crais maintains his reputation as an edge-of-your-seat plotter with a psychological bent, not unlike Lee Child in his Jack Reacher series or James Lee Burke with Dave Robicheaux. Although one critic wishes that Pike had remained an enigma and another cites a predictable plot, most agree Crais's fans will take to this highly charged first effort featuring Pike. "Elvis will still be the series star," Oline H. Cogdill points out, "but putting a spotlight on Joe will make for richer novels."
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743281632
• ISBN-13: 978-0743281638
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #319,435 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything's Zen, March 10, 2007

By	Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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In Joe Pike, "the world's greatest detective's" enigmatic and stoically violent sidekick of the "Elvis Cole" novels, the talented Robert Crais has created one of most intriguing characters in contemporary popular fiction. But with the wisecracking Cole still mostly sidelined from injuries suffered in "The Forgotten Man", Pike takes center stage in this well plotted, fast moving crime drama.

With his red-arrowed forearms "going forward, never back", Pike, to repay an old debt, reluctantly takes on the task of protecting Larkin Barkley, a spoiled LA society brat drawn with shades of Paris Hilton, right down to the rat-dog-in-the-purse detail. Returning home from late night revelry, Barkley t-bones a Mercedes full of the wrong people, and in a convoluted twist, ends up as a witness under protection. But when it becomes clear that the folks who'd prefer that Barkley not testify are deadly serious, Joe Pike gets the job of keeping the pouting debutant safe and sound.

As always, Crais' prose is witty and fast moving. Joe Pike, who is about as chatty as Mount Rushmore, is cleverly contrasted against Larkin's tantrums. And Elvis Cole, while taking care not to swing the spotlight too far away from Pike's solo debut, throws around enough of his patented one-liners to keep his hardcore base smiling. But if the bond that builds gradually between Joe and Barkley stretches the bounds of credibility just a bit, this is, after all, fiction, and besides, Crais does a masterful job of building the sexual tension and creating - perish the thought - the hint of a soft side to Pike's impenetrable persona.

While perhaps lacking the edge and grit of today's "garage writers of grime" - guys like Charlie Huston, Duane Swierczynski, Charlie Stella, or Victor Gischler - Crais' polished pages capture LA's sleaze and majesty, designed for appeal to broad audiences. All in all, a slick and well-rendered effort from one of today's best writers of mainstream fiction - top entertainment that is well worth the time and the 15-buck hardcover.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grows on you as it builds up, February 28, 2007

By	Peter G. Keen "rabidreader" (virginia usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Around page 100, I would have rated this just 3-4 stars. It ends up as a firm 5 by the end. There seem to me to be two distinct strands in thriller writing -- character builders and plot artists. Crais is more of a plotter than a character guy; I never quite get inside his two heroes, Pike and Cole -- they seem just a little artificial. But he is superb in plotting. What begins as a routine story line weaves, turns, double backs and grabs you to the last pages. He is a good stylist -- deft, brief and precise. He is also superb in his portrayals of violence and cruelty; you get a sense here of Pike's dissociation and his own detachment. The heroine -- Paris Hilton but without the intellect -- does not come alive for me; again, too artificial. The villains are shadows not realities. But, this is a minor point. The book works superbly. I loved it.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Didn't Do It For Me -, April 20, 2007

By	John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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There are a lot of reviews of this book already posted and they are almost universal in their praise for this book. I was certainly looking forward to it as I have felt that Crais has been getting better with every book and to have a story which features the enigmatic Joe Pike looked to be very interesting.

My feeling about the book are best explained by recaling the comic strip Peanuts and the time when Snoopy was going to return to The Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for a reunion with all of the puppies he knew when he was little. He went dancing off to the reunion and several days later he returned, threw his pack into the dog house and went to lie on the ridgepole. Charlie Brown comes running up and says "Well? How was it?"
In the bubble over Snoopy's head he replies, "The anticipation far exceeded the actual event."

And that's how I feel about The Watchman. I now know more about Joe Pike's background than I really need to and he continues to be a stalwart person and a loyal one. The story which has been outlined by others I found to be a bit tedious. Having said that, I realize that this is a very minority opinion and if you are a Robert Crais fan, I would not let my reaction to this book put you off from reading it. Maybe I am just having a bad reading week.

However, I always try to tell it like I see it. In this instance, though I think you should rely more on what others have had to say.