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Robert Crais

Suspect Kindle Edition

by Robert Crais (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3,539 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series comes a thrilling novel featuring LAPD K-9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Maggie.

Nine months ago, a shocking assault by unidentified men killed Scott James' partner, Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty—until he meets his new partner.

Maggie is not doing so well, either. A German shepherd who survived two tours in Afghanistan sniffing explosives before losing her handler, her PTSD is as bad as Scott’s.

They are each other’s last chance. And they’re about to investigate the one case no one wants them to touch: identifying the men who murdered Stephanie. But what they find could ultimately break them both.

One of Booklist's 10 Best Crime Fiction Books of the Year

Print length

418 pages
Language

English
Publisher

G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date

January 22, 2013
File size

1040 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An intense, fast-paced, and thrilling page turner.”—CNN.com

“A read-in-one-sitting thriller.”—Booklist (starred review)

“[A] heart-tugging novel…Maggie...holds us captive, enthralled by Crais’s perceptive depiction of her amazing capacities.”—The New York Times Book Review

“An emotional masterpiece. Suspect is without a doubt Crais’s best novel to date.”—Author Magazine

About the Author

Robert Crais is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, many of them featuring private investigator Elvis Cole and his laconic ex-cop partner, Joe Pike. Before writing his first novel, Crais spent several years writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice, Quincy, Baretta, and L.A. Law. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on Hill Street Blues, and one of his standalone novels, Hostage, was made into a movie starring Bruce Willis. His novels have been translated into forty-two languages and are bestsellers around the world. A native of Louisiana, he lives in Los Angeles.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The most multifaceted and appealing new protagonist in crime fiction this year just may turn out to be a dog—and a hard-boiled dog, to boot. Maggie is a German shepherd trying out for the LAPD’s K-9 unit, but it looks like she isn’t going to make it. A former military dog, Maggie survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan but was severely wounded (her handler was killed) and now suffers from the canine version of PTSD. LAPD cop Scott James, shot during an altercation in which his partner was killed, also suffers from PTSD and has been assigned to the K-9 unit, but it doesn’t look he’s going to make it, either. Scott and Maggie immediately bond, but the hard-nosed sergeant who heads the unit doubts whether either one can measure up. Man and dog think otherwise, however, and as Scott continues—off the books—to investigate the shooting that cost his partner her life, he finds that Maggie has his back, just as his partner did. Taking a break from his critically acclaimed Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series, Crais launches what looks like a stand-alone, but anyone who reads 20 pages of this gripping and heartrending thriller will devoutly pray that it’s the beginning of a new series. As Scott digs deeper into the death of his partner, he stumbles on a massive cover-up. That story is thoroughly involving and skillfully presented, but, frankly, it’s hard for the reader to think of anything but Maggie. We become singlemindedly obsessed with the safety of this beautiful, sensitive, and stunningly intelligent animal, much as Maggie lives to protect and please Scott. Crais take us inside Maggie’s head—and, even more, her remarkably sensitive nose—but always in the most believable of terms (this is no talking-dog cozy). A read-in-one-sitting thriller, plot- and character-driven in equal measures. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Crais has hit the New York Times best-seller list eight times, with Taken making it to number one. The track record will jump-start this one, but the book itself will do the rest. --Bill Ott --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:#0400;mso-fareast-language:#0400;mso-bidi-language:#0400;}They were on that particular street at that specific T intersection at that crazy hour because Scott James was hungry. Stephanie shut off their patrol car to please him. They could have been anywhere else, but he led her there, that night, to that silent intersection. It was so quiet that night, they spoke of it.Unnaturally quiet.*Stephanie frowned.“You sure you know where you’re going?”“I know where I’m going. Just hang on.”Scott was trying to find an all-night noodle house that a Rampart burglary detective had raved about, one of those pop-up places that takes over an empty storefront for a couple months, hypes itself on Twitter, then disappears.Scott was trying to figure out how he had screwed up the directions when he suddenly heard it.“Listen.”“What?”“Shh, listen. Turn off the engine.”“You have no idea where this place is, do you?”“You have to hear this. Listen.”Uniformed LAPD officer Stephanie Andress, a P-III with eleven years on the job, shifted into park, turned off their Adam car, and stared at him. She had a fine tan face, with lines at the corners of her eyes, and short sandy hair.Scott James, a thirty-two-year-old P-II with six years on the job, grinned as he touched his ear, telling her to listen. Stephanie seemed lost for a moment, then blossomed with a wide smile.“It’s quiet.”“Crazy, huh? No radio calls. No chatter. I can’t even hear the freeway.”Stephanie reached to start the car, but Scott stopped her.“Let’s sit for a minute. How many times you hear silence like this?”“Never. This is so cool, it’s creeping me out.”“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”Stephanie laughed, and Scott loved how the streetlights gleamed in her eyes. He wanted to touch her hand, but didn’t. They had been partners for seven months, but now Scott was leaving, and there were things he wanted to say.“You’ve been a good partner.”“Are you going to get all gooey on me?”“Yeah. Kinda.”“Okay, well, I’m going to miss you.”“I’m going to miss you more.”Their little joke. Everything a competition, even to who would miss the other the most. He wanted to touch her hand again, but then she reached out and took his hand in hers, and gave him a squeeze.“No, you’re not. You’re going to kick ass, take names, and have a blast. It’s what you want, man, and I couldn’t be happier. You’re a stud.”Scott laughed. He had played football for two years at the University of Redlands before blowing his knee, then spent four years as an MP in the United States Marine Corps. He joined LAPD after the Marines, and took night classes for the next four years to finish his degree. Scott James had goals. He was young, determined, and competitive, and wanted to run with the big dogs. He had been accepted into LAPD’s Metro Division, the elite uniformed division that backed up area-based officers throughout the city. Scott’s transfer to Metro would come at the end of the week.Stephanie was still holding his hand, and Scott was wondering what she meant by it when an enormous Bentley sedan appeared at the end of the street, as out of place in this neighborhood as a flying carpet.At the moment the Bentley reached the intersecting street, a deep throaty growl shattered the perfect silence, and a black Kenworth truck exploded from the cross street. It T-boned the Bentley so hard the seven-thousand-pound sedan rolled completely over and came to rest right side up on the opposite side of the street. The Kenworth skidded sideways, and stopped blocking the street.Stephanie said, “Holy crap!”Scott slapped on their flashers, and pushed out of the car. He was three paces ahead, and closer to the Bentley.“I got the Batmobile. You get the truck.”Stephanie broke into a trot, and the two veered apart. No one and nothing else moved on the street except steam hissing from beneath the Bentley’s hood.They had gone less than a car length when bright yellow bursts flashed within the truck, and a hammering chatter echoed between the buildings.Scott thought something was exploding within the truck’s cab, then bullets ripped into their patrol car and the Bentley with the thunder of steel rain. Scott instinctively jumped sideways as Stephanie went down. She screamed once, and wrapped her arms across her chest.“I’m shot. Oh, crap—”Scott dropped to the ground and covered his head. Bullets sparked off the concrete around him and gouged ruts in the street.Move. Do something.Scott rolled sideways, drew his pistol, and fired at the flashes as fast as he could. He pushed to his feet, and zigzagged toward his partner as an older, dark gray sedan screamed down the street. It screeched to a stop beside the Bentley, but Scott barely saw it. He fired blindly at the truck as he ran, and zigged hard toward his partner.Stephanie was clutching herself as if doing stomach crunches. Scott grabbed her arm. He realized the men in the truck had stopped firing and thought he and Stephanie might make it even as she screamed.Three men wearing black masks and bulky jackets boiled out of the sedan with pistols and shotguns, and lit up the Bentley, shattering the glass and punching holes in its body. As they fired, two more masked men climbed from the truck with AK-47 rifles.Scott dragged Stephanie toward their black-and-white, slipped in her blood, then started backward again.The first man out of the truck was tall and thin, and immediately opened fire into the Bentley’s windshield. The second man was thick, with a large gut that bulged out over his belt. He turned away from the Bentley, swung his rifle toward Scott, and the AK-47 bloomed with yellow flowers.Something punched Scott hard in the thigh, and he lost his grip on Stephanie and his pistol. He sat down hard, looked at his thigh, and saw blood welling from his leg. Scott picked up his pistol, fired two more shots, and his pistol locked open. Empty. He pushed to his knees, and took Stephanie’s arm again.“I’m dying."”Scott said, “No, you’re not. I swear to God, you’re not.”A second bullet slammed into the top of his shoulder, knocking him down. Scott lost Stephanie and his pistol again, and his left arm went numb.The big man must have thought Scott was done. He turned to his friends, and when he did, Scott left Stephanie, and pushed toward their patrol car like a broken crab, dragging his useless leg and pushing with his good. The car was their only cover. If he made it to the car, he could use it as a weapon or a shield.Scott keyed his shoulder mike as he scuttled backward and whispered as loudly as he dared.“Officer down! Shots fired, shots fired! One-adam-sixty-two, we’re dying out here!”The men from the gray sedan threw open the Bentley’s doors and fired inside. Scott glimpsed passengers, but saw only shadows. Then the firing stopped, and Stephanie called out behind him. Her voice bubbled with blood, and cut him like knives.“Don’t leave me! Scotty, don’t leave!”Scott pushed harder, desperate to reach the car. Shotgun in the car. Keys in the ignition.“DON’T LEAVE ME!”“I’m not, baby. I’m not.”“COME BACK!”Scott was five yards from their patrol car when the big man heard Stephanie. He turned, saw Scott, then lifted his rifle and fired.Scott James felt the third impact as the bullet punched through his vest and ribs on the lower right side of his chest. The pain was intense, and quickly grew worse as his abdominal cavity filled with pooling blood.Scott slowed to a stop. He tried to crawl farther, but his strength was gone. He leaned back on an elbow, and waited for the big man to shoot him again, but the big man turned toward the Bentley.Sirens were coming.Black figures were inside the Bentley, but Scott couldn’t see what they were doing. The driver of the gray sedan twisted to see them, and pulled up his mask as he turned. Scott saw a flash of white on the man’s cheek, and then the men in and around the Bentley ran into the waiting gray car. The men from the Kenworth climbed inside with them.The big man was the last. He hesitated by the sedan’s open door, once more looked at Scott, and raised his rifle.Scott screamed.“NO!”Scott tried to jump out of the way as the sirens faded into a soothing voice.“Wake up, Scott.”“NO!”“Three, two, one—”Nine months and sixteen days after he was shot that night, nine months and sixteen days after he saw his partner murdered, Scott James screamed when he woke. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008RCZLNO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ G.P. Putnam's Sons (January 22, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 22, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1040 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 418 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #55,225 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,133 in Military Thrillers (Books)
- #1,398 in Murder
- #1,455 in Cozy Animal Mysteries

Customer Reviews:
3,539 ratings

About the author

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Robert Crais

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Robert Crais is the author of the bestselling Cole & Pike novels. A native of Louisiana, Crais moved to Hollywood in the late 70s where he began a successful career in television, writing scripts for such major series as Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice and Hill Street Blues. In the mid 80s, following his success with the TV buddy genre, Crais created a series of crime novels based around the characters Cole & Pike. In addition, Crais has also written several bestselling standalone thrillers. Robert Crais lives in LA with his wife and family.

Here are the Elvis Cole novels in series order:

The Monkey's Raincoat

Stalking the Angel

Lullaby Town

Free Fall

Voodoo River

Sunset Express

Indigo Slam

L. A. Requiem

The Last Detective

The Forgotten Man

The Watchman

Chasing Darkness

Stand-alone novels:

Demolition Angel

Hostage

The Two Minute Rule

The First Rule

Customer reviews

5 star		72%
4 star		20%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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JM Harvey

One of Crais best!

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2017

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I remember when this came out, but I didn't purchase it because I was waiting for the next Cole-Pike novel...what a mistake! This was one of the best Crais novels. The characters, Scott James and his K-9 Maggie were heartbreakingly believable, and I admit to getting a little teared up for Maggie on occasion. Scott's and Maggie's parallel losses of partners they loved and their unwillingness to recommit to new partners made their eventual bonding all the more poignant. And the secondary (to me) plotline of the mystery was extremely well done, spare, well paced and not overly foreshadowed. I had a good idea who the bad guys were before the end, but the plotting was so well done that hardly mattered. A great read and I wish that Crais would do another.

32 people found this helpful

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Joan Shulman

A wounded Police Officer and a wounded in action German Shepherd become partners

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2021

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I have read all of the Elvis Co!e /Joe Pike books with a passion for Robert Crais's style. Now, hopefully, there will be a new series with Scott James and Maggie. I will not go into a description of the wonderful story. However I will plead with Mr. Crais to continue this series. There is nothing better than a well written Police story except a police story with a wounded Police Officer whose partner was killed when he could not help her, and a wounded in action German Shepherd whose soldier was killed in action when she could do nothing to help him. Putting these two lost souls together as K9 partners in the Los Angeles police department was a story only Mr. Craig could create. The characters were brilliantly real, although Maggie, the German Shepherd captured my heart. Scott James, a bit of a risk taker, captured my imagination. Scott trained as a K9 officer with the injured Maggie,each learning about the other, and leaning on each other for support, as only a human and dog can do. SUSPECT is not only a great study of human / canine behavior, but a gripping story of police work. It is also heartwarming! I highly recommend it!

5 people found this helpful

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PeridotCat

Suspect deserves at least 5 stars; excellent read

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2015

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Suspect was my first Robert Crais book; judging by the folks who wrote 5 star reviews about the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series, I'll be reading Robert Crais novels for a long time. Suspect is a great story; it kept me reading when I needed to be doing other things, like sleeping. The relationship between Scott and Maggie begins with two broken souls, and ends up so inspiring and positive. I fell in love with Maggie, and was so concerned about her that I emailed Robert Crais, telling him I really hoped that Maggie would be coming back. He wrote back and assured me that she would be. Now I see the new book with all four characters will be coming out later this year; I already have it on pre-order. I really do not understand the folks that gave Suspect 1 star, even 2 stars. Some folks just can't get past their negative outlooks and see the positive. It wasn't what some people wanted; the established characters, not new ones. Embrace change! Allow the author to stretch his wings and imagination. That makes for much more fun for his readers. This book is a major positive; I highly, highly recommend it, in case that didn't come through in my
review.

26 people found this helpful

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Jack Getze

... I haven't met a Robert Crais novel I didn't like. Haven't given them all five stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2014

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SIX STARS IF I COULD -- Understand first I haven't met a Robert Crais novel I didn't like. Haven't given them all five stars, however, as RC is always on his game but some are better than others. So when I give SUSPECT five stars, I'm saying this is one his best. BUT -- I would give this book six stars if could because I believe this his best book ever. I just loved it. I put it down -- had to go out to dinner -- but it was done by breakfast the next morning because I wanted to see how Scott and Maggie came out. I couldn't put it down is a cliche in this business. I did. I had to in order to sustain my marriage. But I didn't want to stop.

Who is Maggie, you might ask? Well this book is about Maggie, an ex-Marine German Shepherd who's now about to be rejected from the LAPD K-9 unit, and Scott, a LAPD patrol officer who lost his partner and was shot three times in an unsolved murder. Scott wants to join the K-9 unit to an effort to heal himself and get back to work. He dreams and thinks of his dead partner much of the time. Maggie the dog thinks about her dead former partner too, a Marine killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Maggie was shot twice trying to protect her Marine handler after the explosion. Both Maggie and Scott are wounded emotionally and physically. Both have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What a team!

The story is about Scott and Maggie learning to work together, both of them needing the other's help. Can they get their act together and solve the murder that killed Scott's former partner? But I called this story RC's best ever because of two things: One, the emotional level of this book is over the top for RC's work. These two protagonists will wrench your guts with their mistakes, their courage and the love they eventually share. Two, significant scenes are told from Maggie's point of view, and for me this was stunningly unusual and a joy to read. You will learn unbelievable facts about dog's noses and how they see the world, and if you have any love for dogs or animals in general, I believe this could be your favorite Robert Crais book, too.

Please, RC, give us another Maggie and Scott story someday.

21 people found this helpful

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Constance Picha

K9 AND MYSTERY WHAT A PERFECT COMBINATION

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2019

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First let me start by saying, I am a German Shepherd lover, but I am not a reader. This book was so good it actually made me want to read more by him, as long as it met my criteria with the German Shepherd. I truly enjoyed the book and recommended it to several people and especially to K9 handlers that I know would sincerely appreciate the story. Don't hesitate GREAT read.

6 people found this helpful

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Bill Swann

Amazing book

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2021

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Robert Crais is a great author, his legion of fans attest to that fact. His legacy established, all he had to do was continue with his Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books and his future was bright. Instead he created a new series with an injured police officer, and an equally injured Marine war dog. It was a tough book to write and a difficult book to read because the characters were so real so quickly, readers became invested in the characters much sooner than in a typical book. This is a great author at the top of his craft, giving his all for his readers. Very well done!

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

CC Man

Doesn't quite work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2015

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This is a stand-alone novel by Mr Crais outside of the deservedly popular Elvis Cole/Joe Pike detective series. Having a damaged hero with a troubled past is pretty much cliche number one these days but Mr Crais manages to take it to another level by adding a non-human damaged hero to the mix - in this case an ex-Army bomb sniffing dog now recruited into the L.A. police force. The dog has trauma after his previous handler was blown up and the human hero Scott James has trauma after seeing his former police partner shot dead. They're put together on the police dog team and Mr Crais writes the novel with alternating perspectives between dog and handler as they track down who ambushed and killed Scott James' partner. It didn't quite work for me, certainly not to the same level as the Cole/Pike series. It looks like these characters feature in one of the upcoming Cole and Pike series so that should prove interesting.

William Donelson

The bonus here is the warm and wonderful bonding between the cop and his K-9 partner.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2017

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Great pacing, straightforward, good prose style, and detailed enough to be satisfying.

This is mostly a "classic" detective story, uncovering clues and knitting a big picture of a crime in linear fashion. The characters and police behaviour are quite believable, and the cop is heroic and is on a mission to solve the puzzle, and to save himself from his earlier mistakes.

The bonus here is the warm and wonderful bonding between the cop and his K-9 partner.

I will be reading more of Robert Crais' work.

4 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

We are pack

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have read every Crais book. He is one of the top thriller writers around - even better than Lee Child. His books are well written and plotted but this exceeds them.

There is no Joe Pike or Elvis Cole but that is a good thing. They were in need of a rest and he has proven that he is not a one trick pony.

This is very well written and moves at a very quick pace. So quick that I read this with a break while my Kindled recharged. That's right, both my Kindles were on low battery when I started and died on me.

This has action, suspense, drama and emotion. You are likely to cry in places and I never do that. Like all good thrillers you remain gripped page after page and you want to keep reading.

He weaves the story together by telling parts from varying perspectives, even that of the dog, and it works very well.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.

3 people found this helpful

Scotslass

Robert Crais does it again!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2019

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As a dog lover and believe the incredible bond between dog and man ( and women!) this book I had to finish this book in one read... every book from this author takes you into his characters..man, woman and canine ..don’t miss this book!

Tom Burchell

Can not remember it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2014

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I am a big fan of Robert Crais and read all his books. I read SUSPECT a month ago, and can not remember a thing about it. I have had my 62nd birthday since reading it and maybe the memory as suffered with age, but I read Taken immediately before, an although not Cole and Pike at their best, I can remember the plot and characters in that book.
Sorry Mr Crais this is a poor pot boiler, and although not bad enough that I abondoned reading it half way through, if I had not opened my Amazon account orders page to check on another purchase, and seen this book listed there, I would not have known I had read it.

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