Copyright 2012 by Robert Crais. Published by The Berkley Publishing Group, New York.
I have one major complaint about this book and that is the jumbled timeline. There are times when telling a story out of chronological order makes for a better story, but this is not one of them. I found jumping from “6 days after he was taken” to “40 minutes before he was taken” to be very distracting, with no obvious benefit. Seems to me the story could have been told – better – in simple chronological order.
However, it is a damn good story. The initial event is the taking of a young couple by a group of vicious bajadors – men who steal illegal immigrants being transported into the US, then hold them for ransom. The mother of the kidnapped young woman – who was taken quite by accident by being in the wrong place at the wrong time – hires Elvis Cole, the self-described “World’s Greatest Detective,” to find her. He enlists the able assistance of Joe Pike and Jon Stone, two very tough and very smart former elite special forces soldiers. They get the job done, but not before Elvis himself is taken and is nearly murdered.
It is a very good story. But, again, why not tell it chronologically?
This is the 15th of (at least) 18 books in the Elvis Cole series. As always, if you think there is any chance you want to read the series, it is best to start at the beginning. I haven’t done that so I can’t tell you if the 14 that preceded this one are just as good, but it seems likely.
7 out of 10. It would have been 8 were it not for my chronological order complaint.