The Wanted
Ratings6
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings6
Average rating4.3
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Investigator Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike take on the deadliest case of their lives in the new masterpiece of suspense from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Robert Crais. It seemed like a simple case—before the bodies started piling up... When single-mother Devon Connor hires Elvis Cole, it’s because her troubled teenage son Tyson is flashing cash and she’s afraid he’s dealing drugs. But the truth is devastatingly different. With two others, he’s been responsible for a string of high-end burglaries, a crime spree that takes a deadly turn when one of them is murdered and Tyson and his girlfriend disappear. They stole the wrong thing from the wrong man, and, determined to get it back, he has hired two men who are smart and brutal and the best at what they do. To even the odds, Cole brings in his friend Joe Pike, but even the two of them together may be overmatched. The police don’t want them anywhere near the investigation, the teenagers refuse to be found, and the hired killers are leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Pretty soon, they’ll find out everything they need to know to track the kids down—and then nothing that Elvis or Joe can do may make any difference. It might even get them killed.
Series
7 primary booksJoe Pike is a 7-book series with 7 primary works first released in 2007 with contributions by Robert Crais.
Series
18 primary booksElvis Cole and Joe Pike is a 18-book series with 18 primary works first released in 1987 with contributions by Robert Crais.
Reviews with the most likes.
More of a vintage Cole than recent books. Too much hugging at the end.
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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A single mom has worries about the way that her teen-aged son is behaving – and when you add in flashy clothes, a Rolex, and more money in his pocket than most book bloggers have in their checking account. So, she hires Elvis to figure out what the bad news is.
It takes The World's Fastest Detective just a couple of hours to figure out what Tyson has been up to, and it's not good: Tyson and a couple of friends have been breaking into empty homes and making off with all sorts of high-end merchandise. Think The Bling Ring, but without anything for Emma Watson to do. Multiple security companies, insurance investigators as well as the police have been hunting for them, and Elvis has stumbled onto the trail.
Of all those on the hunt for this crew, one team is closer to finding them than Elvis is – and these two seem to be leaving a lot of bodies in their wake. They're identified right from the get-go, so I don't mind talking about them too much. They've clearly been partners for a long time – the give and take between the pair is enough to almost make you forget they're horrible people. At one point, the two get into a discussion about the appropriateness of the word “retard” in conversation, another conversation is about the depiction of women in moves/fiction, and they get into a big argument about annoying ringtones that one of them is using. If they weren't going around killing people for mysterious, yet clearly nefarious, reasons, I could really like them (or, if Crais was going for a Tarantino/Leonard thing with them).
The pacing on this is relentless – well, it's obvious to the reader right off that the clock is ticking, but once Elvis catches up to what we know, things are almost non-stop. It's similar to Taken, but without the jumping around in time, Crais knows how to handle the tension and momentum just right so the suspense is genuine. It also reminded me of The Watchman, in that you have Elvis and Cole trying to protect a self-involved teen (or two) on the run from some very determined killers.
In so many ways this is classic Elvis Cole: Joe Pike doesn't do much – it's almost like the early books, he shows up does his Batman kind of thing, and vanishes. It was a nice way to deal with him – we don't want to get too chummy with Pike, he looses a bit of the mystique that way. When he does act – we get our money's worth. John Chen is very John Chen-y, which is always fun (as long as we don't get too much of him). We get some quick visits with some other old friends, too. Elvis cooks like hosts on Food Network aspire to. All the mainstays are there.
Slipping in every now and then between the adrenaline from the chase and the fan service is a solid emotional grounding that was as effective as it was unexpected.
Time with a couple of old favorites, an almost perfectly constructed thriller, and some solid emotional moments – who could ask for more? From the hitting-the-ground-running beginning through to the very touching ending, this is a heckuva read that should please fans new and old.
