Hostage
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Robert Crais' Hostage opens with Jeff Talley, the police chief in a small southern California town, still having nightmares about the young hostage who died when he made the wrong call in his previous job as a negotiator for an LAPD SWAT team. Now, three small-time punks go on the run after a grocery store robbery and killing in Talley's town. Soon his deputies have surrounded the house where the inept robbers have taken Walter Smith and his two children hostage. And Talley's back in his worst dream again: until the county sheriff's full-fledged SWAT team arrives and takes over, he has to negotiate for their lives.
Crais keeps the point of view moving from Talley to the punks to the hostages as the situation unfolds in the house and on the ground. Then he ratchets up the dramatic tension: there's something in Walter Smith's house that a ruthless mob boss wants, and he'll sacrifice anyone to get it--which puts Talley's own family in danger. The action speeds to its climax with the velocity of a heat-seeking missile, which makes it almost criminal to slow down long enough to savour the great writing:
Talley... had stepped into the Zone. It was a place of white noise where emotions reigned and reason was meagre. Anger and rage were non-stop tickets; panic was an express. He had been all day coming to this, and here he was: the SWAT guys used to talk about it. You went to the Zone, you lost your edge. You'd lose your career; you'd get yourself killed, or, worse, somebody else.Crais, author of popular books featuring private eye Elvis Cole (including LA Requiem and Voodoo River), belongs in that tier of writers whose novelistic gifts transcend the thriller category--writers such as Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane and James Lee Burke. Hostage is a breakout. --Jane Adams, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Robert Crais has unerringly built a considerable reputation as one of the most ambitious and accomplished thriller writers working today. After Demolition Angel, there were many making claims for him as the most impressive of current American writers in the field, and Hostage is likely to add more lustre to his name. When a convenience store robbery goes bloodily wrong, the teenage gang who perpetrated the crime try to make a run for it. After a police pursuit, they crash into the suburban home of an accountant and take his family hostage. The armed siege that follows is very bad news for the local sheriff who left the force in LA because of the stress. But matters are complicated by the fact that the leader of the gang had inadvertently chosen a Mafia employee who is the custodian of all the local families' financial records. And when the Mob joins the scene, a grim three-way stand-off is in the offing. As this synopsis indicates, Crais continues to come up with individual and innovative plots that can appear totally fresh to the reader. That alone marks him out in this era of endless repetition, but he matches his canny plotting with characterisation of a rare order.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I came accross Robert Crais's books about 1 year ago. Since then I have read 9 of his Elvis Cole books, Demolition Angel and now Hostage. I have to say all of them have been a pleasure to read. And Hostage is one, if not his best.
Its so good a book that they have now made a movie from it, with Bruce Willis playing the part of Jeff Talley, ex hostage negotiator and SWAT, who due to stress and a failed negotiation has moved from highly charged LA to be a small town police Chief.
But a robbery starts a landslide of events that keep you turning page after page after page.
Absolutely rivetting. If you havent read a Crais book then this is a great book to make you a fan. But be warned once you start it you will not put it down. Brilliant characterisation, dialogue and plot.
It was a pleasure to read.
Its so good a book that they have now made a movie from it, with Bruce Willis playing the part of Jeff Talley, ex hostage negotiator and SWAT, who due to stress and a failed negotiation has moved from highly charged LA to be a small town police Chief.
But a robbery starts a landslide of events that keep you turning page after page after page.
Absolutely rivetting. If you havent read a Crais book then this is a great book to make you a fan. But be warned once you start it you will not put it down. Brilliant characterisation, dialogue and plot.
It was a pleasure to read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit I wasn't sure about bying this book as it didn't feature Elvis Cole, who stars in all the other Crais books that I have read.
No need to worry - this is a fantastic read and your heart goes to police chief Talley as he tries to stop his world from falling apart.
No need to worry - this is a fantastic read and your heart goes to police chief Talley as he tries to stop his world from falling apart.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Another good, well plotted and suspenseful book. This has you gripped from beginning to end. A simple store robbery goes wrong and turns into a seige. No one knows what is at risk until the story unfolds and outside elements begin to intrude.
I won't give more away but recommend this to everyone who likes well written thrillers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Crais at his best
Having read nearly all Robert Crais books - I thought that I would read one of his early ones and I am glad that I did. Read more
Published 9 months ago by patsy
Lucky Find
I found this book on the stairs near where I live and because I had nothing better to do I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by S. Weston
Crais misses the Plot
Fresh off one or two great reads this was a real disappoitment.
The Hostage formula can work and well but Crais treads this path with little imagination and whilst it kept my... Read more
The Hostage formula can work and well but Crais treads this path with little imagination and whilst it kept my... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jonathan Clark
Hostage, by Robert Crais
My wife, who is a great fan on Robert Crais, was delighted with this book. She found it well-written, interesting and absorbing
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by T. J. H. Edwards
On the Hot Seat!
The less you know about the details of this story before you read it, the more you will enjoy it. My recommendation is that you stop friends from telling you anything specific, and... Read more
Published on 17 July 2004 by Donald Mitchell
On the Hot Seat!
The less you know about the details of this story before you read it, the more you will enjoy it. My recommendation is that you stop friends from telling you anything specific, and... Read more
Published on 17 July 2004 by Donald Mitchell
On the Hot Seat!
The less you know about the details of this story before you read it, the more you will enjoy it. My recommendation is that you stop friends from telling you anything specific, and... Read more
Published on 9 July 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Another Crais Classic
Alongside 'LA Requiem', this stands as Crais' classic, and one of the benchmark works of modern crime. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2004 by Mr. Warren M. Fisher
A bad hair day for all involved
HOSTAGE accelerates from 0 to 60 in seconds, and then just keeps on rolling. Like A MAIDEN'S GRAVE, another hostage thriller I recently devoured, this novel is everything a trashy,... Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2002 by Joseph Haschka
Hostage
Crais demonstrates his virtuosity with police work this time working with a SWAT hostage negotiator as a follow on to his bomb disposal expert, Demolition Angel, and a break from... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2002 by U. Thakkar
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