A fast paced crime thriller from excellent author Robert Crais. I love his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike stuff and this standalone held its own! Interestingly written from the point of view of many of the story's "big players". You never really know who's on what side and how everything will play out, which makes it a hard
to put down novel. Crais is probably one of my favorite authors out there with Lee Child and Nelson DeMille. ( )

This is a fast-paced page-turner with the suspense and action. Honestly, I can't tell which was better: the book or the movie (although the movie was different, yet the same basic premise). The interesting thing is that the tough-guy protagonist, Talley, has such a heart, that Crais has him tearing in a couple scenes in fear thinking of his wife and daughter and his conundrum, whether to save his family at the expense of another's or sacrifice them for the others.

First time I've read Crais and Hostage is one of the best entertaining reads!

Fair warning: this book contains offensive language. ( )

No Joe Pike or Elvis Cole in this Detective novel. 3 crazies take over a house after a robbery killing. They picked the house of a major mobster group. ( )

This is the second Crais standalone novel. He writes a very popular series that I've never warmed up to but his non-series work grabs me. Like this one. His stress-filled SWAT team work for the LAPD turned Jeff Talley into a burned out shell of a man. He takes a job in a small, quiet town as the chief of a tiny police department where a disaster brews that rivals the situations that burned him out originally. A lame-brain and his brother along with a psychopath end up taking a family hostage in Talley's patch. The story ends up being one of those you really can't put down. ( )

I usually dislike prologues as their primary purpose is to establish the background or setting for the story to come. In this instance, however, Robert Crais captures your interest from the first paragraph and ends the prologue on an ambiguous note that leaves flexibility for the story to move in multiple directions.

The first page of the story introduces the nominal leader of the hostage-taking trio. His impulsive decision to rob a convenience store quickly escalates into the imprisonment of a father and his teenaged children and almost immediately the petty thieves find themselves surrounded by the police. From there the story expands to include organized crime, police corruption, psychologically compromised police officers, and another major development I will leave to readers to discover.

Unfortunately, just as you are snuggling into your favorite reading location the forward momentum is stalled as the introduction of a seemingly endless cast of characters creates an increasingly complex scenario. The major parties include the local police, the county sheriff’s multifaceted force, crime families and their “soldiers” in California and New York, a professional assassin, and the hostages. I was grateful there was no family dog.

There are some plot holes that nag at the reader but do not get in the way of our enjoyment of the story. Jazz (i.e., computer) disks are central to the plot and the crime syndicate is eager to gain possession of them. However, we are supposed to believe that they never realize that the disks could have been copied so mere possession provides no guarantee their ends will be met. Further, the henchmen attempting to gain possession of the disks are depicted as organized, and highly competent. The details each member is able to provide only two hours after receiving their assignments is truly impressive. It's a standard literary ploy to stack the deck against the "good guys" but in this case it is only a minor annoyance.

On the positive side, the central characters are interesting and multidimensional. Despite being frightened and abused, Jennifer, the teenaged daughter, and Tommy, the pre-teen son both showed courage, fortitude, strength of character, and resourcefulness. The members of the hostage-taking trio were also portrayed as more than lowlifes. Kevin is a weak but tragic figure and Dennis is not without some appeal.

The family is being held hostage, the police are surrounding the house, and somehow organized crime, damaged and bent police officers, and an assassin are all in play. How will this scenario play out? You'll never guess. I was not satisfied with the resolution in every respect but I give Crais credit for a plausible ending that still managed to surprise me.

Despite the slow pacing during the middle of the book I offer an enthusiastic recommendation of Hostage. ( )