Book Review: Suspect. Robert Crais.
Suspect. Robert Crais. Thriller.
It's about two people. A man and his dog. The dog is people in this instance, as much as any human. The two are damaged, the man a policeman who has been shot near to death and lost his partner in the process. The dog shot near to death while searching for bombs in Afghanistan and lost his partner in the process.
Both could have been pensioned off on medical grounds. Neither were, the man because he refused, the dog because the man refused on his behalf when they were unexpectedly thrown together.
Their story is a journey, each taking turns with the narrative. The journey's end is the solution of the crime where the policeman lost his partner, Stephanie.
It's a solution that people don't want to happen. People in places where they shouldn't be that way. But the man and his dog learn to work together to get around the obstacles in their path, and the obstacles of their respective conditions. We learn about men, and we learn about dogs. Especially men and dogs who are trained to protect and to serve.
Robert Crais was inspired to write by the works of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. It shows. His early career as a contract writer for TV shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey and Miami Vice gave him a grounding in visual writing. It shows too.
I'll be looking for his back catalogue.
This is one of the new collection of books in Kilcullen Library. Very much worth picking up.
