Cindy H. (euchreprincess) reviewed Taken (Joe Pike, Bk 4) (Elvis Cole, Bk 12) on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I'm a fan of Robert Crais' books and have read most of his books. I was disappointed in this one because it was such a slow starter. The book I was reading was from the library and I almost took it back several times because it just wasn't grabbing me. There was too many characters and too much background building. Ho-hum. The last 1/4 of the book kept me reading, and the ending was predictable, but OK. Not really worth the time to read this one.
John O. (buzzby) -
I was really disappointed. No sense of the geography of the Coachella Valley. Go read his earlier books before this one, they are better.
Good page turner, kept my interest from the start.
Unusual plot with a lot of clever and complicated twists and turns as Cole and Pike try to find a young couple swept up in a kidnapping of illegals by bloodthirsty cartel types near the border. Definite "can't put it down" story.
I got the book last night and got very little sleep because I could not put it down. Crais creates memorable characters and just want to know what happens. Some series get old but I will want his next book as soon as I can get it.
Discovered this series by accident but very glad I found them--great characters.
Scott Gross (scottgross) -
I've read everything Crais has written and enjoyed them all. Joe and Elvis are great characters and this book is about their adventures with human smuggling in SoCal.
John O. (buzzby) -
Lots of people killled, but no Anglos, as far as I can tell, and certainly no one with a security clearance.
Set in the Coachella Valley of the Southern California deserts, it's an action-packed thriller dealing with human trafficking of Korean, Central American, Russian, or Middle Eastern workers. A teenager and her boyfriend are swept up in a mass kidnapping of these workers and held for ransom. Cole and Pike are on the job to rescue the kids. Elvis and Joe are private investigators of the damaged-but-morally -upright variety. Former cops and military Ranger/Special-Ops guys, they break a lot of rules, but those are really BAD guys out there. Could you start here? Probably. There are no old friends making an appearance that needs a lot of explanation. I enjoy this series for a fast summer entertainment. I give it 4 Stars. The author got experimental with structure, jumping forward and backward in time (about 10 days). A little confusing, but that's just me.
Arlene L. (poolmysteryreader) reviewed Taken (Joe Pike, Bk 4) (Elvis Cole, Bk 12) on + 63 more book reviews
newest in a great series.
This book should be required reading for anyone contemplating illegal entry into the US. It is a sobering look at illegal immigration. I can only hope that this is not as common as Robert Crais made it seem.
This story starts in the desert regions of the Coachella Valley in Southern California. Two American college-aged students get caught up in the abduction of aliens (Russian, Korean, Middle Eastern, Indian and Central Americans) trying to enter the US. The 'coyotes' bringing them are killed and 'bajaderos' capture the aliens and try to ransom them back to their relatives.
Joe Pike and Elvis Cole are multi-dimensional characters in this book, but Jon Stone is not. He doesn't seem to be very realistic either (a graduate of Princeton University, having total mental recall of everything he's ever read. He speaks umpteen languages and is a total killing machine).
This time-shifting gimmick (chapters may jump forward or backward, I guess to build tension) that Crais uses in this book is irritating. Laura Lippman and others have been using this and it leaves me cold.
My final gripe is about the whole ATF aspect of this novel. Obviously, the book was too short and the aunt was turned into an ATF operative to bring in the US calvary in at the end. Hmmmm. BTW, why didn't brilliant Jon Stone check his vehicle after being in ATF's clutches? 3.5 stars
Joe Pike
1. The Watchman (2007)
2. The First Rule (2009)
3. The Sentry (2011)
4. Taken (2012)
This story starts in the desert regions of the Coachella Valley in Southern California. Two American college-aged students get caught up in the abduction of aliens (Russian, Korean, Middle Eastern, Indian and Central Americans) trying to enter the US. The 'coyotes' bringing them are killed and 'bajaderos' capture the aliens and try to ransom them back to their relatives.
Joe Pike and Elvis Cole are multi-dimensional characters in this book, but Jon Stone is not. He doesn't seem to be very realistic either (a graduate of Princeton University, having total mental recall of everything he's ever read. He speaks umpteen languages and is a total killing machine).
This time-shifting gimmick (chapters may jump forward or backward, I guess to build tension) that Crais uses in this book is irritating. Laura Lippman and others have been using this and it leaves me cold.
My final gripe is about the whole ATF aspect of this novel. Obviously, the book was too short and the aunt was turned into an ATF operative to bring in the US calvary in at the end. Hmmmm. BTW, why didn't brilliant Jon Stone check his vehicle after being in ATF's clutches? 3.5 stars
Joe Pike
1. The Watchman (2007)
2. The First Rule (2009)
3. The Sentry (2011)
4. Taken (2012)
