Demolition Angel: A Novel
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Booklist Review
Los Angeles police detective Carol Starkey survived the blast that killed her lover and bomb-squad partner David Boudreaux three years ago. The scars remain--too much booze, too many cigarettes, as many therapists as other people have shoes--but Starkey is back on the force when bomb squader Charlie Ruggio is blown apart. With the assistance of an edgy federal ATF agent named Pell, Starkey initially ascribes the blast to the infamous Mr. Red, the "nom de boom" of an egotistical explosion freak. After Pell introduces Starkey to the frightening online world through which Mr. Red shares gossip and explosive devices with domestic terrorists and the morbidly curious, Sharkey makes e-mail contact with Red, who claims that he didn't kill Ruggio and is upset that someone placed his signature on the bomb. A race is on between Red and Starkey to identify the real killer. Author Crais, best-known for his Elvis Cole novels, is clearly not limited by the parameters of a series hero. Carol Starkey is a very different character than Cole but equally compelling. Those who reach out to Starkey are frustrated by bitterness, self-pity, substance abuse, and emotional distance. Yet she understands that unless she takes control of her life, she will have been defeated by the same dark impulses that led to the death of her lover. Crais has set a serious exploration of personal regeneration in the context of a crime novel, and he is successful on both levels. --Wes Lukowsky
Publisher's Weekly Review
Acclaimed for his Elvis Cole mystery series (L.A. Requiem, etc.), Crais deserves further garlands for this stand-alone crime novel. The book features one of the most complex heroines to grace a thriller since Clarice Starling locked eyes with Hannibal Lecter, a deliciously spooky villain in the person of a mad bomber known as Mr. Red, and an aggressively involving plot. Carol Starkey was a rising light in the LAPD Bomb Squad until, two years back, a bomb blew up in her face, maiming her and killing her lover/partner. Now Carol's a bitter, chain-smoking alcoholic with the LAPD's Criminal Conspiracy Section, who gets drawn into a literally explosive conspiracy when a bomb kills Charlie Riggio, one of her former bomb squad colleagues. Forensic evidence points toward the bomb being the work of John Michael Fowles, aka Mr. Red, a coldhearted young bomber-assassin-for-hire and master of disguise. Much of the narrative concerns Carol's pursuit of him, most excitingly on the Net through a secret mad-bombers' site, aided by a saturnine federal (ATF) agent, Jack Pell. Intercut are scenes of Mr. Red's various mad plottings, which take a hairpin turn when he learns that the cops think he killed Riggio: for in fact he didn't. That murder pans out as a copycat crime for personal gain, and now Carol must pursue both Riggio's killer and Mr. Red, who in turn has taken an intimate interest in this bomb-savvy female cop. The subsequent pas de deux between Carol and Mr. Red is too reminiscent of the dance between Starling and Lecter, but otherwise this novel gets high marks for originality, and even higher ones for suspense and, above all, for multidimensional, wounded characters who give all the excitement a rare depth. BOMC and Literary Guild featured selection; Mystery Guild main selection; author tour; film rights sold to Columbia/Tri-Star. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Los Angeles bomb squad veteran Carol Starkey, who lost her partner/lover to a detonation, must investigate a rash of bombings designed to wipe out the squad. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Book Review
After eight entertainingly laid-back mysteries starring Elvis Cole (L.A. Requiem, 1999, etc.), Crais tightens the screws to the max in this white-hot crossover thriller about a cop on the trail of a serial bomber. Three years ago, Carol Starkey was abruptly retired from the LAPD's Bomb Squad by an explosive that killed both her and her supervisor/lover. She was brought back to life after two minutes of flatlining; he wasn't. Now that she's working at Criminal Conspiracy, she's the obvious choice to head the investigation when a bomb kills her old colleague Charlie Riggio. And even though her own ordeal left her dead in more ways than one, she's a terrific choice, too, because right from the start she makes things happen. She realizes that the bomb must have been detonated by remote control, and that the killer must therefore have been on the scene. When ATF agent Jack Pell links the murder to half a dozen earlier bombings-for-hire and assassinations of explosives experts, she joins forces with Pell in an uneasy romance that keeps the case in the LAPD corral. And, inevitably, she finds herself online with Mr. Red, the gleefully self-advertising bomber obsessed with making the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list (and evidently imitating his fictional model Hannibal Lecter). But not all Starkey's calls turn out golden, and one of them sparks a shocking plot twist that brings the globe-hopping Mr. Red, who'd been perfectly happy killing people in faraway jurisdictions, back to the City of Angels. Soon enough, Starkey's been frozen out of the case, forced to go up against Mr. Red with only Pell for backup. Crais spikes this predictable, foolproof yarn with so many surprises and such a masterly command of pace that you'll find yourself checking the clock every ten pages. Make sure it's not digital. (Book-of-the-Month Club featured selection; Literary Guild/Mystery Guild featured selection; film rights to Columbia/Tri-Star; author tour)
Booklist Reviews
Los Angeles police detective Carol Starkey survived the blast that killed her lover and bomb-squad partner David Boudreaux three years ago. The scars remain--too much booze, too many cigarettes, as many therapists as other people have shoes--but Starkey is back on the force when bomb squader Charlie Ruggio is blown apart. With the assistance of an edgy federal ATF agent named Pell, Starkey initially ascribes the blast to the infamous Mr. Red, the "nom de boom" of an egotistical explosion freak. After Pell introduces Starkey to the frightening online world through which Mr. Red shares gossip and explosive devices with domestic terrorists and the morbidly curious, Sharkey makes e-mail contact with Red, who claims that he didn't kill Ruggio and is upset that someone placed his signature on the bomb. A race is on between Red and Starkey to identify the real killer. Author Crais, best-known for his Elvis Cole novels, is clearly not limited by the parameters of a series hero. Carol Starkey is a very different character than Cole but equally compelling. Those who reach out to Starkey are frustrated by bitterness, self-pity, substance abuse, and emotional distance. Yet she understands that unless she takes control of her life, she will have been defeated by the same dark impulses that led to the death of her lover. Crais has set a serious exploration of personal regeneration in the context of a crime novel, and he is successful on both levels. ((Reviewed March 15, 2000)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
Library Journal Reviews
Los Angeles bomb squad veteran Carol Starkey, who lost her partner/lover to a detonation, must investigate a rash of bombings designed to wipe out the squad. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal Reviews
After seven successful novels featuring Los Angeles PI Elvis Cole, Crais made a secondary character the star of his eighth (L.A. Requiem, LJ 6/1/99). In his latest, he changes even more, dropping the male PI for a female police officer. Carol Starkey, an LAPD bomb-squad technician who nearly died in a blast three years earlier, is emotionally burned out. When a partner is killed by a bomb in what Starkey realizes is an assassination, she finds herself caught up in a deadly game with a serial bomber who targets individuals--including her. Working against colleagues and procedures, and helped by an ATF official who is not what he seems, Starkey pulls us into the surreal world of those who love explosives. Fast paced, authentic, well written, and combining suspense and police procedural, this tale features a tough heroine who should win a whole new audience for Crais. Highly recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/00].--Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Acclaimed for his Elvis Cole mystery series (L.A. Requiem, etc.), Crais deserves further garlands for this stand-alone crime novel. The book features one of the most complex heroines to grace a thriller since Clarice Starling locked eyes with Hannibal Lecter, a deliciously spooky villain in the person of a mad bomber known as Mr. Red, and an aggressively involving plot. Carol Starkey was a rising light in the LAPD Bomb Squad until, two years back, a bomb blew up in her face, maiming her and killing her lover/partner. Now Carol's a bitter, chain-smoking alcoholic with the LAPD's Criminal Conspiracy Section, who gets drawn into a literally explosive conspiracy when a bomb kills Charlie Riggio, one of her former bomb squad colleagues. Forensic evidence points toward the bomb being the work of John Michael Fowles, aka Mr. Red, a coldhearted young bomber-assassin-for-hire and master of disguise. Much of the narrative concerns Carol's pursuit of him, most excitingly on the Net through a secret mad-bombers' site, aided by a saturnine federal (ATF) agent, Jack Pell. Intercut are scenes of Mr. Red's various mad plottings, which take a hairpin turn when he learns that the cops think he killed Riggio: for in fact he didn't. That murder pans out as a copycat crime for personal gain, and now Carol must pursue both Riggio's killer and Mr. Red, who in turn has taken an intimate interest in this bomb-savvy female cop. The subsequent pas de deux between Carol and Mr. Red is too reminiscent of the dance between Starling and Lecter, but otherwise this novel gets high marks for originality, and even higher ones for suspense and, above all, for multidimensional, wounded characters who give all the excitement a rare depth. BOMC and Literary Guild featured selection; Mystery Guild main selection; author tour; film rights sold to Columbia/Tri-Star. (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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Citations
Crais, R. (2009). Demolition Angel: A Novel . Random House Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Crais, Robert. 2009. Demolition Angel: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Crais, Robert. Demolition Angel: A Novel Random House Publishing Group, 2009.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Crais, R. (2009). Demolition angel: a novel. Random House Publishing Group.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Crais, Robert. Demolition Angel: A Novel Random House Publishing Group, 2009.
Copy Details
Collection | Owned | Available | Number of Holds |
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Libby | 1 | 1 | 0 |