This story was fairly good at filling the gap between other books but did little to really blow me away or make me remember it. The mystery element was resolved/revealed way too early so there were only the stated stakes to keep one turning the pages. These stakes, though quite high to the characters involved are a little one dimensional and don't make you sweat too much (there's a feeling that the good guys are going to win no matter what). The finale also is a bit blunt and unimaginative showing the protagonists' strengths are not necessarily what I personally prioritise in a detective.
As for the protagonist, Mr. Elvis Cole, I found him a little dull and dumb. The only Crais I had previously read was a Joe Pike (Cole's Reacheresque partner) story and expected whilst Pike was the brawn, Cole would be the brains, but was left disappointed. He was slow to pickup clues (often slower than Pike) and his "wit" was like the wit of the runt kid in a school social group who couldn't think fast enough to keep up with the rest of the group and tried his hand at desperate hackneyed humour.
The plot itself was fairly tame and repetitive. There were very few memorable characters and the scenes seemed to blend into one.
I'll give Crais another go, since this was his first Cole novel, but it might not be for a little while.
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