Yay or Nay? Yay! (76%)

 

Consensus: By letting the sidekick step out of the shadows yet again, Crais has produced what is hands-down some of the best written crime fiction being written today.

Genres: Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers | Thrillers

Description: From the New York Times-bestselling author who sets the standard for intense, powerful crime-writing comes a blistering thriller featuring Joe Pike and Elvis Cole.
 
“The Watchman” put Joe Pike, Elvis Cole’s strong, taciturn partner, front and center, and not only won Robert Crais new audiences but remarkable reviews. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said “Robert Crais elevates crime fiction” and now with “The First Rule” he does it again.
 
The organized criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are bound by what they call the thieves’ code. The first rule is this: A thief must forsake his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He must have no family-no wife, no children. We are his family. If any of the rules are broken, it is punishable by death.
 
Frank Meyer had the American dream-until the day a professional crew invaded his home and murdered everyone inside. The only thing out of the ordinary about Meyer was that- before the family and the business and the normal life-a younger Frank Meyer had worked as a professional mercenary, with a man named Joe Pike. The police think Meyer was hiding something very bad, but Pike does not. With the help of Cole, he sets out on a hunt of his own-an investigation that quickly entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cutthroat criminal­ity, and at the heart of it, an act so terrible even Pike and Cole have no way to measure it. Sometimes, the past is never dead. It’s not even past.
 
“The First Rule” is the most astonishing novel yet from the master of the crime thriller. … [more]

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9 Book Reviews for “The First Rule” by Robert Crais

• He is a totally engaging writer who can make us feel, if fleetingly, for the most hardened, vicious villain. His descriptions, filled with subtle glances of color and hue in everything his characters encounter, bring the reader directly into the scene.
  Published the 4th day of April, 2010 in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Reviewed by Robert Croan | Full Review
  
• Crais is one of a handful of crime writers … who year after year produce highly readable novels of action and suspense…. It’s a good plot, and Crais keeps it spinning with his accustomed skill. He’s a stylist; his action scenes are not so much written as choreographed.
  Published the 18th day of January, 2010 in The Washington Post | Reviewed by Patrick Anderson | Full Review
  
• This tale teems with violence, from pistol-whippings to casual killings. Although the bad guys may outnumber Pike, they never outmuscle him. Still, the plot is clever — and the ending a pleasant surprise. Crais’ many fans will snap this one up.
  Published the 10th day of January, 2010 in St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Reviewed by Harry Levins | Full Review
  
• “The First Rule” works as a high octane thriller as well as an insightful look at loyalty, friendship and unconditional love…. Crais richly shows the staunch friendship of Joe and Elvis – a true bro-mance between two men who respect and believe in each other with no doubts.
  Published the 17th day of January, 2010 in Sun Sentinel | Reviewed by Oline Cogdill | Full Review
  
• Is it possible for a crime novel to be both ultra-violent and elegant? If so, then … “The First Rule” is a prime example. The mayhem is graphic and unflinching, but the prose and storyline are as sleek and efficient as a beautifully crafted piece of machinery…. As sleek and efficient as a beautifully crafted piece of storytelling should be.
  Published the 7th day of January, 2010 in The Seattle Times | Reviewed by Adam Woog | Full Review
  
• The first rule regarding Robert Crais’ crime fiction is that Joe Pike is a more compelling figure than partner Elvis Cole, the glib private investigator who dominated Crais’ early novels…. Because the second rule of Crais’ fiction is that Pike will not be denied, “The First Rule” runs a bloody course to a predictable conclusion. That doesn’t diminish the pleasure of watching two skilled craftsmen, Crais and Pike, at work.
  Published the 30th day of January, 2010 in The Oregonian | Reviewed by Steve Duin | Full Review
  
• Elvis Cole and Joe Pike … one of the best, albeit unlikely, partnerships in crime fiction…. One of the better entries in the Cole/Pike saga, one that will satisfy longtime fans and make new ones seek out the earlier titles. But for all the well-written action sequences and snappy dialogue … it is Pike’s more reflective moments that linger in the mind…. It is always interesting to see how long-running crime series and their heroes evolve.
  Published the 11th day of January, 2010 in Los Angeles Times | Reviewed by Paula L. Woods | Full Review
  
• Crais has a knack for sweating the touching stuff. He’s deft at speaking the needs of hearth and belonging…. Crais makes readers care…. The femmes … are as complex as the menfolk…. Crais writes with a easy vigor. His prose has deepened along with his characters. There’s understated poetry throughout.
  Published the 31st day of January, 2010 in The Denver Post | Reviewed by Lisa Kennedy | Full Review
  
• Sometimes second fiddle gets the lead and steals the show. More Pike, please.
  Published the 24th day of January, 2010 in Chicago Sun-Times | Reviewed by Randy Michael Signor | Full Review
  

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 10:47 AM and is filed under:
Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Thrillers.

Tags: Adam Woog, book review, Chicago Sun-Times, Harry Levins, Lisa Kennedy, literary criticism, Los Angeles Times, Oline Cogdill, Patrick Anderson, Paula L. Woods, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Randy Michael Signor, Robert Crais, Robert Croan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Steve Duin, Sun Sentinel, The Denver Post, The First Rule, The Oregonian, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post

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