Suspect Hardcover – January 1, 2013

I have read almost all of Robert Crais' books with Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, so this is an entirely different book from the type of book that he usually writes, but this book was outstanding - it is about the relationship between a man and his dog, but it is way more than that - on so many levels.Maggie is an 85-pound black-and-tan German shepherd military dog, and her handler is Corporal Pete Gibbs. They are an explosive detection team working in Afghanistan. One day they encounter a suicide bomber outside of a village - Maggie immediately senses the danger as her sense of smell is absolutely incredible, but before she can truly warn Pete, the suicide bomber detonates the bomb. In addition, snipers from the village start shooting at them. Pete is killed and Maggie is shot, but survives. Post surgery, she is basically OK, has some scars on one of her hind quarters, and sometimes limps when tired, but she also suffers from PTSD as a result of the bomb detonating and the gunfire. She is also psychologically scarred due to the loss of Pete - what Crais does so well in this book is to describe the bond developed between the handler and the dog - the handler is the alpha, the dog is there to protect him, and together they are "pack" - they eat together, they play together, they sleep together, they work together - from Maggie's point of view, Pete is her world - when he's happy, she's happy, when he's not happy, she's not happy, when he's scared, she's scared. Now Pete is gone, and Maggie is not happy.They retire her from military service.Scott James is LAPD - his partner is Stephanie Anders. One night, they are out on patrol and inadvertently find themselves in the middle of a major robbery/murder - Stephanie is killed and Scott is severely wounded - so much so that he cannot return to his duties even when he is healed, but he does not want to take a medical retirement - he loves being LAPD. So he pulls some strings and gets accepted into the LAPD K-9 unit run by a tough but fair and compassionate sergeant - Sergeant Dominick Leland. He arrives one day to be paired up with a particular dog chosen for him by Leland, but then he sees Maggie - he tells Leland that he wants Maggie but Leland initially says no because, while Maggie is there as a potential K-9 officer, Leland knows her history and already feels that she will not be acceptable as a highly functional K-9 officer, particularly due to her PTSD status - she is skittish at the sound of gunfire and he also has doubts as to her physical capabilities. Scott convinces Leland to give him two weeks with the dog in order to see what he can do.Again, what Crais does so well in this book is to project to us, the readers, the deep and profound bond developed between man and dog.Maggie initially bites Scott but he learns how to approach her, how to properly pet her, how to stroke her, how to talk to her, how to praise her, how to reinforce positive results that he wants to obtain from her with proper rewards - and soon enough, just as with Pete, Scott and Maggie are "pack" - they are inseparable, they are indivisible, Maggie knows that Scott is her alpha and will protect him with her life. Through dogged (no pun intended) police work, and with Maggie's help, Scott eventually solves the robbery/murder that occurred during which Stephanie was killed, although once again, both Scott and Maggie are injured - Scott is shot and Maggie has temporarily lost some hearing due to being close to a gun being fired as she was trying to apprehend one of the robbers/murderers.What Crais also does well, is to definitely inject some great humor into the book through great dialogue - for example, when Scott is shot near the end and is taken to the hospital for surgery, Leland shows up and "demands" to be told what his status is. The head nurse, no shrinking violet, addresses him and tells him that the surgeon will be out soon to report on Scott's status. Leland is used to "bullying" his way through every situation through means of feigned bluster, but the nurse takes him on, tells him to effectively calm down, or else she will give him no information - he calms down, she tells him what's going on, he thanks her, and she turns away, congratulating herself on how she handled him and says to herself "All bark, no bite!"When Scott finally recovers, he sees Leland at the K-9 training facility, and Leland says that he's glad that "his dog" is doing so well. Scott respectfully says that Maggie is "his dog". Leland blusters at him saying "Every one of these outstanding animals is my dog and don't you ever forget it!" Scott plays along and says "Yes, sir, Sergeant." It almost reminds one of the drill instructor in the movie FULL METAL JACKET, played by R. Lee Ermey, where he always tells the new marine recruits that they are lucky to be members of his "beloved corps". Leland also tells Scott that he will continue to pretend that he has never seen Maggie limp - he is obviously extremely proud of the two of them - originally "suspect", but they absolutely proved that they were up to the task when needed. These bits of humor are exemplary of the compassion that also comes through in the book with respect to the relationships between Scott and Maggie, between Scott and Leland, and between Leland and all of his K-9 dogs.

I've had this book on my tablet for a while and for some reason, overlooked it until now. I'd totally forgotten the storyline, just remembered that I like the author.I read it in one sitting this afternoon. Now, that can mean one of two things with me: it was too short or I was too eager. With this book, both are true. It was a quick read, but it was a good one. A very, very good one.I don't care anything at all about comparing a series character to a stand-alone - it's a totally different beast. So what this author did or didn't do in a series isn't a factor. Other reviewers complained that the human protagonist, Scott, was one-dimensional, but I didn't read him that way at all. I didn't need to know what games he played as a boy or how many girlfriends he had as a teenager to be able to immediately picture him and his partner in a squad car patrolling. I felt them come to life immediately. If the story had progressed in a different way, with the relationship between them deepening, then yes, additional knowledge about him would have been interesting and I believe would have been told. But that was not this story.The main protagonist (sorry, not up on my literature - can there be more than one?), the dog, was so well-written that nothing else was needed. Yes, I'm a dog lover in real life (also cats and horses), but anyone who didn't feel their soul moved by this dog needs to find one - a soul, I mean, then get a dog! This dog was as fully formed as any fictional character ever has been and deserved every bit of prose written about her.As one Negative Nellie commented in a review, he couldn't buy that Scott wasn't a "dog person" and couldn't have learned how to love and need a dog so quickly. As a previous "non-dog person", I beg to differ. With such an intelligent, courageous, well-trained, devoted animal, any but the most resistant human would quickly become a fan and learn. Dogs teach us every day if we watch and listen. And Scott doesn't come to his knowledge of Maggie's (the dog) excellent skills overnight - he doesn't know what the military taught as opposed to what the LAPD teaches K9s, but he's told it's a different skill set. So he doesn't twig to what she's showing him until it's almost too late.When he finally does and uses Maggie's scent talents to their full capacity, his plan and the execution of it are fascinating to read.I do agree that the ending got a bit confusing, with all the retired cops and somewhat extraneous characters being introduced, but many of them didn't have a place earlier in the book. The female officer (POSSIBLE mini-SPOILER) could have been written just a bit smarter and the ending could have played out a little differently.I'm annoyed that the publisher restricted this book from sharing, but I'll trade my husband my Galaxy for his iPad long enough for him to read it, too. I'm also annoyed with Amazon's reviewing program adding links to MY review.

I love Robert Crais books with Elvis and Pike and this is a great book but its not an Elvis and Pike book it says it is but they are not mentioned once. This book like Demolition Angle is a story about some one who shows up in the next book The Promise. Don't get me wrong I loved this story and Scott and his dog Maggie are great a great story I was more than pleased to read this book. It has all the things that an Elvis and Joe book have and reading things from the dogs point of view was wonderful. This hit all the right notes made me cry made me laugh and I could not put it down. One thing that I had not noticed the first time I read this book was the dedication its to an author that I just discovered on vacation and now read all of his orphan X books Greg Hurwitz also books I could not put down. So for a action packed and original this is a great one. Enjoy

This is a stand-alone novel by Mr Crais outside of the deservedly popular Elvis Cole/Joe Pike detective series. Having a damaged hero with a troubled past is pretty much cliche number one these days but Mr Crais manages to take it to another level by adding a non-human damaged hero to the mix - in this case an ex-Army bomb sniffing dog now recruited into the L.A. police force. The dog has trauma after his previous handler was blown up and the human hero Scott James has trauma after seeing his former police partner shot dead. They're put together on the police dog team and Mr Crais writes the novel with alternating perspectives between dog and handler as they track down who ambushed and killed Scott James' partner. It didn't quite work for me, certainly not to the same level as the Cole/Pike series. It looks like these characters feature in one of the upcoming Cole and Pike series so that should prove interesting.

Great pacing, straightforward, good prose style, and detailed enough to be satisfying.This is mostly a "classic" detective story, uncovering clues and knitting a big picture of a crime in linear fashion. The characters and police behaviour are quite believable, and the cop is heroic and is on a mission to solve the puzzle, and to save himself from his earlier mistakes.The bonus here is the warm and wonderful bonding between the cop and his K-9 partner.I will be reading more of Robert Crais' work.

I have read every Crais book. He is one of the top thriller writers around - even better than Lee Child. His books are well written and plotted but this exceeds them.There is no Joe Pike or Elvis Cole but that is a good thing. They were in need of a rest and he has proven that he is not a one trick pony.This is very well written and moves at a very quick pace. So quick that I read this with a break while my Kindled recharged. That's right, both my Kindles were on low battery when I started and died on me.This has action, suspense, drama and emotion. You are likely to cry in places and I never do that. Like all good thrillers you remain gripped page after page and you want to keep reading.He weaves the story together by telling parts from varying perspectives, even that of the dog, and it works very well.Buy it. Read it. Love it.

First off, I'm a huge fan of the Elvis Cole series. Earlier works are better, but still would buy any book in the series. I'm a bit iffy on Crais's stand alone's. Some are good (The Hostage) some not so good (Demolition angel.)This book though, this book is just lovely. I bought it last night thinking I'd just have a little nip of it here and there. Could not put the bugger down. I love the joint rehab between Scott and Maggie, Crais did such a good job of describing the trauma that both Scott and Maggie have endured and the hard slog of knitting their lives back together.I hope this is the start of a new series. Also, Maggie and Elvis's evil cat should have a meeting at some point...

I normally love Robert Crais novels but this was a book that I couldn't put down for a second! I started reading it and was immediatly drawn in by the emotions of Maggie, the German Shepherd. I have never felt that the thoughts of a dog could be captured so well that I would connect with her just as much, if not more, than I would with the main human characters. I was on the edge of my seat all the way through and the inserts of Maggies thoughts and reactions just enhanced the whole experience for me. I felt that the similarities between Scott and Maggies lives and the tragedies that they had been through lent a credence to how quickly they bonded and made a new and unusual basis for this team. Superb!