Hostage

A Novel

By: Robert Crais

Narrated by: James Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Jeff Talley was a good husband, a fine father, and a frontline negotiator with LAPD's SWAT unit. But the high stress, unforgiving job took an irreparable toll on his psyche. After a despondent father murders his wife and son and takes his own life, Talley hits bottom. His marriage ends, he resigns from SWAT, and he struggles to escape from his former life by taking the chief-of-police job in a sleepy, affluent bedroom community far from the chaos and crime of Los Angeles.

But Talley's pursuit of peaceful small-town life is about to change when three young men, fleeing the robbery of a mini-mart, invade a tightly secured home and take the family hostage.

Plunged back into the high-pressure world that he has desperately been trying to put behind him, Talley finds his nightmare has barely begun, because this isn't just any house. It belongs to a brilliant white-collar criminal who launders money for L.A.'s renegade franchise of La Cosa Nostra. And the accountant's records of the incriminating money trail that lie within will put L.A.'s most lethal and volatile crime lord, Sonny Benza, behind bars.

As Talley desperately tries to save the innocents inside, the full weight of Benza's wrath descends on him, putting Talley and his own family at risk. Soon, all involved are held hostage by the exigencies of fate and the only one capable of diffusing the crisis is the least stable of them all.

©2004 Robert Crais (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

somewhat engaging thriller

In this novel, an innocent family is held hostage by three guys. The policeman in charge long ago was burned out by a failed SWAT team experience, and he withdrew from life. It turns out that the father of the "innocent" family coincidentally is not so innocent... This hostage thriller started out pretty good, but was really slowed by by less engaging and more farfetched secondary plots. The last third of the book grabbed me based on one of those farfetched secondary plots. The main character was not especially believable but I still found myself rooting for him to succeed as the book went on. This is a plot driven, manipulative thriller that works reasonably well.

police procedural at its best!

I listened to this in 2020 and it was just as exciting as the year it was originally released. Crais at his best, great character development and a captivating storyline.

enjoyable

Enjoyed this book, watched the movie just before finishing the book. the book was much better

fantastic story

more twists and turns than a country road. fun, exciting and a real mind bender

good story but...

it had a good story line and kept you wanting to hear more. however some of the sick details of the homicides were totally unnecessary and made me question whether I should read another book by this author. it's only the second book I read by him and I'm hoping if I try third one I won't regret it.

Hostage

The story is of an echo stage negotiator who has seen better days and how he tries to save the day. The story wasn’t half bad but the narrator really never changed his voice for different characters, which would have made the story much more interesting and engaging. Having just listened to a book with one narrator who was snoring assume multiple characters, male and female, this was very disappointing and made the story less believable.

Awesome book!

Kept me glued! Great storyline and perfectly read! I will definitely be reading another by this author!

Nail biter

I saw the movie years ago but just listened to the book for the first time. I love Crais’s books and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. The reader did a great job and I will look for more books narrated by him.

Nonstop tension 😬

Pure Robert Crais - with multiple story lines coming together in a crashing finale, followed by an epilogue of sorts to let you decompress. Truly creepy bad guys, innocent children, mobsters, petty crooks, good cops, bad cops and a sleepy little town. Perfect narration by James Daniels - he’s born to read Crais. Plan on not sleeping for awhile. I loved it.

A Taut Drama

I'd read this several years ago but listening to the audio was suspenseful and exciting. The narrator gave the right nuances to Talley, a man who has given up on life. The bad guys sounded like bad guys, the kids like kids, and so on. Tension builds slowly as variables are tossed into the mix. Thoroughly enjoyable.