The Watchman

An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel, Book 11

By: Robert Crais

Narrated by: James Daniels

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

At last, the enigmatic partner of Elvis Cole (The Two Minute Rule) takes center stage in this pulse-racing thriller. When Joe Pike is charged with safeguarding a wealthy heiress, he discovers protecting the sole witness to a crime is nothing compared to protecting an LA party girl from her own self-destruction...

Larkin Conner Barkley lives like the City of Angels is hers for the taking. Young and staggeringly rich, she speeds through the city during its loneliest hours, blowing through red after red in her Aston Martin as if running for her life. Then suddenly she sees another car’s metal-on-metal explosion of a terrible accident and, dazed, finds herself the single witness in a secret federal investigation.

For maybe the first time in her life, Larkin wants to do the right thing. But in doing so she becomes the target for a relentless team of killers. And when the US Marshals and the finest security money can buy can’t protect her, Larkin’s wealthy family turns to the one man money can't buy - Joe Pike.

Pike lives a world away from the palaces of Beverly Hills. He’s an ex-cop, ex-Marine, ex-mercenary who owes a bad man a favor, and that favor is to keep the uncontrollable Larkin alive.

Pike commits to protecting the girl, but it becomes clear someone in their circle is selling them out. Taking matters into his own hands, Joe drops off the gird with Larkin and follows his own survival rules: strike fast, hit hard, hunt down the hunters. With the help of private investigator Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals, and the stunning revelation that even the cops are not who they seem. As the body count rises, Pike’s biggest threat might come from the girl herself, a lost soul in the City of Angels, determined to destroy herself unless Joe Pike can teach her the value of life...and love.

Investigate another case with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

©2007 Robert Crais (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Elvis Cole's mostly silent partner, Joe Pike, now has a book of his own. His character, manner, and ethic resemble that of Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry), and thanks to James Daniels, so does his voice."--AudioFile

"Joe Pike, the intriguing, enigmatic partner of L.A. PI Elvis Cole, takes center stage in this intense thriller....The breathless pace and rich styling are sure to appeal to readers of hard-boiled fiction."--Publishers Weekly

The writing was spectacular, but the The narration was off the charts!!

I like everything about it! Everything! I don’t think that there’s one thing that I would change. Thank you for another hit Robert.!

A great addition to an already great series

Read the Elvis Cole series before you rad this book. I enjoy the Elvis Cole mystery series and never really gave much thought to his silent partner.

Watchmen has changed that completely. We are now presented with the human side of Joe. Elvis Cole plays a supporting role in this novel giving the novel a little brevity.

Superb

Really good story, characters, and narration. You won't go wrong if you get this audiobook.

great book

pike is a great charactor and it camptures the police mind set very well

Excellent Audio Book

I absolutely loved this book with Cole and Pike. This time Pike is showcased in an exciting, thrill a minute story. Pike is hired to keep a young woman safe and what follows is a crazy ride. The narrator was excellent and kept all the different characters separate.

Good Book

Started the book on the way home from work and could not put it down, this my 3rd Crais book and have really like all three. Joe Pike and Elvis are great characters, plots are very good

Unrequited love

This was more about Joe Pike, Elvis Cole's partner. In this book he takes on a bodyguard job for a kind of spoiled rich girl who has gotten in over her head with some sort of gangster. Now he and his organization want to kill her simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pike soon learns she's really not spoiled at all, just strong willed and lonely. He also finds they are caught up in a lot more than a simple gangland vendetta.

We who are Robert Crais fans know how he writes hard boiled detective novels with a lot of heart. This was no exception. It has everything you expect out of a Robert Crais novel and it reaffirms why I love to read his work. In one chapter he will have Pike harvesting bad guys like a combine harvests wheat. I mean, the action will be intense and I will find myself holding my breath. A chapter or two later I will be in tears over the way he has skillfully (oh so skillfully) pulled on my heart and made me FEEL the pain of an event... of a lost friend, or in this case, at the end, unrequited love.

Get this book. If you like Mr. Crais you will like this book.

I've got to say something about James Daniels, who I was not familiar with before now. He did a great job narrating this book. His timing and pacing are superb and he got the voices just right. Great job.

Joe Pike is a real person: no longer a cartoon.

Where does The Watchman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there in the top 15 to 20%. I have been reading Robert Crais for about 25 years now. He used to make me laugh out loud. As time has gone on, Crais has developed a real life for Elvis Cole, and in this book he develops a sort-of real life for Pike. Pike has been a silent, super-strong Superman who always came to Cole's rescue when the chips were down. In this book, which was published in 2007, Pike gets caught up in an extremely complicated web, with a seductive, rich, gorgeous young woman at the center of it. They fall in love, but...well, I won't spoil the end of the book. Extremely enjoyable, if somewhat convoluted and contrived at the last ninety minutes or so.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Pike is clearly the star here. Crais has put Elvis in the middle of so many adventures that it is high time for Pike to have his own. And he does, and it is a whopper.

What does James Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is extremely good at slipping from one character to another, and from one mood to another. There are a lot of characters, and Mr. Daniels has mastered them all. Pike's hoarse, throaty voice is the distinctive center of the action. Daniels does the females with respect and substance. Crais has written them as real women, as he did with the woman that Cole fell in love with years ago, Lucy Chenier. I heard not a false moment from Mr. Daniels.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Again, this is not what I do. As far as I know, at least one book has been made into a movie, and it was depressingly, vividly violent. I am fairly confident that Mr. Crais enjoyed the financial reward, but he probably had lots of problems with the final product. Hollywood. Ugh.

Edge of your seat ride

I got this book because it was on sale and I had read a lot of Roberts books in the past. This turned out to be one I had read before and didn't realize it when I purchased it. Then I remembered this is the book I read first and fell in love with the author.

nice!

I don't like Pike's "Batman" voice. overall fast-pace and enjoyable. Good book, great author. Will be listening to more.