Angel Of Destruction

Bruce Von Stiers

Robert Crais has written a number of mysteries featuring PI Elvis Cole. Now Mr. Crais has stepped away from the trappings of a private detective and moves on over to the LAPD's bomb squad. His newest book features Carol Starkey, once the best bomb squad technician on the LAPD. The title of the book is Demolition Angel and was published by Doubleday.

When hearing that there was a new Crais book coming out, I was pretty excited about reading the next installment in the life of Elvis Cole. Then I learned that this next book wasn't going to be about Elvis Cole but Carol Starkey. I wasn't too sure that the book would be as good as one of the Cole books. I was wrong. Demolition Angel is a great novel, making Robert Crais my favorite mystery writer.

Carol Starkey was once part of the LAPD's bomb squad. Then one day she was called out on a bomb disposal job with her partner and lover, David "Sugar" Boudreaux. The bomb wasn't much but due to an unexpected earthquake, it exploded, killing Sugar and almost killing Starkey. That was three years ago. Now Starkey works as a detective in the Criminal Conspiracy Section. Her life has never gotten better since the death of Sugar and she lives out her existence in a vacuum. She drinks all of the time, never quite being sober. Sharkey eats Tagament like candy and spays Binaca in her mouth before getting close to other people so they can't smell booze on her breath.

The bomb squad gets called out on a job. What may or may not be a pipe bomb has been left in a trash dumpster. Charlie Riggio is the bomb tech that is checking it out. When Riggio gets near the bomb with a piece of x-ray equipment, it explodes, killing him. Starkey gets called out to investigate the bombing.

As Starkey begins investigating the bombing, an agent from the ATF shows up. Special Agent Jack Pell wants to be part of the investigation. He might know something about their bomber. But does Pell have his own agenda?

The bomb that killed Riggio looks like the work of a bomber who calls himself Mr. Red. Pell seems to have the inside track on Mr. Red. The bomb that killed Riggio contained some of the same special materials that Mr. Red used in his.

Pell and Sharkey run down leads that take them to a man in prison for making bombs and exploding them in junk cars. This man has a way to reach out to Mr. Red. As Sharkey and Pell explore that angle, Mr. Red becomes aware of their investigation. He decides to do something about their investigation of him.

The plot of Demolition Angel is pretty solid. Robert Crais spent quite a bit of time interviewing bomb techs and gathering information about how to make and disarm bombs. In his acknowledgments, he states that some of the information in the book is inaccurate. This was done on purpose. He didn't want to give someone the opportunity to build a homemade bomb from a recipe that would have been provided had the ingredients been completely accurate. As a matter of fact, that was the condition for some of the information being provided to him; that he would distort the truth so that nobody would have a blueprint for destruction.

In an interview, Mr. Crais has said that this was a stand-alone novel, with no plans for a sequel. He has already sold the movie rights to the book and hopes to see its development as a film soon. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that he wouldn't be bringing Carol Sharkey back. I liked her character a lot.

Mr. Crais also did something that I liked. In the last Elvis Cole book, L.A. Requiem, one of the lead characters was an LAPD detective named Samantha Dolan. She gets a brief mention in this book. I thought it was a nice touch.

Demolition Angel is one of those books that once you pick it up, you will want to finish it before putting it down. The plot is solid, the characters real and the subject matter practically ripped from the headlines.

For those of you who like to learn more about Robert Crais and what he's up to, visit his web site. The site can be found at www.robertcrais.com.

 


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Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers