Hostage: A Novel
by Robert Crais

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Book Reviews of Hostage: A Novel

Book Review: Hostage by Robert Crais--A Slow Starter That Will Captivate
Summary: 4 Stars

The Plot-
I won't give much away, but Hostage is set in real time over the span of roughly just 14 hours, excluding a brief prologue and epilogue.
The prologue sets up the main character: Sergeant Jeff Talley, a hostage negotiator for the L.A.P.D. SWAT team. We briefly meet him and learn how he will come to find himself in the suburban setting of the story, living a solitary life, estranged from his family.

The clock starts ticking on Hostage as two bumbling brothers and a mysterious co-worker of theirs haphazardly rob a convenience store and find themselves in a chain of events rapidly progressing from a bad idea to a worse situation. It ultimately lands them in the midst of the Smith family home, where father, daughter and son become the title Hostage's of the story.

Now Talley must exorcise his personal demons and face another hostage situation that he was certain would elude him in the placid, bedroom community he'd settled into. At this point I thought I could see the writing on the wall for the rest of the plot, and I must say I was mildly annoyed with how predictable this appeared to be. Had I stopped then, I would have missed the best parts of the book.

--Will Talley face his fears and return to his profession and his family?
--Who will make it out of the "hostage" situation alive?
--What is the secret of the household patriarch that really throws a wrench in things?
--Who's double-crossing whom?

All questions you'll have to read the book to learn the answers to. Suffice it to say, Hostage has a bit more to offer than first impressions would lead you to believe.

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My Thoughts-
The style of narrative is a bit different in Hostage. It jumps from person to person, sometimes in the midst of a chapter. This will definitely not appeal to everyone, but I think it added to the frenetic pace the author was striving for. I also found the characters to be wholly unappealing. I can't think of one that I cared for, or conversely cared about. Kind of crucial when you're supposed to be enthralled with what will happen to them. I think they could definitely have used some more development.

I still gave this an above average recommendation, why? It is a very different read than anything I've come across recently and I did appreciate all the technical aspects of crime fighting, and the police that were covered as well.

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Objectionable Content-
This is not the book for the immature or sensitive readers. There is considerable cursing. Drug use is discussed and done. There are allusions to both physical abuse of children and sexual innuendo. To top all that off, there are several scenes of graphically detailed violence. It's not something that bothers me given the context of the material, however I am sure it would be offensive to some readers.

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Recommended-
I do recommend this book but with a cautionary mention of some of the graphic violence and mature subject matter covered in the book. I would not give this book to a reader under the age of 16. Fans of mystery, suspense and popular fiction should find this an entertaining read once it gets going.

Summary of Hostage: A Novel

Jeff Talley, the police chief in a small Southern California town, still has nightmares about the young hostage who died when he made the wrong call in his previous job as a negotiator for an LAPD SWAT team. Now, three smalltime punks go on the run after a grocery store robbery and killing in Talley's town. Soon his deputies have surrounded the house where the inept robbers have taken Walter Smith and his two children hostage, and Talley's back in his worst dream again: until the county sheriff's full-fledged SWAT team arrives and takes over, he has to negotiate for their lives.

Crais keeps the point of view moving from Talley to the punks to the hostages as the situation unfolds in the house and on the ground. Then he ratchets up the dramatic tension: there's something in Walter Smith's house that a ruthless Mob boss wants, and he'll sacrifice anyone to get it--which puts Talley's own family in danger. The action speeds to its climax with the velocity of a heat-seeking missile, which makes it almost criminal to slow down long enough to savor the great writing. Take this passage, from a scene when Talley's face-to-face with the man who's holding his own wife and daughter hostage:

Talley ... had stepped into the Zone. It was a place of white noise where emotions reigned and reason was meager. Anger and rage were nonstop tickets; panic was an express. He had been all day coming to this, and here he was: the SWAT guys used to talk about it. You went to the Zone, you lost your edge. You'd lose your career; you'd get yourself killed, or, worse, somebody else.

Literature & Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Suspense