Pun Salad

Robert Crais has been one of the few authors I auto-buy in hardcover. This new book is (unfortunately) not in his Elvis Cole series, but nevertheless an impressive page-turner. The protagonist is Max Holman, an ex-criminal just released from a ten-year sentence for bank robbery. He has hopes to see his estranged son Richard, but Richard is a cop, and he's gunned down with three other cops just before Max is released. Max takes it upon himself to find out what happened to his son. Things are complicated by policemen who have apparently been convinced by a too-pat solution to the case, and don't appreciate Max's interference.

Crais's characters are well-developed, the plot is intricate, and the book was obviously meticulously researched. A long scene is set around the famous Hollywood Sign, and it's obvious that Crais has done some crawling around up there himself.