Pun Salad

It's a happy day when Mr. UPS brings an Amazon package containing a new Robert Crais book to my door. Even better when the book has The World's Greatest Detective, Elvis Cole, as one of the characters. I know how my free time will be occupied in the near future.

But The Watchman is actually billed as "A Joe Pike Novel." Elvis is relegated to second-banana status, and his taciturn sidekick takes over most of the pages. That turns out OK too.

The plot involves a Paris Hilton-type celebrity heiress involved in an accident, causing her to see something she shouldn't have, causing a large number of men with guns to menace her rich-girl existence. Pike gets roped into playing her bodyguard; he's already shooting bad guys on page 14.

One quibbling drawback, the plot (as it turns out) depends on an unlikely Dickensian coincidence. No biggie, it's still darn fine and extremely suspenseful writing.

From Robert Crais's FAQ:

Although Robert has received numerous offers from Hollywood to buy the screen rights to the Elvis Cole novels, he has no intention of selling them.