Demolition Angel

A Novel

By: Robert Crais

Narrated by: Patricia Kalember

“Crais is at the top of his game, and Demolition Angel delivers the goods. With a bang. . . . It’s Silence of the Lambs meets Speed. . . . Crais knows how to press all the right buttons in keeping the story line taut and the action, well, explosive.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Carol Starkey is struggling to pick up the pieces of her former life as L.A.’s finest bomb squad technician. Fueled with liberal doses of alcohol and Tagamet, she’s doing time as a Detective-2 with LAPD’s Criminal Conspiracy Section. Three years have passed since the event that still haunts her: a detonation that killed her partner and lover, scarred her body and soul, and ended her career as a bomb tech.

When a seemingly innocuous bomb call explodes into a charred murder scene, Carol catches the case and embarks on an investigation of a series of explosions that reveal chilling intentions. The bombs are designed expressly to kill bomb technicians. Now, as the one tech who survived the deadliest of blasts, Carol is in for the most perilous fight of her life. . . .

Praise for Demolition Angel

“Terrific . . . explosive . . . [a] high powered thrill ride.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Gripping . . . Crais piles on plot twists . . . gathering the separate threads at the end and igniting them like a string of fireworks.”—People

“A powerful, self-contained novel of suspense that has the compactness, velocity, and effectiveness of a well-aimed bullet . . . This is a thriller that works on every level, a pivotal work from a crime novelist operating at the top of his game.”—Los Angeles Times

“Fascinating and frighteningly believable . . . Starkey is one of the toughest characters to grace the crowded field of thriller books in a long time.”—USA Today

“A flammable techno-thriller with the kind of force that knocks out windows.”—The New York Times Book Review

"Packs an explosive punch. Though the pace of the book moves like a quick-burning fuse, Crais still takes the time in Demolition Angel to sketch out some memorable characters: Starkey, haunted and hollow-eyed, covering up her pain with a Bogart-tough demeanor; and John Michael Fowles (aka Mr. Red), a sociopath who gets all sorts of information from the Internet without breaking a sweat. . . . Crais keeps things wound so tight that readers will be getting paper cuts in their rush to finish this one.”—The Denver Post©2000 Robert Crais; (P)2000 Random House, Inc., Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Crais is at the top of his game, and Demolition Angel delivers the goods. With a bang. . . . It’s Silence of the Lambs meets Speed as down-on-her-luck former bomb-squad ace Carol Starkey plays cat-and-mouse with a serial bomber. . . . Crais knows how to press all the right buttons in keeping the story line taut and the action, well, explosive.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A flammable techno-thriller with the kind of force that knocks out windows.”—The New York Times Book Review

"Packs an explosive punch. Though the pace of the book moves like a quick-burning fuse, Crais still takes the time in Demolition Angel to sketch out some memorable characters: Starkey, haunted and hollow-eyed, covering up her pain with a Bogart-tough demeanor; and John Michael Fowles (aka Mr. Red), a sociopath who gets all sorts of information from the Internet without breaking a sweat. . . . Crais keeps things wound so tight that readers will be getting paper cuts in their rush to finish this one.”—The Denver Post

“The final pages can hardly be turned fast enough, and the climactic violence is tempered masterfully with a sweet irony.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune

Interesting view into the life of bomb squad police officers

I am a huge fan of Robert Crais, especially Pike and Elvis series. He has always delivered best selling, highly emotional page turners. I was running out of his novels to read and decided to try this, one of his earlier books. It’s true that the more you write the better you get. This book was okay, sort of a ghost frame work of what he has become. I’d recommend you buy one of his masterpieces like: “L.A. Requiem.”

Love the story and the reading. Thanks.

Love the story, specialy the thrill and the reading was good . Thanks. Icelandic girl

Excellent

Well developed characters. Moves quickly. Couldn't figure out ending. What a mystery should be.

One of Robert Crais’s Best.

Good plot, characters, and romance. It will make a good movie. I’m looking forward to seeing it and who will play the leads.

Way too humorous for my taste

I’m a big fan of the Joe Pike and Elvis Cole novels But for me one of the attractions is the curious humor that comes into play. Serious subjects lingering ironic humor. None of that in evidence here