“The Promise” by Robert Crais – Mr. Rollins' Rule

The life of a fictional private detective is perhaps one of the most demanding ones out there. One can nary have a dame come into their office without being thrown into a five-layer conspiracy that leads to countless tragedies; the easier and more innocent-looking the case, the more it's certain to blow up into a terrifying nightmare.

That's precisely what Elvis Cole finds himself dealing with in The Promise by Robert Crais.

The detective Cole is hired by a grieving mother and eventually is led to a house that looks way too normal... a house where a brutal murderer and fugitive are hiding. As Cole approaches, Scott James of the LAPD K-9 unit, along with his faithful German shepherd Maggie, track the fugitive to the house, but are confronted with something as terrible as evil itself: Mr. Rollins.

A sadistic murderer with a penchant for high-powered explosives, he always follows a single rule: never leave a witness that could potentially remotely identify him... and Scott is the only such person left.

As the deranged Mr. Rollins follows his one rule like one of Asimov's robots, Cole and his partner Joe Pike find themselves targeted by the police. The unlikely quatrain soon decide to pool their forces together, and follow the bloody trail of clues until the very bitter end.

As we've come to expect from Robert Crais, we have on our hands here a fast-paced thriller that is driven more by the plot, the threat and the action itself rather than trying to give us food for thought. Though it is true that the plot itself doesn't exactly smell of originality or a bright new premise, it is developed in a talented and capable way, with the thread of the action being unrolled at a steady pace that leaves you wanting for more.

This is the kind of story where you could say that the act of the chase, along with all of its twists and turns, is more exciting than the introduction of original elements. There isn't a whole lot of room for philosophical debates and the like, so don't expect to any respite from the pace here.

While the action certainly carries this novel through from end to end, Crais has also made it a point give us insight into his characters and develop them, or at least the ones he felt deserved it. Sadly, I have to admit that the Elvis Cole we get in this book isn't like we're used to seeing him, having little thought or time for his trademark humour.

His partner Pike doesn't really play a big or important role, and consequently at times feels more like a background prop. On the other hand, most of the character development was focused on Scott and Maggie, integrating them into this series and giving the readers a fair bit of insight into how they both work. If anything, it feels like Crais is setting the stage here for future novels where the four of them pool their strengths.

All in all, while The Promise may not exactly be Crais' best work, it remains a very solid novel with likeable protagonists and a deservedly vile enemy in Mr. Rollins.

Thrillers like this one are mostly read for the non-stop action and surprising plot development, which is exactly what you're getting here; this is a book I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys serial killer chases focused on the action.

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Robert Crais Personal site Robert Crais is an American author who has virtually always stuck to detective novels, which can be explained by the fact that he started his career by writing scripts for numerous television shows, including Miami Vice and L.A. Law. His more prominent works include The Monkey’s Raincoat and The Two-Minute Rule.