THE PROMISE by Robert Crais

"... This novel brings together five characters we have met already: Elvis, his partner, Joe Pike, Joe's go-to guy, Jon Stone, LAPD K-9 Officer Scott James and his former US Marine war dog, Maggie. Add in some very nasty bad guys, a suspicious and unsympathetic LAPD hierarchy, Homeland Security and a renegade ..." "There is little moral ambiguity in his recent books and this is a good example of that. You have the bad guys on one side and the shining knights on the other. Elvis, Joe, Scott and Maggie, and newcomer Jon Stone are just too perfect/sweet/kind/dudleydoright. Most of the story is told from Scott's point of view with Elvis and Joe on the periphery .." "...Crais conveys a profound sensitivity to the frailty of human nature and the often tragic nuances of human behavior. probably more in this book than in some of his previous ..." "...Elvis has been hired by a woman to find one of her friends/employees. The missing person has embezzled nearly 500K from their company and she is deeply troubled over the murder of her son by an African terrorist. Elvis is directed to a home in Echo Park to meet with a friend of the dead son, who might know of the son’s mother’s whereabouts. Elvis arrives as Scott and Maggie arrive, along with a passle of police officers. The rain is falling and the choppers are flying, blasting the area with searchlights. A dead man is found inside the house..."

재밌는 탐정소설 시리즈물의 발견이었다. Elvis Cole, Jon Stone, Joe Pike 같은 개성이 강한 등장인물들이 등장하는 작품이고 처음부터 끝까지 긴장감있게 읽을 수 있는 스토리의 작품이다. 주요 등장인물들의 시점에서 이야기가 진행되기 때문에 입체적으로 이 작품을 이해할 수 있다. 특히 'Maggie' 라는 탐지견의 입장에서도 글이 전개되기 때문에 재밌게 읽었다. 문학적인 깊이를 떠나서 오락적인 면에서 보면 읽어 볼 만한 책이다. 영화한편을 보는 듯한 느낌의 소설이다. 시드니셀던의 소설을 접한 분들이라면 이 책도 무난하게 읽을 수 있지 않을까 싶다.