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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Sustained action violence; a hostage situation that escalates to graphic danger; multiple deaths
Language
Some
Moderate language in a crime thriller register
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A man trapped by his own competence at a job he can't do anymore, the layered nature of a hostage situation when the stakes go far beyond the people in the room
What this book is about
Jeff Talley burned out as an LAPD hostage negotiator after a case went wrong, and took a quiet job as police chief in a small California suburb. Then three troubled teenagers botch a robbery and take a family hostage in their home. What begins as a local standoff escalates when it emerges that the father is a mob accountant, and the mob wants what's in the house's safe. Talley has to save the family, control the teenagers, and manage a threat from people who will kill everyone involved to get what they want. Robert Crais's first standalone novel is his fastest and most propulsive.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
graphic violence throughout
children held hostage in danger
mob violence
adapted as a major film
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