The Sentry by Robert Crais 306 pages

The Sentry by Robert Crais is another chapter in the Joe Pike/Elvis Cole story. Pike accidently interrupts what looks like an extortion attempt gone bad when he walks in on two gang-bangers beating up a sandwich shop owner. The police are called and the “niece” (Dru) of the shop owner (Wilson) arrives and throws Joe off balance. The story weaves through gang affiliations, a Mexican drug cartel, a Bolivian drug cartel and the professional assassin hired by the Bolivians to find and kill Dru and Wilson. The assassin is searching for the shop keeper and his niece. Joe and Elvis try to head off the gang-bangers and find that Dru and Wilson are not who they said they were. Representatives of a Federal agency are on the periphery of the investigation then Cole discovers that they are not real Feds. The story twists and intertwines until all characters are accounted for and the real underlying story is revealed.