I liked this book. Sometimes with authors I enjoy their one-off, non-series work more than their series works. I think this may be the case with Robert Crais. So far I've preferred the non-series books and characters (though I include Joe Pike in this category) to the Elvis Cole novels.
The Two Minute Rule follows a convicted bank robber released from prison the day after his son (a policeman) is murdered. The murder is connected to bank robberies, and the bank robber (Max Holman) decides to try to solve the mystery surrounding his son's death.
The mystery plays out in a fairly straightforward way, and there isn't a lot mysterious about it. The solution, in my view, doesn't quite cover all the bases to explain what happened and how, and yet the ending also came pretty fast and wrapped up perhaps a little too neatly. That being said, I don't object to closure, and prefer it to leaving things open ended. My complaint is mostly that it felt a little like the author hit whatever page number, decided "oh, guess we should wrap it up", and finished it off in 15 pages.
Mr. Crais took some time with the characters, and did a really good job with Max Holman. I thought he nicely avoided some of the cliches and expectations, but did a good examination of an ex-con. Again, as I've noted in his other works, he has an excellent ability to show and not tell to create sympathy for his characters. I think it's this characteristic of his writing that will keep me coming back to his books.
I've still got a couple of Robert Crais books on the shelf, but I'm going to transition to Joe Hill for a bit. Next up will be the short story collection 20th Century Ghosts (belatedly for Halloween), and after that I'll probably move to Heart Shaped Box.
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