Joe Pike
Created by Robert Crais

A longtime fan favourite, JOE PIKE is the strong silent partner of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole. In 2007, Pike finally took center stage in The Watchman, a novel that coincidentally marked the twentieth anniversary of The Monkey's Raincoat, the novel which introduced both Cole and Pike.

Rumor has it that originally Crais had no intention of creating a sidekick and had intended to kill Pike off in that first outing. Pike, however, turned out to be extremely hard to kill off -- which should come as absolutely no surprise to most readers. After all, if the early Cole drew comparisons to the early Spenser, Pike was clearly an ex-cop version of Hawk -- and just as cryptic and just as indestructible.

And a funny thing happened over the course of the next two decades: At first the stone-faced Pike may indeed have been somewhat one-dimensional and a little too cartoonish (carrying weapons in guitar cases, listing his occupation as "mercenary," and characterized mostly by his trademark scowl, the red arrow tattoos on his delts and his 24/7 shades). However, Pike (like Cole) soon evolved, emerging as a surprisingly complicated man, scarred in childhood, decorated in war, and intent upon hiding his pain behind a "mask." 

In The Watchman, Elvis is still on the mend from wounds sustained in The Forgotten Man (2005), takes a back seat, allowing Pike to take centre stage. And Pike's certainly up to the task. To honor a debt from the past (as related in the Elvis 2002 novel The Last Detective), Joe agrees to protect a spoiled, pampered 22-year old debutante who's become the target of an army of professional killers.

Joe still doesn't say much, though. In a flasback in The Watchman, he introduces himself on his first day on the job in Rampart Division:

"My name is Joe Pike. I'm not married. I pulled two combat tours in the Marines -- "I want to be a police officer because the motto says to protect and serve.  That's what I want to do."

Pike took his seat to scattered applause, but someone in the back laughed.

"Got us a regular Clint Eastwood.  A man of few words."

Pike saw Levendorf frowning.  Levendorf said, "We call this part of the program 'one minute, one second', Officer Pike -- so I figure you got about forty seconds to go.  Perhaps you'd offer a bit more, self-illumination-wise; say, about your family and hobbies?"

Pike stood again and once more faced the crowd.

"I qualified as a scout/sniper and served in Force Recon, mostly on long range reconnaissance teams, hunter/killer teams, and priority target missions.  I'm black belt qualified in tae kwon do, kung fu, wing chun, judo, and ubawazi.  I like to run and work out.  I like to read."

"Thank God he likes to read -- I thought we had us a sissy."

BIG NOTE OF WHOA

• "Never was I more surprised to discover that during the encounter above, '[Pike] and the other boots sat erect with their eyes on Sergeant Kelly Levendorf, who was the evening watch commander.' 
  Hmmm, something familiar about that name...Levendorf."
  -- H. Kelly Levendorf

AIN'T IT A SMALL WORLD?

• At one point in The Watchman, to avoid being spotted, Pike exchanges his beloved Red Jeep Cherokee for a Lexus owned by one of his employees.  The Cherokee is promptly stolen by bank robber Max Holman of Crais' 2006 novel The Two Minute Rule.

NOVELS

• The Watchman (2007) ...Buy this book. Kindle it!
• The First Rule (2010) .. Buy this book.. Kindle it!
• The Sentry (2011) .. Buy this book.. Kindle it!

Report respectfully submitted by "Sgt." H. Kelly Levendor.