Product Description

Max Holman knew the two minute rule: Get in, get the cash, and get out. But two minutes can be a lifetime. . . . In one moment of weakness he botched a bank job and was sent away for years. Now released from prison, Max wants to reconcile with his estranged son, an L.A. cop. Instead he receives the devastating news that his son's been gunned down in cold blood. To uncover the truth about the killing, Max aligns with Katherine Pollard, the ex-FBI agent who put him away -- in a father's search for justice and revenge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #458598 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-21
• Released on: 2006-02-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Two minutes, in and out, that's the rule for robbing banks in this page-turning action ride around L.A. from bestseller Crais (Hostage). Break that rule, and you can end up like Marchenko and Parsons, dying in a violent shoot-out on the streets, the fortune from their string of heists deeply hidden. Max Holman certainly knows the time limit better than most. Dubbed the "hero bandit" by the press, he got caught during a robbery after he stopped to perform CPR on a bank customer who had a heart attack. About to leave prison on parole, the 48-year-old Max hopes he can establish contact with the son he never really knew, now a cop. When Max's son is murdered, suspected of being in a ring of dirty cops seeking the Marchenko and Parsons loot, Max needs to know the truth. The only person he figures can help him is Katherine Pollard, the fed who nabbed him, who's now ex-FBI and a struggling single mom. The perfect odd couple, they keep this novel personal and real as it builds to an exciting twist on the bank-robbing rule. 200,000 first printing; 15-city author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Most reviewers are slaphappy with praise for Robert Crais's 13th novel. While some critics note a preference for his Elvis Cole books, they find that believable, complex characters, the vibrant settings around Los Angeles—from the dive bars to the straitjacketed Los Angeles river—and heartfelt emotions separate The Two Minute Rule—and Crais—from the bulk of crime fiction. The sharp note of dissent from the Oregonian only serves to reinforce the impression that middle-of-the road Crais is better than many other writers' best.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From Booklist
Max Holman is a career criminal. At least he was until he violated the two-minute rule, bank robbery's inviolable maxim. When he stayed in the bank four minutes, he was arrested by FBI agent Katherine Pollard. The intervening decade hasn't been kind to either of them. Holman spent it in jail; Pollard quit the FBI to raise her kids and then lost her husband to his secretary and death, in that order. The day Holman is paroled from prison he learns that his son, Richie, an LAPD officer, was gunned down. The investigating officers assure Holman that Richie's killer acted alone and then committed suicide. Something doesn't feel right, and Holman turns to Pollard, the only cop he ever trusted. She is suffocating in a cash-poor widow's hell and reluctantly begins to help Holman investigate. The unlikely allies butt up against a seemingly impenetrable wall of corruption and soon find many of their theories discredited. In general, Crais' Elvis Cole novels are superior to his stand-alone thrillers, but this is his best effort yet in the latter category. Pollard and Holman are carefully drawn, flawed, but empathetic characters. One of Crais' previous thrillers, Hostage (2001), resurfaced as a movie starring Bruce Willis. This might work for Willis, too, possibly with Sandra Bullock as Pollard. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

The Flat Out Great Rule
Flat out great, is how I describe most of the books written by Robert Crais and this book exceeded my high expectations.

In the Two Minute Rule, Crais has written bittersweet story of a friendship, of loss, of father's love for his son, and ultimately a story of redemption. All that, between the covers of well told mystery.

Max Holman has spent a good portion of his life behind bars. When he was free, he was breaking the law, thinking about ways to break the law, and generally self-absorbed in the pursuit of personal pleasure. Holman's recent ten year prison stint, has however, produced a change, and all Holman wants now, is to know the son he abandoned, well before he ever went to prison. Unlike the father, Holman's son followed a different path. He joined the police force. The night before his release, Max learns that his son has been murdered, and it doesn't stop there. Author Crais continues to take from Holman, to the point, that you find yourself saying "please don't hurt this man anymore." Holman is driven by two desperate needs, the first is his desire to find the killer, and the second is his need to discover the truth about his son. Was Max Holman's son a good cop or a dirty one?

This story is superb and it is memorable. The Holman character is a three dimensional flesh and blood person who evokes great empathy from the reader. The dialogue is tight, gritty, realistic, and essentially as good as it gets for a book full of characters living on the marginal fringe of polite society.

My highest recommendation! This book will appeal to a wide variety of book lovers. It is a mystery for sure, but one that rises to the level of suspenseful (not nearly enough mysteries do this). I can almost guarantee this book to be a weekend read. There is not one wasted word and you are going wish there were another 100 pages or so, when you get to the end.

This book went down faster than an oyster!
I can't believe it was over so soon. Sure, I got my money's worth but I always finish a Crais book and am left wanting another new one right away. In this story, Crais gives us a variation on his favorite theme: The father-son relationship. In the Elvis Cole books, we always see the relationship from the perspective of two sons, Elvis, who never knew his father, and Joe, who knew his all too well. In 'Two-Minute Rule,' the perpective is from that of a less-than-stellar father, Max Holman, and the story combines action and angst as Max goes to great lengths to make whatever amends he can to a son he never knew, a son who had long ago written off Max as a loser. This book was solid, not as elegant and atmospheric as 'L.A. Requiem,' perhaps, but I read it so fast maybe I missed something. I won't mind a second read-through, that's certain.

STELLAR READING OF SUSPENSE FILLED TALE

The relationship between father and son has often been a focus in literature. There have been unbreakable bonds between the two, distrust, hate, reconciliation, love, all manner of emotions. Yet, I expect that few examinations of this relationship result in a scenario as explosive as the one devised by Robert Crais.

The author's rather catchy title comes from the knowledge that if you're going to rob a bank, you have about two minutes to get away with the money before the police arrive. Protagonist Max Holman knew that dictate well but he lingered long enough during a robbery to help a person suffering a heart attack. The result? Sympathetic press for Max and ten years in jail.

Like many other prisoners Max thought of what he would do when he was released. Uppermost in his mind was setting things right with his son, a policeman. Tragically Max learns on the very day of his release that his son and three fellow officers have been shot and killed. The official story is that they have been gunned down by a gang leader, Juarez. Max doesn't buy that but there's no help for him from the LAPD.

The only person he can think of who might help is the FBI agent who arrested him - Katharine Pollard. She has retired and living peacefully, comfortably. There are just a few people in this world that she wants to avoid and one of them is Max. Nonetheless, when Juarez becomes an apparent suicide she has to reluctantly agree that the official story doesn't make much sense.

She and Max join forces and begin to investigate on their own. What they uncover is not only shocking but dangerous.

The pleasure in listening to a story by Crais is his ability to intricately plot and surprise with every turn. Christopher Graybill offers a laudable narration, moving from the determined voice of a father who wants to avenge his son's death to the longing and sadness in the voice of a man who finds himself drawn to a woman he doesn't think he deserves.

- Gail Cooke