The Sentry

Private detective Joe Pike, tattooed and muscled after stints in the Marines and the LAPD, is a Jack Reacher-like character who single-handedly stops — and maims — a group of thugs attacking a sandwich-store owner. Spurred by a flickering crush on the shopkeeper’s niece, Pike investigates the crime, though what seems at first to be a gang shakedown soon begins to look like much more. Crais’ expertly tuned plot, always a pleasure, hums along. But the real joys of The Sentry are found in its characters, especially Pike, who — unlike Reacher — is all too human, achingly prone to making mistakes. A–