Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Crais strikes again.

As a loyal devotee of Crais' Elvis Cole series, I waited a while before reading this book - his newest "stand-alone" book - after the immensely entertaining DEMOLITION ANGEL. This was silly of me, as HOSTAGE is one of those books that you just really don't feel comfortable putting down, due to the irrational fear that something might happen while you're not reading.Mind you, HOSTAGE is not Crais' best work, nor is it a book without flaws. Quite frankly, the book is absolutely riddled with cliches. What makes Crais a fascinating writer is the way he transcends these cliches and allows us to get caught up in the intensity of the situation. There are even certain moments in the book where the main character, Talley, has to take a second to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.But, like all of Crais' work, this book is exciting, intriguing, full of interesting, real characters, and you just don't want to put it aside until it's done.