Demolition Angel

 Robert Crais published Demolition Angel in 2000, but it’s one of his books that I missed until now. This is the novel in which he introduced Carol Starkey, a bomb technician for the LAPD. It was before the current story that Starkey was blown up while she was defusing a bomb when LA was hit by a relatively small earthquake. The earthquake produced enough of a jolt to set off the bomb. Carol’s heart actually stopped beating in response to the explosion, but EMT’s were able to get her heart started again and it saved her life. However, she was still badly damaged both physically and emotionally. Her partner had been killed in the explosion and she had a bad case of survivor’s guilt. She immediately began drinking to great excess. She was also addicted to cigarettes, consuming more than three packs per day. She sought therapy but was already on her fourth therapist after about two years of trying.

 

Meanwhile Carol was back on the job, usually successfully hiding the depression and anxiety with which she struggled. She had become a loner, and she was too damaged physically to consider dating again. She could not tolerate the idea of someone seeing her naked and actually touching her many ugly scars.

 

Crais described how unique were the people who became bombers and that despite the danger, the bomb techs also became addicted to their jobs. A new master bomber appeared on the scene, and he referred to himself as Mr. Red. He was exceedingly clever and impossible to trace, and then he was responsible for blowing up another one of Carol’s technical mates.

 

This was an eerie story about eerie people. Starkey was one of Crais’ best protagonists as he described her emotional attempts to deal with her injuries and her longing for a relationship she was too afraid to pursue. The ending to this plot was particularly gripping. This is another great work by Crais and it gets my strongest recommendation.

L.A. Requiem

 My blog notes indicate I read L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais in about 2009 when we first put this blog together, and ECD provided a great review of the novel in 8/2010. So 15 years later, I had no recall of the book until I picked it up, and was once again knocked out by Crais’ story. I refer you to ECD’s review, just search for it. The cast of characters, especially Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, was fantastic and the plot was riveting. This just might be Crais at his very best.

The Big Empty by Robert Crais

 Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are back . . . life is good.

The latest case that lands in Elvis' lap is a simple missing persons case. Piece of cake for the self-professed World's Greatest Detective. Traci Beller is one of those ubiquitous 'influencers' that populate the Internet. She's 24, bakes muffins, and she has over 3 million followers. She's doing pretty good for herself.  

She was born/raised in the western end of the San Fernando Valley. Her dad, Terry, was partnered with her uncle in an HVAC business. By all accounts, he was a decent man. Good father, husband, and provider. Until that day 10 years ago when, right after he finished his last job in (the fictitious) Rancha, CA (somewhere between Woodland Hills and Malibu), Terry simply vanished. Left the job, told the customer he hated the return traffic, hit the road and disappeared.

Cops thought little of it at the time. Wayward husband just up and leaves ne'er to be seen again. Nothing turned up. He'd just vanished. Five years later, the family hired a quality PI firm in LA to check into Terry's disappearance and come up empty. Only thing to come from that investigation was that Terry was officially and legally declared dead. With the 10th anniversary looming, Traci tries once more. That's were Elvis gets hired.

He wasn't hopeful. The previous firm did all the right things, asked the right questions, followed a disappointing trail, and failed to come up with any leads. Elvis is running the same race all over again with the same outcome becoming more clear by the day. 

He does get a bit of a step further. Apparently, Terry stopped for burgers at a Rancha drive-up. The owner says Terry had some beer from the store across the street where a single mom struggles with the customers, her daughter, her boss, and the general Rancha low lifes.

The mom tells Elvis about this ex-con trailer trash woman and her daughter. Girl has some PTSD issues that date back to her high school years. These two now work for a flower delivery service. When Elvis shows them a photo of Terry Beller, their collective reactions trigger Elvis' BS meter - they are lying. 

The girl's PTSD issues date began in her high school years when she was abducted by a guy in a panel truck but managed to escape. That's the hook Elvis needs to set in the right person for the facade of secrets to start to crumble and the truth about who Terry Beller was bubbles up secrets no one could possibly imagine. 

And of course, Joe Pike has to step in when needed . . . and Elvis' cat makes the obligatory appearance and it has throughout Elvis' history with the beast. Just how old is that cat?

I'm not sure I gave this story the justice it deserves. Picked this up in the library on a Friday and was done by Monday. Crais's books are so readable, you just start reading and before you realize it, you've read 100 pages, put it done for a meal, pick it up again and another 100 pages are gone before you know it. After 20 novels and who knows how many teleplays for TV (e.g., Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacy and dozens of others. Yeah, he's got the writing chops), you have to go in knowing that Crais is smooth, real smooth. 

With 20 books to his credit, a new reader to Crais' world might think they have to go back to #1 (The Monkey's Raincoat). Nah, drop in anywhere and you'll get plenty of background you need to know. Elvis is SoCal cool in his Hawaiian shirts and yellow 2-seater 'vette. Pike is, well, he's Pike, the former Marine spec ops, former LA cop, now partnered with Elvis' PI firm and provides muscle and balls of brass when needed. 

Having read most (all?) the Crais books, here's what's got me wondering. Why hasn't the Cole/Pike series been picked up for a streaming series? The material is there. I mean look at what's out there right now? Reacher. Longmire. Joe Pickett. Will Trent, Jack Ryan, The Dark Man series, and so many more. Why not Cole/Pike? The audience is there; every Crais book these days ends up on most all Best Seller lists. Only thing I can think of is that Crais just doesn't want to make the characters and stories available. Anybody know? Please tell me.

So, what's your soul craving about now? Yearning for a PI-missing persons tale that takes a very dark turn into the depths of depravity? Look no further. Firsts rate. 5 Stars. Top Shelf. Unparalleled. Unequaled.

East Coast Don

Racing the Light by Robert Crais

 

Elvis Cole, P.I. extraordinaire, is hired by an eccentric woman, Adele Schumacher to find her nerdy twenty something son.  Adele is a middle aged, divorced and ex-CIA (or some other highly classified government agency) opertive.  She was so deep under cover that even in retirement bodyguards follow her around.  Her son, Josh Shoe is a self-employed podcaster who with information from an artist/ call girl, Skylar has uncovered a pay to play scheme by an L.A. councilman and his chief of staff to take bribes from Chinese nationalists to grease the skids for their real estate projects in California.  When the perps find out that Skylar has evidence enough to expose the scam, she is murdered and Josh disappears.  With Joe Pike’s and Jon Stone’s help, Cole finds the bad guys who are also looking for Josh.  Meanwhile, Cole’s former girl friend and almost wife, Lucy returns from Baton Rouge and they must decide if it’s time to continue their relationship.

Racing the Light is pretty much what you would expect from a Robert Crais novel.  Fast paced, smart, and entertaining with no question about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  Welcome back Robert Crais.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance look.

Racing The Light by Robert Crais

In You Face by Josh Shoe is the name of the podcast. Josh Shoe is actually Schumacher, clever, eh? He and his best friend Ryan Seborg have been doing this podcast for a couple years. Josh fancies himself a journalist who reveals what the mainstream media can’t, or won’t, tell the public. Conspiracies, government coverups, Area 51, black helicopters are his bread and butter. He doesn’t have much of an audience.

One recent guest on his show was Stacy Lawless/Rachel Bohlen, an artist/porn actress/escort. He’s been interviewing her about her artwork, not her ‘other’ work. Not long after the episode dropped, Stacy/Rachel messages him for hush hush meet. She passes him a thumb drive. She says he’ll love it. Right up his alley.

And then Josh just up and disappears. Doesn't even tell Ryan. His mom, Adele Schumacher contacts Elvis Cole because he has the best rep in the LA basin for finding missing persons. She’s in her 80s, former college Stanford prof, lives alone (divorced), tends her bees, and for some reason has 24/7 security (maybe a future book will tell us more about her and her ex?). She and Josh meet weekly for lunch and he’s not been showing up, which is strange because Adele passes Josh a sack of money over lunch. The podcast doesn’t pay well and the rent is always due.

She drops another sack full of money on Elvis’ desk to find him and bring him home. Once the job’s parameters have been fully defined, Elvis starts with Ryan, Josh’s partner who tells Elvis about Stacy/Rachel. And it’s not long before Stacy/Rachel disappears, too. Elvis uncovers her ‘safety’ (the person she calls before and after each escort date), lifelong friend Kimberly Laird. Turns out Kimberly takes notes that include some names of Stacy/Rachel’s dates. And the list includes a smattering of LA politicians, one is the chief of staff for an LA Commissioner who sits on a zoning board that approves proposals by commercial developers.

Bye-bye Area 51 . . . hello City Hall.

At first Elvis thought Josh might’ve pissed off some federal office with his conspiracy ramblings. Now his attention becomes more local and may need the help of his longtime associate, Joe Pike, just in case back-up might be needed. Cole's cases usually need Pike's necessary and timely skills.

This is the 19^th Elvis Cole book written by Robert Crais. And unless I’m mistaken, they’ve all been reviewed her by the boys at MRB. Crais is a favorite for good reason. First and foremost, he’s a helluva a storyteller; easily one of the best we’ve reviewed, no question. A worthy member of our elite Power Rotation of top shelf authors. Second, it’s hard not to love Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Elvis the the wise-cracking PI and Pike is the mysterious, quiet, and lethal one. 

Crais has worked behind the scenes in Hollywood (mostly writing for TV) and probably knows how ‘they’ can screw up your characters (cases in point: Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher or any number of John Grisham’s books) so he’s been protective of his work being put on either the big or little screen. No matter. His writing style is taught and bare bones whose wit gives a subtle wink for the reader. 

And who  wouldn't want Joe Pike as a friend?

Crais is a regular on the NY Time best seller list. A multi-award winner and Emmy nominee (for writing on Hill Street Blues).  Bottom line: you’ll never go wrong with a book written by Robert Crais . . . ever.

The one drawback – he doesn’t publish an annual book in the fall (for the Christmas rush) like so many of the big names. It’s been three years since his last book, A Dangerous Man. And three years is just too long, but I'm patient. 

Due to be published on November 1, 2022. Thanks for Netgalley for the reviewer copy. 

ECD

The Wanted by Robert Crais

Devon Connor is a single mom who is worried about her teenage son.  Tyson has never been a good student but he has always been a good kid.  However, his latest transfer to an alternative high school has resulted in new friends, Alec and Amber, who appear to be leading Tyson astray.  Tyson suddenly has new expensive clothes and electronics plus rolls of cash.  Devon is concerned Tyson is dealing drugs but doesn’t want to call the police until she’s positive Tyson is breaking the law.  So, she hires Elvis Cole to investigate.  Elvis quickly learns that Tyson is involved with the two other wayward souls, robbing rich people’s homes.  Foolishly, they keep the merchandise they want and fence the rest.  Elvis gets a list of the victims and their reported stolen merchandise from his cop friends who also tell him they have a video of the perps and expect to soon make an arrest.

Devon hires a lawyer and strikes a deal with the ADA for Tyson if he confesses and turns himself in.  After much coercion Tyson agrees but then disappears before his intended surrender.  Turns out he is infatuated with Amber and wants to warn her of her impending arrest.

Meanwhile, Elvis learns that the police aren’t the only ones looking for the teenage burglars.  Harvey and Stemms are two ruthless hitmen who have been hired by one of the victims to retrieve a stolen laptop computer apparently containing incriminating information about the owner.  Harvey and Stemms know no bounds when it comes to getting what they want.  They also have the video of the crooks and discover their identity before the cops.  They kill one witness and arrange a fatal accident for Alec before he can warn his partners.  Elvis enlists the help of Joe Pike.  Now they are in a race to find Tyson and Amber before either the hitmen or the police make their move.

Crais comes through with another hit in his Elvis Cole/ Joe Pike series.  The contrasting personalities of the two detectives hold your interest to the end.  Elvis with his smart-ass remarks alienates some but endears others.  Pike’s stoic, ‘just the facts mam’ style comes off as just cool.  Together they keep you in anticipation of their direct and decisive response to unwarranted violence.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance look.

The Promise by Robert Crais

Amy Breslyn tried to do the best she could. Single mom raising a son, Jacob, who goes on to become a journalist. But he was killed by a suicide bomber while on assignment in Nigeria,  about a year and a half ago. Amy has disappeared. Just walked away.  And has been gone for going on two weeks.

Elvis Cole has been hired by Meryl Washington, her boss, to find Amy. Meryl says Jacob's boyhood friend Tom, who lives in Echo Park, might be a place to start. Or the mysterious 'Charles' who Meryl thinks Amy met at an online dating service. So Elvis sits outside the Echo Park house waiting. Right up until a whole bunch of cops descend on the house. An occupant runs out and Elvis, being a good citizen, takes off after him.

When the cops enter the house they find a druggie with his head crashed in. They also find RPGs and grenades. But more importantly, they find a tupperware container with a couple pounds of plastic explosives. And it doesn't contain the required ingredient that IDs the manufacturer.

Just what does Amy do for Meryl's company? Amy has a PhD in chemical engineering. She is VP of Production. She produces "double and triple-based composite fuels, slurries, gels, castable propellents, plasticized accelerants." They don't make weapons, but they do make the parts that make the weapon be a weapon. And Meryl wants to keep this quiet to ensure continued funding from the military.

The cops think Elvis is keeping critical info to himself and pursues him as a person of interest. A K9 cop (see Suspect) who was at the Echo Park bust was going to get a commendation, but gets put on leave for reasons he can't comprehend. And every clue that Elvis uncovers ends up a deadend. Not until Elvis calls his partner, Joe Pike, and a former Ranger and now a self-employed merc, Jon Stone, do they scratch out a couple clues that cast an entirely different light on what should have been a routine missing persons job.

I hated reading this book. 400 pages. But it wasn't the book. It was life getting in the way of an absolutely terrific read. I could've read it non-stop. Would've had to be reminded to use the bathroom or eat or sleep or actually do something that might earn a buck or two. Crais isn't our most reviewed author for nothing. Firmly entrenched at or near the top of all of our power rotations, Crais is an expert at relating a single scene from the viewpoints of Elvis, the K9 cop, Jon Stone, the bad guy, the cops, even the Maggie the K9 dog. Marginally different stories of the same situation according to the biases of each. A riveting story told by one of our favorites. We've read and reviewed everything by Crais, so if you are new to Crais, pick up any of his books; you won't be disappointed.

Is this his best? Personally, I think Taken was #1 . . . but this would be #1a.

ECD

Suspect by Robert Crais

Robert Crais' newly released Suspect is not about Joe Pike or Elvis Cole.  Instead he introduces two new characters, LAPD officer Scott James and Maggie, his German Sheppard K-9 partner.  James was on the fast track in the department with a career path to SWAT in his sight before he and his former partner, Stephanie were caught in a shoot out.  James was shot three times but survived while his partner died thinking James was abandoning her as he retreated to call for backup.  Maggie is a former USMC dog trained to sniff explosives.  Her human partner too was killed and she was wounded in an ambush by the enemy in Afghanistan.  Both James and Maggie now suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and are suspect in their abilities to perform under fire.  James having no experience with dogs takes this K-9 assignment hoping to save his career and come to grips with his demons within.  He has no experience with dogs but immediately identifies with Maggie and demands she be his partner.

Meanwhile, James takes to investigating his former partner’s murder on his own time and the newly assigned investigators of that case invite him in.  Sifting through the evidence, James finds a broken watch band from the scene now tagged and bagged.  Maggie is able to ultimately identify the owner by smell and James discovers the man is a witness to the crime.  As the investigation unfolds, James becomes convinced fellow LAPD officers and detectives may be involved in the crime.  As his bond with Maggie grows, he soon realizes she is the only colleague he can truly trust.

Scott James is a much different hero than Cole or Pike.  He is not the infallible warrior but a troubled vulnerable man seeking redemption and resurrection of his spirit from the depths of shame and fear. Little did he know that his emotional recovery lie in a relationship with a dog.

I attended a Crais book signing event at our local library this past week. Crais admits the risk he took deviating from his tried-and-true characters, Cole and Pike.  Seems this is an idea he’s had for some time and convinced his publishers to chill out.  Rest assured Cole and Pike will return but good to know Crais has some versatility.  This was a good read particularly for dog lovers.

 

Someone asked Crais if we would be seeing him at poker night on ABC’s Castle series.  You know, the one with Connelly, Lehane and Cannell.  He said he’s not been asked.  Bummer.

The Last Detective by Robert Crais

When you have a trip and need some reading material, but you are way down the wait list at the library, retreat to a reliable author. Back to MRB fav, Robert Crais.

We are a few books back, when Lucy Chenier and her son Ben had left Louisiana and moved to LA to make a new start with Elvis Cole. Elvis and Lucy made a connection in an earlier book. Her nutcase ex-husband had pushed them over the edge so they bolted to LA. Now Elvis is in hog heaven with Lucy and Ben living in LA.

After school one day, Ben is over at Elvis' house overlooking Laurel Canyon. They enjoy each other as they gently try to develop this new relationship. Ben goes off on a little explore around Elvis' house through the undergrowth on the hillside below the deck . . . and disappears.

All hell breaks loose as Elvis panics. He searches all over. Nothing. Calls Lucy at her work. She is beside herself not only over his disappearance, but with guilt that this wouldn't have happened had they stayed in NOLA. The cops are brought in. And Lucy owes it to Ben's father to tell him what's going on.

He arrives with his own crew of investigator; a shady bunch. The cops want Elvis out of the search, but you know that'll never happen. And where Elvis goes, Joe Pike is sure to be close behind.

Why was Ben kidnapped? Surely it can't be for money. What LA private eye has that kind of money? Even if you are The World's Greatest Detective. Maybe they are after Lucy somehow. She is a talking head TV lawyer now so they must be loaded. Or maybe it's Ben's father. He's wealthy with a capital W. That must be it.

So we are faced with two angles here. Where is Ben and who are the kidnappers working for or against? This very fast-paced tale explores all possibilities that in the end, while logical, certainly wasn't what was expected as the case developed. One cool little subplot is that one of the police detectives is the femme fatale from Demolition Angel who takes a shine to our heros.

Like I said. Got a trip? Need a book? Go with your gut. And my gut almost always says Robert Crais. Only bad thing about traveling as much as I do is that I'm very close to running out of Cole/Pike books.

East Coast Don

Taken by Robert Crais

As one of the most reviewed authors here at MRB, it's probably a good bet we all will like what ever Crais writes or we wouldn't keep coming back to him. And this entry in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike lineup is no exception. Actually, this one may be his best yet. Midwest Dave went to a signing Crais was doing in his hometown and scavenged up (signed!) copies for each of the Don's and himself so I'll have to keep the plot summary brief to not spoil their fun.

Nita Morales is doing OK running a printing/silk screening business, but she stays a bit below the radar being an illegal, having arrived when she was an adolescent. Her daughter, Krista, hangs out with an Anglo that Nita doesn't much care for. When Krista disappears for a week, she assumes it's because of Jack. But then a ransom call comes in for a measly $500 and assumes its a scam Jack cooked up. Nita contacts Elvis to find Krista and get her out from under Jack's influence.

Very quickly, Elvis learns that Krista and Jack have been inadvertently swept up in a human trafficking ring with at twist. Coyotes bring people up through Mexico (Hispanics, Koreans, Indians, Asians; anyone who will pay them to get across the border into the US). But it seems now that there are hijackers (bajadores) out there who steal the illegals while in transit (making for a number of potential gang wars), lock them up and call relatives in the US demanding a small ransom for their freedom. When a payment is made, another call goes out asking for more. Once the families are unable to keep paying, the bajadores simply kill the abductee and dump their body in the desert. These bandits have a couple hundred on hand at any time and stand to make a tidy sum.

Elvis decides that the best way to get Krista back is to pose as a competing bajadore looking for Koreans. Joe Pike will be his back up and enlists the help of a professional mercenary he knows named Jon Stone ("a military consultant under contract to the US government and certain multinational corporations approved by the US to employ someone like myself." In other words, "He's the best shit-hot troop at this stuff to ever grace the earth; none finer, none more deadly, ever! A man among men.")

Well, that plan goes south and Elvis also gets taken (thus the book's title) leaving Pike and Stone to track down the shadowy Syrian behind all this mess.

And you just know, with two guys like Pike and Stone out to save Cole, the girl, and as many of the hostages as they can (allow me to steal a recent movie title) that There Will Be Blood.

To go any further into the story's details and twists would not be received well by my reviewing partners. I know I can safely say this: once you start reading, don't have anything else planned. I could have easily read this over a weekend. Crais wrote this one in a non linear fashion with each chapter focusing on a different set of characters at varying points of time - one chapter could be about Elvis 5 days before Krista was taken and the next could be about Pike 2 days after Krista was taken. I probably didn't describe that well, but once you start, it will make perfect sense.

Bottom line? This is the 18th posting of a book by Robert Crais. It may be down the list chronologically, but I rank this one as Crais' #1.

East Coast Don

Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais

My next venture into a power rotation author has Elvis Cole wondering if he screwed up 3 years ago. It’s fire season in LA (I guess the other season is mudslide season) and the cops are evacuating Laurel Canyon (did they knock on Mickey Haller’s door?). A neighbor says the house across the street has an invalid in it so he’ll need help. The cops bang on the door and when they enter they find the remains of a 5-day old suicide. At his feet is a photo album containing pictures of women at right about the time they painfully died.

The dead guy was accused of a murder 3 years earlier (of one of the women in the album). His lawyer hired Elvis to track down his alibi and sure enough, the alibi checked out so the accused was set free. After that, 3 more women died. What did Cole miss that let this guy go and continue killing? An ass’t chief shows up at the scene and almost immediately pronounces that 6 or 7 cold cases have now been solved.

Elvis is now wondering what went wrong and despite being told in no uncertain terms to cease digging into the past, our boys Cole and Pike bull their way into stuff better left hidden. So he goes back into each of the old cases trying to learn as much as he could but comes up mostly blank on any kind of pattern. No one is much help. Not the lawyer he worked for, the families, the cops, the CSI dude, not the former bomb tech who seems to have the hots for him, no one can help because this chief has put a lid on it all.

A number of minor clues point to a firm that handles political careers. So Cole wonders if the chief is covering up something to do with this firm (whom the chief has retained for his own political aspirations) or other clients of said firm. One of female victims worked there and there were rumors of issues with a well-heeled client.

Cole is spun around so many circles it’s hard to figure out how he manages to break out and zero in the most likely answer. What was it Holmes said? When the improbable has been eliminated, all that remains is the probable?

Not here.

Terrific story. Cole and Pike - two of the best guys to escape with. A cover-to-cover winner. Great literature? Nope. Great fun? Absolutely.

The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais

It’s been a while since I read Crais, and after finishing this fast and gripping read, I’m not sure how I could have stayed away for so long. A family is murdered in a house in Temecula, California. A mother, father, and 12-year-old boy are all beaten to death with a baseball bat. Once police are on the scene, they discover a 4-year-old girl who the killer probably didn’t know was in the house. Her footprints, tracked in the blood of her family, indicate she had walked around all three bodies before she went back to her room, where she was found by the police, totally mute. Its many years later that another body is discovered in an alley in Los Angeles, a man who died claiming that he was the father of Elvis Cole, the World’s Greatest Detective, at least according to local publications. Elvis never knew his father, and all he did know was what his mother fabricated, that his father had been a human cannonball in the circus. It was his adolescent intense search for his father, which was unsuccessful, that led Elvis’ to the life as a private detective. Now, he has the chance to find out who this man is and why he claimed to be his father. Could that be true? The path takes us through some very crazy people, but we also have contact with some familiar figures: Carol Starkey, formerly of the Bomb Squad, who is desperately in love with Cole; Lucy Chernier, Cole’s real love who fled the LA scene because of the danger that came from living with Cole; and of course, Joe Pike, who makes his boldest of entries, at precisely the right time. In the story, Crais takes us all over So Cal, from San Diego, to Temecula, through Los Angeles, and up to Canyon Country, north of LA. It is Crais and Cole at their best. Good book.

Demolition Angel by Robert Crais

Bombers must have some serious OCD. Take "Mr. Red." He uses the same size and type of pipes, pipe caps, explosive, batteries, ignitors. Hell, he even uses plumber's tape wound clockwise over the pipe's threads. But he's upset because he's not on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List (they need his real name). And he really wants to be on that list.

Three years ago, Carol Starkey and her partner-lover Shug were disarming a bomb when a minor earthquake jiggled the mechanism setting off the device and killing both, but the EMTs were successful at saving Starkey. While she has physically recovered and working in the Criminal Conspiracy Unit, she is seriously messed up and has gone through a fistful of therapists. Now she eats Tagament like candy, smokes like a chimney, practically mainlines gin, and relives the explosion nightly in her dreams.

One of her former partners on the bomb squad, Charles Riggio, has just been blown to bits by a bomb with all the earmarks of Mr. Red. But after a long and drawn out investigation, Carol and Jack Pell of the ATF come to think that just maybe Riggio was killed by a copycat because one tiny little detail of Mr. Red's signature that Carol found was wrong on the Riggio bomb. That means the copycat must be inside the LAPD.

An imprisoned explosive nut tells Carol and Pell about a web chat room for explosive weirdos called Claudius and there have been rumors that Mr. Red has prowled the site. Carol sets up an screen name and tries to bait Mr. Red, but he ends up turning the tables on her jerking her chain over and over again until the final confrontation (that had me holding my breath) involving - you guessed it - a bomb.

A quick check of the author list shows that Crais is one of MRB's favorite authors. Crais writes PI stories with smart aleck Elvis Cole and Joe Pike who is, well, Joe Pike. While Cole and Pike have a bucketload of titles to their credit, this Starkey book appears to be a one and done. Make no mistake, this is one hardcore, gritty tale of a damaged woman trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to keep from becoming more damaged. Being entirely different from the Cole/Pike books is not a reason to shun the tale. You really feel for the pain Starkey has been carrying for three years, her frustration with the investigation, and silently cheer for her as things get tense. I thought this 2000 copyright was well worth it.

East Coast Don

The Sentry by Robert Crais

Why can't Joe Pike just mind his own business? He's just filling his spotless, red Jeep Cherokee with gas when he spots a car full of gang bangers headed into a Santa Monica sandwich shop. Curious, he walks in on the owner absorbing a beating, which, of course, Joe puts to an abrupt halt.

The shop owner, Wilson Smith, and his niece Dru Rayne fled New Orleans after 'the storm' to set up shop in LA. Looks like a local gang is after protection money that Wilson really doesn't want to pay and when Joe intervenes, a kind word to the local jefe is supposed to call off the dogs. Sweet Dru is very grateful and poor Joe is smitten.

When he goes back the next day to check on Dru and her uncle, he finds them gone and starts digging trying to find them. The trail goes hot and cold, eventually requiring the skills of his partner in the PI biz, Elvis Cole.

And guess what? Wilson and Dru ain't quite who Joe thinks they are. In their history is wholesale shrimp, Mexican Federales, Bolivian drug money, and a missing $360,000, or is it $8mill or $12mill that the Bolivians really want returned. They want it so bad they've hired a sociopath who goes by the name of Daniel and fancies himself a werewolf that kills indiscriminately, whether it's the target, the target's family, or anyone who just gets in the way.

This is the latest by Crais that I've been patiently waiting for our slow as sludge library to get. And while I am a big fan of Joe Pike and will continue to be, this one might be a touch below Crais's usual excellent standards. Not much, just a touch. Pike/Cole fans won't be disappointed, they just may not be really excited.

East Coast Don

Indigo Slam by Robert Crais

Elvis Cole, Joe Pike, Robert Crais . . . comfort food.

The only issue on Cole’s plate is how to keep his plants healthy. That is until 15yo Teri Haines and her 12yo brother Charles and 9yo sister Winona wander into the office of The World’s Greatest Detective. Seems their dad, Clark, has been missing for about a week and they want Elvis to find him. Seems simple enough. Guy’s probably on a bender or in Vegas. No problem.

So, Elvis and Joe Pike set out with all the goods needed for a day’s work: Elvis with his Dan Wesson .45 neatly tucked in his shoulder holster and Pike with his Python .357, a Baretta autoloader combat sawed-off shotgun, and maybe an MX missile under the seat.

Clark is a printer by trade. A quick check with his employer, make that former employer, reveals the guy is an addict. Some phone records show extended recent calls to Phoenix and Seattle. Phoenix lead is a dud, but The Seattle number has potential so Elvis heads up there to nose around. Turns out our boy Clark not only was a printer, but had been making a little funny money for some local Russian mob types who were flooding phony dollars into the former Soviet Union.

Now, Clark was pretty darn good and skimmed a bit for himself. The Russians were none to happy with Clark and targeted him for elimination. That was enough for Clark to go to the US Marshal’s service, but the night the family was to be taken into protective custody, the Russian’s show up and shoot it out with the cops leaving a few dead Marshals. The Russians must have someone on the inside of the US Marshal's office.

Obviously, Clark didn’t trust the Marshal service and goes underground, living off his counterfeit cash. The trail goes alternatively hot and cold, but one thing Elvis does learn is that Clark has terminal cancer (thus the narcotics) and is looking for one more big score to set up his kids. And that score is making funny money, only this time for some Vietnamese revolutionaries who want to dump millions of dollars of local currency into Vietnam and destabilize the current government.

With the not too willing Secret Service, Elvis concocts a plan whereby the Russians are lured into a trap, get caught by the Secret Service, Clark is still allowed to print the Vietnamese cash, get paid, and set up his kids for life. But the plan goes array when son Charles, a sullen and angry kid, walks out of the safe house and gets himself snatched by the Russians, adding a layer of complexity and danger to the plan.

Crais is a favorite and I never tire of his stories or characters like I eventually did with Stuart Woods. In this 1997 story, Elvis is the smart aleck PI (but not as much as in earlier books) and Pike is there for when the going gets really tough. They may catch the bad guys, but Pike is always ready saying “We can always shoot them later.” OK, so Crais’s vision of the PI novel may be considered trite and wholly unrealistic by some, but Cole and Pike never fail to entertain. Don’t know where I’ll venture next with Crais. I do know that I am #5 on the waiting list when the library finally gets his new book in. Now that’ll be a good day. What's taking the library so long? It's in the stores.

Anyone know where I can find some red arrow fake tats pointing forward for my delts?

East Coast Don

Sunset Express by Robert Crais

LA detective Angela Rossi might be on the fast track to become the first female chief of detectives for the LAPD, but a couple skeletons in her professional closet have slowed her climb. She and he partners are checking out a corpse found in a garbage bag in a steep ravine. Her partners can't (or won't) climb down, but Rossi does. After a quick check, the victim turns out to be the wife of the mega restauranteur Teddy Martin. When they go to his home, Angela starts sniffing around and finds a bloody hammer in the bushes.

With her history and no witnesses to Rossi at the body or where the hammer was found, superstar defense attorney Jonathan Green is all set to say that Rossi found the hammer with the body and planted it at Teddy's home. A quick solution to a major case should get Rossi back on the main line to being the head of detectives, so Green thinks Rossi has sufficient reason to plant evidence and of course, tells the media.

Green hires Elvis Cole to check out Rossi to see if there really is anything in her closet, which Cole finds is clean and tells Green as much. To justify his fee, Cole volunteers to run down leads that have come pouring into the Martin hot line, and one looks promising. Unfortunately, the lead turns out to be a ex-con with ties to one of Green's associates and before long, the ex-con ends up dead. So do the 2 guys that were implicated.

Thing start to fall apart, Cole gets fired by Green, and Elvis starts to wonder more about the Big Green Defense Machine than about Rossi. Witnesses change their story or disappear, the media is manipulated by Green's charisma, leaving Elvis, Joe Pike, and Angela to fight their way out of a maintenance shack where Green's henchmen were getting set to off another witness, but not before one of Green's associates gets shot and gives a deathbed confession to Green's role in the case. The result is that Teddy Martin flees the country to Brazil (no extradition to the US) and Green gets arrested, but all but one charge are dismissed as Green is so well insulated within his firm. They got away with it.

Typical Crais. Smart ass Cole, deadly Joe Pike, female cop in a jam, sleazy lawyers, and a briskly plotted story that easily moves along at a considerable pace. Is this great literature that tells us something about the plight of mankind? Hardly. A fun PI read? Absolutely. But I've read a bunch of Elvis Cole books recently and need a break. But, to steal an overused line: I'll be back.

East Coast Don

Stalking The Angel by Robert Crais

Guess I have an Elvis Cole/Joe Pike fixation right now, waiting for new releases later in the fall. I decided to start from the beginning. This is the 2nd Cole/Pike novel by Crais. And while I might say it may be a 'formulaic' Cole novel, that doesn't make it any less entertaining or fun.

Based in LA, Cole is doing yoga in his office when he is hired to find a rare book stolen from the home of a wealthy developer with a Japan obsession. And naturally, this family is one seriously messed up clan. Said book is an original rendition of the guidelines that a Samurai warrior lives by - priceless. The trail leads Elvis Cole deep into the depths and dregs of Little Tokyo in LA and all clues lead to a shadowy Japanese mafia-like organization, which Cole, of course, manages to piss off in a big way.

At some award banquet for the book's caretaker, the daughter, Mimi, goes missing and assumed to be kidnapped. While Cole is trying to find her, he learns she is tight with an up and comer in that Japanese crime syndicate. When Cole tracks Mimi down, she says they are in love but all Cole sees is this bum using her to get at this book to raise his standing in the mob. Mimi also says her dad sexually abused her - Cole is seriously pissed now.

In the end, everything was all instigated by Mimi to get back at her father. She kills her father and the ensuing climatic shootout takes down everyone but Mimi. Turns out, that guy really did love Mimi, but we never really know if her dad did what she said. Mimi is a pathologic liar.

This book is typical Crais/Cole. Quickly read, pretty short, funny in many spots, deadly in others. Cole's quick wit is one core of the story, but so is his compassion, even if it is a bit misplaced in this tale. As a Crais fan, would I place it amongst his top 5? Probably not. But that won't stop me from moving forward in his bibliography. The next in line is Lullaby Town, which I've already read. So next up is Free Fall, right after I finish reading an early Bob Less Swagger (aka Bob the Nailer) story by Stephen Hunter.

East Coast Don

p.s. looking for new mystery/thriller writers? Check out Watchlist, edited by Jeffery Deaver. This book has two very entertaining serialized stories with each chapter written by a different author. Check it out to see which author's style trips your trigger. Me? I'll be looking into Jim Fusilli.

The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais

Elvis Cole sits in the Disney themed office of the Elvis Cole Detective Agency, doing what most PIs do between cases, staring out the window, only to have his concentration broken when Ellen Lang, accompanied by her bossy friend Janet Simon, asks to hire Elvis to find her missing husband and young son.

Seems ol' Mort Lang (Mort?) hasn't done so well since opening his own talent agency. Not only has he depleted all his funds, he's out showing off the newest starlet he is representing (and screwing). In an attempt to get funding for a film he is pushing this bimbo for, he attends the party of this old retired (and mob connected) Mexican bullfighter where our intrepid girl spots a brick of coke and decides she and her boyfriend need it more than does this old fart bullfighter. Now old Dominic isn't too happy to have lost 2 kg of coke. That's where Elvis comes in.

Ellen doesn't know any of this as she is pretty clueless about Mort's business and personal shenanigans. Everyone thinks Mort grabbed the coke (he didn't) and that Dominic grabbed the kid to hold as ransom for the coke (he did). So Elvis has to track Mort and his business associates plus the now missing bimbo through an army of Mexican muscle and Hollywood scum while avoiding some LA police brass that don't seem to like Elvis one bit (do all cops hate PIs?) and like Joe Pike even less (although we don't learn why in this installment).

He sort of squeezes a friend at a studio for the name of someone who might know how an amateur might move some cocaine. After some gentle encouragement (wink, wink), Elvis learns that Mort never had the coke, but that the #1 bimbo and her boyfriend have it. So, our intrepid PI faces them down (not a real challenge), takes the coke and get a message to Dom the Matador to arrange a trade. Which of course goes bad, leaving Elvis, Joe, and even Ellen no choice but to take out the trash. I kind of lost count, but I think the body count was upwards of 15 by the time Ellen was reunited with her son.

In a review of Hagberg's The Cabal by someone of questionable literary talent, I saw the suggestion to find the first McGarvey novel (which I had already done), so I naturally thought it made sense to instead find the first Elvis Cole novel. This is a fairly short paperback of only 200 pages that turns out to have been 'Named one of the century's 100 favorite mysteries' by some trade association. It won 2 other awards as best novel and was nominated for an Edgar and Shamus awards as best mystery books that year (1987). An impressive debut. But Crais wasn't the blind squirrel finding a nut. He had mystery writing chops from work on TV for Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, and Cagney and Lacey. While he nurtured a growing fan base, he apparently rocketed into the mainstream with L.A. Requiem. Why is Cole so addictive? Cuz he says what we poor schlubs on the couch only wish we could say, and still be cute about it, when the pressure is on. And we all now see that Joe Pike is the man, right from the start. Wonder how many people have gotten their delts adorned with those red arrows pointing forward?

So, having read the first, I figure now I'll slowly work my way forward when I have a break in new books due out this fall, including the new Michael Connelly. Best get ready, I'm #315 on the waiting list for The Reversal.

East Coast Don

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais

It's the mid 1990's LA. The Elvis Cole Detective Agency has been hired by Frank Garcia, local king of the burrito, to find his missing daughter, Karen. Frank called on Elvis because apparently Elvis's partner, Joe Pike, used to date Karen when she was a college student and he was a fairly new LA street cop.

[You remember Joe Pike, right? He of the sleeveless sweatshirt, aviator sunglasses (even at night), a tattoo of a horizontal red arrow pointing forward on each deltoid, Marine recon, disgraced cop, and soulless disposition. Just who you want in a tight situation.]

The cops won't look for her as she hasn't been missing long enough, but Elvis and Joe go looking for her . . . and she turns up dead, shot in the head while on a jog around a reservoir. Frank's burrito empire has earned him a lot of favors with the suits of LA and he gets Robbery/Homicide to take Cole along with them so Cole can report back to Frank. And the cops ain't happy about that. Not only do they not want Cole looking over their shoulder, Joe is not welcome. Turns out that when he was on the force, a potential bust of a pedophile went bad and Joe's mentor/partner was killed. IAD let Joe off, but the other cops weren't as accommodating and shun him as a 'cop-killer'.

During the investigation, we find out that Karen is the 5th by a serial killer and the cops think they have their man when the suspect is also murdered, and this time a witness describes seeing someone who looks just like Joe Pike. Now the cops smell blood and are ruthless at trying to peg these crimes Pike, cuz they all hate him, all expect one female detective who is getting the hots for Elvis despite Elvis living with a lawyer who left Louisiana for LA after working with Cole on a case near New Orleans.

At various places in the book, Crais leaves the 1st person narrative by Cole and goes 3rd person to tell the reader some backstory about Joe Pike -- as a cop, as a child, as a Marine recon recruit, as an admirer of his partner's wife -- and that is at the core of this tale, telling us how Joe became Joe Pike.

Robbery/Homicide gets enough evidence to arrest Pike, but Cole won't sit still, going into 'World' Greatest Detective' hyperdrive to find evidence to free his friend and partner. As faint clues, some clever deduction, and plenty of luck, Cole puts adds up the details and gets a different sum than do the tunnel-visioned cops. The righteous ending (for the perp) and the less than righteous ending for Elvis and his lady leave the reader both satisfied and feeling the pain Elvis feels.

Back then, Joe Pike did what he had to do, quitting the force rather than expose things better left hidden. Pike is nothing if not honorable, even if he had a thing for his partner's wife. Oh, and don't forget The First Rule . . . don't piss off Joe Pike.

This is a 1999 copyright so it's kind of early in the Cole/Pike saga and it rocks. To kind of mangle a line from the old Oiler's football coach, Bum Phillips, "Crais may not be in a class by himself . . . but it don't take long to call the role." Readers of MenReadingBooks should be able to tell that I put Crais in the same class with Bruen, Connelly, Child, Hunter, Leonard, Pelecanos, and Stella as writers of crime fiction that deliver 'can't miss' stories that are dang near guaranteed to make you forget yard and house work and hunker in a corner for the duration. You can't miss with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. I'm now on the trail of The Monkey's Raincoat, the first Elvis Cole novel.

Now couldn't you just see Joe Pike and Jack Reacher on the same case?

East Coast Don

Voodoo River by Robert Crais

Amazing what a cruise will do to West Coast Don's reading output. I better quit stalling and get one up there.

Actress Jodi Taylor has never denied being adopted and now would like to know something about her birth parents, mostly about possible medical issues, so her manager hires Elvis Cole to go to Louisiana, meet up with the local lawyer on the job, and try to find her birth parents. Which he does. Problem is, he's been lied to. It's got nothing to do with health....she's being blackmailed.

A local slug of a PI has turned up something in Jodi's history that could net him a chunk of change from The Enquirer and gets Jodi to fork over some real money to protect the secret. You see, Jodi Taylor is a genuine TV star of America's highest rated family show and the secrets surrounding her family and birth would not be well received by the show's sponsors or the studio brass.

Elvis is really pissed that he was lied to and Jodi decides to go back to Louisiana with Cole and see just who her birth mother is. When she see her birth mother, she decides on the spot to meet her and learns all about the family secret. Her birth mother is married to the local sheriff who is under the thumb of the resident gangster because that slug PI took the info to this jerk for more money. As Jodi learns the details behind her birth and adoption, she takes pity on her mother and asks Elvis if he would do something to get these 2 decent people out from under this local criminal. Elvis, ever the sucker for a movie star, agrees to help.

Elvis needs to find out just what this bum is involved in and needs some help, bringing his partner, Joe Pike. With a little help of the local lawyer, an underground newspaper reporter, and a very well protected hispanic activist, Cole learns that an underling to the big cheese in human trafficking into Louisiana is trying to break out on his own, bringing people in through the that local scumbag and his old boss ain't happy about the competition.

Elvis hatches a plot to get all 3 bad guys together to basically kill each other off cuz they all hate each other, getting Jodi's birth mother and husband out of their problem. But this isn't The A Team and the plan doesn't come together leaving Joe Pike and a black op sharpshooter for that hispanic activist clean up the mess.

I'm a big fan of Crais. After reading The First Rule, I thought I venture back into the early novels and my local library had this 1995 book on the shelf. His books are easy to get into, well plotted, satisfying in the eventual demise of the bad guys. Cole and Pike are a couple of my favorite continuing characters. Cole is the cynical wise cracking LA PI (who usually manages to get some girl in the process) and Pike is just downright creepy, but productive when the shit hits the fan. Notice I don't give away Jodi's secret. You'll have to find out that for yourself. It's a doozy.

East Coast Don