DWD's Reviews

Originally published in book form in 1993. Published as an audiobook in 2008 by Brilliance Audio. Read by Mel Foster. Duration: 8 hours, 13 minutes. Unabridged. I found the Elvis Cole novels years ago, but somehow I have been reading them as a I found them rather than trying to trying to read them in chronological order. So, here I am going back more than thirty years to book 4 out of a 20+ book series, depending on how you count some of Crais' other books. Synopsis Like all classic detective novels, in Free Fall we find our intrepid main character in his office when a beautiful young lady enters looking for help with a desperate problem.  This young woman is concerned about her fiance. He is a relatively young member of LAPD and part of a rapid reaction team because he is a promising young officer. When crime pops up in a neighborhood - such as new gang activity or more drug sales or a series of home invasions, this team is sent out to supplement regular officers in the neighborho...

Book originally published in 1992. Audiobook published by Brilliance Audio in 2008. Read by Mel Foster. Duration: 8 hours, 33 minutes. Unabridged. Anthony Award Nominee for Best Novel (1993) Shamus Award Nominee for Best PI Hardcover (1993) Synopsis Elvis Cole is hired by a very successful young Hollywood director in Lullaby Town to find his divorced wife and his son that he hasn't seen since he was an infant. It has been ten years since the divorce. His ex-wife hasn't been kidnapped or gone missing - she just moved away and the director has lost track of her. Now, he'd like to meet his son.  The director has to be the single most annoying client that Elvis Cole has ever had. He is pushy, obnoxious, and completely self-absorbed. Elvis notes early on that almost every sentence the man utters starts with "I" as in "I think this" and "I did that." It's pretty obvious why the ex-wife left him and just kept on going with no forwarding address...

Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original. Winner of the McAvity Award for Best First Novel. Originally published in 1987. Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio. Read by Patrick Lawlor. Duration: 8 hours, 9 minutes. Unabridged. I have been reading Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels for 15 years and I just assumed that I had already read all of the early ones years ago. But, when I checked my blog I found that I had not read 7 of them - that is more than a third of the series!  The Monkey's Raincoat is the first in this 20 book series.  Synopsis Two women come to meet Elvis Cole in his office. Cole is a decorated Vietnam veteran turned private detective. The women want Cole to find the Mort, the husband of one of the women and their son. Mort picked the boy up from school, but they never came home. Elvis starts to dig around and quickly discovers that Mort's talent agency is in trouble. The more he uncovers, the more it becomes obvious that Mort has been hiding m...

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2025. Read by Luke Daniels. Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes. Unabridged. My synopsis: Elvis Cole is back on the case in The Big Empty . This time around he is working for a social media personality that specializes in making muffins and making people who watch the videos feel included, like they are talking to the girl next door.  This social media star wants to hire Cole to figure out why her dad went missing about 10 years before. She hired an quality Private Investigations firm earlier, but the results were inconclusive. Her handlers are not enthused about reopening old wounds, but she overrules them. Cole heads out to the small town (by L.A. standards) where her father disappeared and finds lots of stuff - including people who are determined to keep the secrets of the past buried in the past... My review: This was a complicated mystery with an ending that leaves a lot of moral questions about what is best for just a few people vs. what is best for...

The Elvis Cole novels have been coming out for 30 years and this book would be a fine place for the series to end - not that I want it to end Originally published in 2017 by G.P. Putnam's Sons   The Elvis Cole novels have been coming out for 30 years and The Wanted would be a fine place for the series to end, especially considering the last 20 pages or so. Not that I want it to end - I will read them as long as Robert Crais wants to write them, but this book goes out of its way to include all of the hallmarks of an Elvis Cole novel, almost like it is going down a checklist one last time. Those items include: 1) Joe Pike is there and Joe Pike is scary, full of tech knowledge and lurks in dark places; 2) Elvis' car gets a special mention; 3) Elvis' cat is in several scenes and full of his special "charm"; 4) Elvis shows off his culinary skills; 5) Elvis does his martial arts workout; 6) Elvis goes to his office (the early books always featured the office an...

Originally published in 2015. Elvis Cole is on the case in The Promise . It's an odd one. He has been hired by a Meryl Lawrence to find her friend and person she works with. But, Meryl has all sorts of weird ground rules about when she will meet Elvis and how he may contact her. She also calls at weird hours and times and demands that he work faster. While follows a lead to a home just before the police raid it and discover a murdered arms dealer. Elvis gives chase to the suspect but is detained by police K9 officer Scott James. Elvis knows that this case is definitely part of something much larger and brings in his partner Joe Pike who brings in a friend who is a free-lance anti-terrorist agent. Scott James also starts his own investigation, despite being warned off of the case. Can this offbeat detective and this by-the-books cop find out what was going on before it is too late? I was looking forward to this book because it brought together most of Robert Crais' current ...

Book originally published in 1996. Audiobook published in 2004. Read by William Roberts. Unabridged. Lots of the reviews here give this one 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it was the format, perhaps it was the end of the school year rush for me and the welcome respite this book provided. Perhaps I just liked it better. Nevertheless, it was a good story, despite the fact that problems with Elvis and Joe's case are telegraphed from miles away. In Sunset Express a celebrity restaurateur's wife is killed and her body is dumped in a ravine near their very swanky neighborhood. The police detectives stop by the home of this restaurateur to inform him of his wife's demise and they find a bloody hammer in the bushes by the front door of their mansion. But, there is a problem: the detective (Angela Rossi) that found the weapon has been accused of planting evidence in the past and the defense lawyers seize on that fact. Elvis Cole is hired to look into the accusations against Rossi and se...

SUSPECT May Be the Best Book That Crais Has Written Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 2013 Robert Crais is best known for his long-running Elvis Cole series, but he has consistently produced high-quality "stand-alone" novels as well (however, I just learned that the characters from this book will be part of the next Elvis Cole book). Suspect continues that tradition in a big way. Scott James is a fairly young member of LAPD who is on the mend from a frightful shooting that resulted in injuries so severe that he was offered a chance to retire. While his physical injuries are real, they are not as profound as his psychological trauma. He was an up-and-coming officer, now he second guesses himself and, more importantly, cannot shake the feeling that he failed his partner who was killed in the incident. He is working the case on his own even as he trains to be a K-9 officer while he is recovering. Robert Crais Maggie is a retired German Shepherd who was trained...

Published in 2012 by G.P. Putnam's Sons I've been reading a lot of "assigned" reading lately. By assigned reading I mean books I agreed to review for publishers/authors or books that I read just to shrink my dreaded 4-milk-crates-full "to be read" pile. They were mostly good books, (some were great, even) but when I was at the local purveyor of books I saw this Elvis Cole novel. I had to to read it just for me simply because it was my idea in the first place. Also, I am a big fan of the series. In Taken Elvis Cole is hired to find a missing college student. A widowed mother has received a call for a few hundred dollar ransom but she believes her daughter has ran off with "that boy" and is trying to scam her for money to go off and get married in Las Vegas. Sadly, Cole proves her wrong. The girl and "that boy" have been kidnapped by bajadores - bad guys that kidnap illegal aliens coming into the United States in order to squeeze...

WOW! Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio Read by James Daniels Duration: 9 hours, 33 minutes. Unabridged. I must be out of the loop - I am a Crais fan but have never seen this book before nor was I aware that it had been made into movie until I wrote this review. Nevertheless, despite my previous ignorance I found Hostage to be thoroughly enjoyable. More than that, I found it to be riveting, fascinating and I enjoyed Crais's ability to turn a cops and robber story into something more. James Daniels's brilliant narration is perfect for this text - every character has his own distinct voice. Daniels puts the right edge in his voice, be it the menacing quality of some of the characters or the panicky threats of others as they scream at the hostage negotiators. This is an audiobook done right! The plot revolves around 3 guys who rob a small town gas station and then while attempting to flee run into a gated community and take a family hostage inside their own h...

Relentlessly paced Published in 2011 by G.P. Putnam's Sons The Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series continues with The Sentry . Technically, it is a Joe Pike novel, but as with most of the books in this series, you get a little bit of both. Joe Pike stumbles into a gang intimidation racket (the famed "give us money or your restaurant gets damaged" routine) in progress and, of course, the two fools actually attempt to fight Pike. When the police come to arrest the one assailant that Pike captures the victim refuses to cooperate with the police. Pike takes a protective interest in Dru, the niece of the owner who was beaten by the gang members before Pike's intervention. Dru and Joe share a nice moment over coffee and, for a moment, Joe's impenetrable emotional armor is actually penetrated. Joe takes a shine to Dru and gets involved and tries to protect her by taking steps to stop the ongoing harassment by the Latino gang. But, somewhere along the way things go awry. Th...

Excellent! Published by Brilliance Audio in 2008 Read by James Daniels. Duration; 8 hours, 4 minutes. Unabridged. First things first - this is an excellent work - and James Daniels, the reader,  was absolutely great. First rate job. I found myself taking advantage of any chance to listen (while showering, housework, etc.). The Last Detective is the 9th installment of the Elvis Cole series but it really is the sequel to L.A. Requiem . Not that the bad guys return, but rather Crais continues to show the readers insight into the mechanics of our duo - Pike and Cole. In L.A. Requiem we were treated to the psyche of Pike. This time it is Cole. I would not recommend this book as a stand-alone since it spends so much time delving into the heart and soul and past of Cole. This means a lot to the fans of the series but most likely means little to newcomers. The plot in just one sentence: Elvis Cole's girlfriend's 10 year old son is kidnapped and Elvis pulls all of...

Great Elvis Cole novel Published in 2000 by Ballantine Books. L.A. Requiem is a wonderful hard-boiled detective novel - a real pleasure, especially since I've run across a string of sub-par books lately. No worries with that here. The reader does not have to have read the previous Elvis Cole novels to read and enjoy this one - in fact, you will discover more about Cole's mysterious partner, Joe Pike, in this one book than you will have read about in all of the previous books combined. L.A. Requiem is book #8 in the Elvis Cole series and well worth the read. Rather than ruin it with lots of spoilers, let me describe it like this: lots of action, good old-fashioned detective work, flashbacks, tragedy, revenge, honor, loss and re-dedication. Very well done. Crais is definitely on my short list of authors to watch out for! I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here:  L.A. Requiem (Elvis Cole #8) by Robert Crais . Reviewed Februar...

My first Elvis Cole novel - not my last Originally published in 1995. I heard Voodoo River   as an audiobook way back in 2005 - it was not my first choice but I gave it a shot and I was very pleased. The story was convoluted but had a real feel to it. Elvis is tough, but not Superman. The situation was complicated but not impossible. I seem destined to be perpetually out of sync with Elvis and the real order of his series. Voodoo River is #5 in the Elvis Cole series. In Voodoo River , Elvis leaves Los Angeles for the Louisiana bayou country in search of the birth parents of a Hollywood starlet who is in need of some medical information. Soon enough, Cole finds himself in trouble with the local crime boss who has a special use for alligators.  If you are familiar with the series (as I now am) this book is pivotal as it is where Cole meets Lucy . For Crais (the author) this is a homecoming of sorts since he was raised in Louisiana.The audiobook was well-read and the reade...

A good, tight story Published in 2009 by Brilliance Audio Read by Robert Crais , the author Duration: 8 hours, 15 minutes. Unabridged. I am a gigantic fan of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, a series that introduced Joe Pike to the world as Cole's enigmatic, tough and very quiet partner with a soft spot for mean old cats. But, I have been reluctant to get into the Joe Pike novels due to a fear that Joe's facade would be burst wide open and mysterious Joe Pike would be laid wide open and no longer be a mystery. Not to worry. We learn more about Joe, but what makes Joe Pike tick is still a mystery. Plus, as a bonus we get a healthy serving of wise-cracking Elvis Cole throun in as a bonus to make the story even more fun.  Robert Crais The First Rule 's title comes from an Eastern European thieves code that demands that no gangster have a family so that their loyalties will never be divided (much like the story of Keyser Soze from the movie The Usual Suspects ). A fr...

Published in 2008 by Brilliance. Unabridged audiobook. Duration: 7 hours, 19 minutes. Read by James Daniels. In my mind, Robert Crais has the second best series in fiction going right now, just after Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Solid, quirky, oftentimes funny, good detective stories throughout. Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike are on a dark, depressing case in Chasing Darkness . Three years earlier Cole had proven that a man could not have committed a horrific murder. Now, that man is found dead with evidence that he committed not only that murder but 6 others. Cole is sure that his work in the original case is correct and this man is being set up after his death and the real murderer is still wandering the streets. Cole and Pike start to pull on some loose threads and soon they have more trouble than they bargained for. Chasing Darkness is not as good as other Cole novels such as The Last Detective . This one starts out rather slowly but it buil...

Published by Brilliance Audio Read by Patrick G. Lawlor Duration: 6 hours, 52 minutes Unabridged Synopsis:  Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike are hired by a Los Angeles businessman to find a missing ancient copy of the Hagakure , a book that details Bushido, or the way of the Samurai. Along the way, they discover hidden family secrets, connection to the Yakuza (Japan's ultra-violent mafia) and deal with a kidnapping and modern followers of the Bushido. My review: Written in 1989, Stalking the Angel is an early Elvis Cole book. Crais is still doing a bit of casting about to find his rhythm with the characters of Joe Pike, Elvis and even his irascible cat. The plot doesn't flow as well as later books but it still a very nice listen. It is narrated by Patrick G. Lawlor who does a solid job of catching Cole's wisecracking side but overall does not catch on to Elvis as well as the narrators of his later books do. I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. This book can be...