Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais‏

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Elvis Cole #2

            I listened to this one on audio book. Elvis Cole is as entertaining aloud as he is in print. I have to wonder at times how someone as goofy as Cole manages to catch the bad guys, but he does. The fact that he has the strong, silent Joe Pike to back him up when the going gets rough certainly helps.

            In this installment, a rare Japanese manuscript goes missing from the collection of a seriously obnoxious and twisted rich guy. This man is totally unconcerned about anything but his own desires and the opinions of people he wants to impress. His wife and daughter are nonentities to him.

            Cole is hired to track down the manuscript. In the course of the investigation, the daughter goes missing. As a result of this debacle, Cole is fired. But he has promised the awkward young girl he would keep her safe, and so he continues tracking the manuscript in the belief that both disappearances are connected. And, of course, he is right.

            I started reading the older Elvis Cole novels because I enjoyed a later one so much. This book, much like the first, is extremely entertaining and I know for a fact they will only get better as the series matures.


See my other reviews of Robert Crais' books, The Monkey's Raincoat and Taken.

The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais

Elvis Cole #1

            This is not the kind of book I generally like Elvis Cole is not the kind of character that usually appeals to me. So what is it about this series that delights me?

            I like Elvis Cole. His sense of humor is a lot like mine. He's quirky and proud of it. He'll sleep with any woman he runs into, but mostly because he's trying to make both of them feel better. And he has great taste in friends. His business partner, friend and muscle, Joe Pike is great. A genuinely tough guy with a sense of other people's psyches, an OCD-like compulsion about clean cars, and not a lot to say. Elvis describes him as thinking that "Clint Eastwood talks too much."

            This is the first book in this series, published in 1987. I added it to my TBR list after reading Taken, the 13th in the series [Taken], and I'll be adding Stalking the Angel, the third in the series.

            Elvis Cole is a private investigator in Hollywood. This story starts with two women arriving in his office to hire him, a quiet doormat of a wife and her pushy, overbearing best friend. Mrs. Doormat's husband has disappeared with their son. She fears he has left her and their daughters. Elvis agrees to look into the situation for her. He agrees to meet her at her house to collect his retainer and look through her husband’s papers. When Elvis arrives he finds the place has been systematically and thoroughly tossed. His client refuses to call the police, not wanting to embarrass her husband when he returns as she believes he did the tossing.

            Elvis starts his investigation, first uncovering evidence of an affair. Further investigation reveals that hubby and side piece attended a party at the home of a wealthy drug dealer. As it turns out, two kilos of nearly pure cocaine were stolen during the party. Drug dealer assumes hubby took it.

            Elvis finally insists that the police be called in, and they quickly find hubby shot dead in his car. The boy is missing. The drug dealer has snatched him to use as an exchange for the drugs. There's just one problem. Hubby didn't take the dope. Now Elvis must find out who did take it, and be prepared to swap it for the boy without everyone getting killed.

            I really enjoyed this book. Although I'm still not sure why it is titled the way it is. Apparently it has to do with a haiku quoted at the beginning of the book. I recommend both the book and the series highly.

Taken by Robert Crais

          Elvis Cole #13

          I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to this book. It is not the kind of book I would normally choose.  Stories about soldiers, human trafficking, egregious violence, and bloody guts do not usually interest me. But something about Cole and Pike and their buddy John Stone appealed to me. This story caught me at the beginning and never let me go. I have not read any of the previous books in the series, but I think I will add the first one, The Monkey’s Raincoat to my to-be-read list.

          The story begins with two young people at a landmark in the desert. Shortly after sunset, a large truck pulls up and disgorges a load of people from its cargo area – a coyote dropping off the people he is helping to sneak into the country. Suddenly several smaller vehicles arrive, a gun battle ensues, and the folks from the back of the truck are rounded up, kidnapped for ransom.  The two young folks who are watching all this happen get caught up in the sweep as well.

          Elvis Cole, private investigator, is hired by the young woman’s mother, to find her. She does not believe her daughter has really been kidnapped since the ransom demand was only $500. She believes the youngsters have run off to get married and are trying to scam some cash out of her. When she finally realizes her daughter is playing the part of an illegal alien, she is truly horrified.

          Elvis Cole, with the help of Joe Pike and John Stone, and lots of fire power, head into the desert to find the kids and the rest of the aliens being held for ransom. Through the use of other than ordinary means, everyone is recovered from the kidnappers. And, Cole and company destroy the kidnapping ring while doing it.

          The action here was nonstop.  And while some of the scenes were a little too gory for my tastes, my desire to see what happened next allowed me to skim over those parts. I can’t wait to try the earlier novels, and to see what adventures the guys have coming up.