Customer Reviews

L.A. Requiem

5 star:		(155)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As with most of the reviewers, I've followed Robert Crais from the beginning and this is his best book yet.

It starts with Joe Pike's ex-girlfriend, Karen Garcia, being gunned down by the Hollywood Reservoir as she's out jogging. Karen's father, an Hispanic with huge political clout, doesn't trust the police to work the case so he asks Joe to act as an overseer to the case, and Joe involves Elvis Cole. As more evidence surfaces it looks like a serial killer may be at work and when the prime suspect is himself murdered, Joe Pike is arrested for the killing.

First, the plot is very well done. It has the requisite twists and turns and I don't think many people will figure this one out before the author wants you to.

Secondly, the writing is superb. Crais has always been a good writer in a mild breezy way, but with this book he shows us he can handle deeper emotions. This is a darker, more serious, book than his others and he handles it with aplomb. I, at first considered this series as a Spenser wannabee, but his writing has now pushed him beyond that. He is a very good writer.

Third, his characterization is rich. Joe Pike, who up until now has been Elvis Cole's spear carrier, emerges as the complex human being we've always felt he might be. Far from being the emotionless killer, we find that Joe's emotions are there but well hidden. The book does a wonderful job of explaining what made Joe the way he is. Some others have remarked that Joe is a little too unbelievable, but I don't think so. There really are men like this in the world.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I gave it five stars and I don't give out that rating lightly. You won't be disappointed.

Fans of Robert Crais have seen his writing style progress with each of his Elvis Cole novels. All are entertaining, but L.A. Requiem suddenly vaults way ahead of anyone else this year and propels Crais to the top of the heap of detective writers. In fact, list Crais as one of the best writers of any fiction.

This, by far, is the best book I've read this year. And I read a lot--I own a used bookstore.

L.A. Requiem has its funny stuff, but it's darker than the rest. The book deals more with Joe Pike and his background. At times I felt like I was eavesdropping on Pike, knowing things about him he probably doesn't want us to know. Crais' portrayal of L.A. is a character of itself. The fires in the hills act as a metaphor for the conflict/tension building. The plot is great; they're searching for a killer. But Crais' use of language, thought, description really supercedes the plot.

I've always been a big fan of Crais and grab as much of him as I can. I recommend him all the time at our store. L.A. Requiem is outstanding and more readers will take notice. I can't wait for his next book.

I have all of Crais's books except the newest one, The Forgotten Man.

And this is the best of a very good lot.

The Elvis Cole books are better than the non-Cole books (Demolition Angel and Hostage--now a major crummy motion picture).

And one reason is Joe Pike.

Pike is a mythic creation: sort of like the Eastwoodian Strong Silent Type on steroids.

This book tells how Pike got that way.

It also has a very nice turn with Who Dun It.

Read all the Elvis Cole books, but if you can only read one, read this.

I like Elvis & Joe and always enjoy reading about them, but I had a lot of problems with this book. It told me more than I wanted to know about Joe, and now what I feel most strongly for him is pity. The cops were cliches, right down to the climactic scene, and never became well-rounded characters to me. I'm getting tired of Lucy Chenier and want to see her go back to Louisiana for good. Whenever she appeared, I started skimming and evenskipping pages. I also disliked the shifts from first to third person and found them distracting, especially when the viewpoint was neither Elivis's nor Joe's.

A good book in many ways, but not the best in the series.

If you've read any of the Elvis Cole books, that header will have you clicking the "buy" button right away.

If not, well, listen up. Over the course of the Elvis Cole series, there have been a number of constants. One: Quality. All of the books are excellent. Two: likeable protagonist. You'll love Elvis Cole. Three: the strong, silent, enigmatic Joe Pike. Not just a sidekick. Pike has been Cole's guardian angel throughout the series. And now in L.A. REQUIEM we get to find out how Joe Pike became Joe Pike!

On top of that, you've got a locomotive of a suspense novel roaring down the tracks. The book is inventive in form and style, but always accessible. It's a crime novel, a mystery novel, a literary novel. It's about childhood and the love between man and woman and between friends. It's about everything that's important in life and if you only read one book this year, it should be this one.

L.A. REQUIEM transcends genres and achieves greatness. Don't miss it.

Crais can really write-a great plot, characters you care about, and a sense of history (with flashback scenes). I was enthralled with this book right from the start. Elvis Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, look into the shooting death of jogger Karen Garcia, after her father hires them to keep an eye on the police investigation. This simple homicide turns out to be more involved than at first glance. It's not one murder, but the fifth in a string of shootings. Seemingly unrelated until the "world's greatest detective" pieces together the puzzle, they have something to do with the shooting death of Joe Pike's partner on the force. An absolutely brilliant mystery!

I've been a fan since Lullaby Town, when a fellow Spenser-o-phile recommended Crais to me. At first I thought (naturally) that it was a Spenser ripoff. That changed after 50 pages.

Now comes LA Requiem, and if any other book didn't convince readers that this is no Spenser rip, this should clear all doubts. I have been waiting since day 1 for a peek inside Joe Pike's skull, and now I almost wish I hadn't looked.

This was an absolutely fantastic novel. Crais just gets better and better with each Cole episode, and this one goes right over the top. I can't wait for the next one. Hopefully Elvis & Lucy will patch things up (sorry, Lucy haters, but she's a lot better than Spenser's Susan...)

This was the first book by Robert Crais that I have read, and judging by the other reviewers here on Amazon, his Elvis Cole novels have a wide following and this may be the best of the bunch. Having just read LA Requiem, I can only say that this one is a helluva good novel.

Readers familiar with the Cole series will no doubt enjoy LA Requiem, but in this novel the real focal character is Elvis' partner Joe Pike. A pretty jogger is found murdered, and the deceased was an ex-girlfriend of Pike, as well as a daughter of a prominent Latin politician in LA. Cole and Pike are hired to investigate the murder, and of course they clash with the LAPD in their investigation of the homicide. Pike is private and reserved, emotionally devastated by the murder, and driven to find the killer at all costs. You really sense the concern Cole feels for his partner throughout the novel.

Several scenes of the novel were very richly drawn and demonstrated that Crais does his homework, such as the efforts of the investigators to assist a rookie forensic expert in gathering evidence at the crime scene. Crais really knows his stuff, and it shows.

I also thought that the city of Los Angeles was a central character in the story. I have been in LA, and thought the author really has his finger on the pulse of the city - the novel is almost an homage to LA, with all of its inherent problems. I don't read a lot of crime drama/murder mystery novels, other than maybe Thomas Harris' excellent Hannibal Lecter novels, but for some reason this one caught my attention at the bookstore and I picked it up. I must say I've become a fan of Crais, and I look forward to reading his latest, Demolition Angel.

No matter what I write here, I won't be able to say enough about this book. This novel is beyond good...beyond amazing! Loyal fans will be thrilled to finally get a bit more information about the mysterious Joe Pike. Readers new to the series will instantly be taken in by the two main characters; they are two of the best private investigator characters ever written. The story shows how strong the friendship is between these two men, and how strong it remains regardless of external forces.

The plot is complex but easy to follow, and moves along at the perfect pace. This book made me think, laugh and even cry. If you only ever read one more book, make sure it's this one!

Elvis and Joe are at it again. But this time the case hits close to home. Joe's former girlfriend, Karen Garcia, is found murdered. Karen's father, a prominent L.A. businessman, hires Elvis and Joe to supervise the LAPD's investigation, as he has little faith in the police. But the LAPD does not take kindly to the two private investigators interfering with their job. They want Elvis and Joe out of the picture and will do anything to remove them from the case. Meanwhile, a string of other murders eerily similar to Karen Garcia's are taking place. When the police finally name and apprehend their suspect, Elvis and Joe's personal and professional lives are turned upside down. The most unlikely person to commit murder is the prime suspect and the evidence mounts daily to confirm that the party is guilty. As their friendship strains, Elvis and Joe must undertake their most complicated search for the truth. Even if it means facing some inner demons that they did not know existed.