Customer Reviews

The Last Detective

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Crais is a favorite of mine because he takes chances and seems to grow with his characters. For four years, fans have been waiting for a new Elvis Cole book -- and this tense, fast paced story will not disappoint many!

Be prepared for the darker tone we saw in L.A. Requiem; there is little for Elvis to wisecrack about; no one has brought him a case to strategically solve, instead he's vilified as the party responsible for the kidnap of Ben Chenier. Crais gives us strong dialogue and emotion, change ups in the story's point of view, some blind alleys and some down right insightful detective work.

Layers of Elvis' past evolve, and, for the first time, we see Joe Pike as vulnerable and unsure. Crais adds Carol Starkey, tough cop from "Demolition Angel" as the Juvenile cop assigned to the case. Starkey and Elvis are a potent mix.

True responsibility for the kidnapping is somewhat easy to guess, but Crais makes up for it by insuring that the story ends in a way that much of life does...everybody loses, but some lose more than most.

If there is a better writer in this genre today than Crais, please let me know who he/she is! Crais' work is outstanding...

Highly recommended, but more so if you've read previous novels in the Cole series. You can't invest as much in Elvis and Joe as characterized here, unless you've glimpsed the past.

What can I say about Robert Crais and his Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series that I haven't said before? In my opinion, he is simply the greatest author out there and I knew I didn't have to wonder about whether I would enjoy THE LAST DETECTIVE. It was simply excellent!

Elvis is watching his girlfriend Lucy's 10 year old son Ben while she is out of town, and in a matter of minutes he vanishes. After searching for him and having no luck he gets a phone call from someone telling him that the boy has been kidnapped as "payback for what he did." Poor Elvis has no idea who this person is and contacts the police, but you can bet he is determined to find Ben himself with Joe Pike's help and of course there is never a dull moment. I read it in less than a day because I could not bring myself to put it down.

Robert Crais reveals a part of Elvis that we've never known, and around that writes an excellent story that gives the reader an example of how important having family and friends in our everyday lives is. Although it is filled with the usual suspence of a Crais novel, it is at the same time a touching story.

Add this novel to your MUST READ list now. If you are a Robert Crais fan, or have never read his novels before, you will not be disappointed.

It was worth the four-year wait for Elvis Cole to return in "The Last Detective" by Robert Crais. I read it in less than 24 hours.

The plot catapults at a relentless pace. Down-to-earth, practical detective work is what solves the crime in this ticking clock child kidnapping. Since the child is the son of Elvis Cole's girl friend, the hunt is both personal and professional...and therefore all the more chilling,

The point of view switches between the characters (Elvis is in the first person) is smooth as silk and most engaging.

The reader learns the clues as they unfold for Elvis, going thru the stages of frustration to hope to possibility to solution with Elvis and his archangel Joe Pike.

The supporting cast, especially Carol Starkey (from "Demolition Angel") is outstanding.

We learn a lot of Elvis' past via flashbacks that propel the plot. The scene from his Vietnam days is as intense as any I have read.

It is a compelling novel that truly showcases depth of Robert Crais as a writer.

Highly recommended.

I have been a fan of Robert Crais since I was first captured by Crais's unique and enjoyable style in "Freefall" in the early 90's. "Freefall" was my first Elvis Cole novel, and I was immediately hooked. He quickly became one of my favorite authors. I went on to read every other Cole book I could find, and was sad to see "Hostage" and "Demolition Angel" come out in place of another Elvis story. I was, however, NOT disappointed in either book, as for stand alone novels, these were top notch, well done, fast paced stories that kept you on the edge of your seat.

I was beyond thrilled to hear that Crais was working on another Cole story. But when I got the hard copy of "The Last Detective" in my hands after a very long 4 year wait, I am sorry to say I was highly disappointed.

Gone from this book was Elvis's witty one liners, his fun sense of humor and cast of quirky, odd-ball secondary characters. The thing I've always loved about Elvis is that lying underneath his good-natured humor was a man with good morals, who was absolutely dead serious about getting the job done. Every Elvis book in the past has dealt with serious issues, but not once did Elvis loose the light hearted way in which he dealt with these issues. Unfortunately, that is not the case with "The Last Detective".

There is absolutely no humor in this book, and it is full of darkness, moodiness and a lot of military psycho-babble, which is hard to follow at times and a bit dry. The story is a bit slow, and jumps back and forth from being told in first to third person, making the pace of an already choppy book even choppier. Although I enjoyed "Demolition Angel" and did sympathize with Carol Starkey's dark, moody and foul-mouthed character, and while I applaud Crais's decision to intertwine Starkey with Elvis, I do not think they would make a good romantic pairing, which it appears (if the end of "The Last Detective" is any indication) that Crais is considering for future Cole novels.

The one good part of this book was learning more of Elvis's past. Though that is something I've been longing to be revealed, I would have preferred it to have been done differently somehow, perhaps within in-depth, soul-searching discussions between Elvis and Lucy, or even Elvis and Pike.

All of this said, I am still a huge Crais fan, and will anticipate Crais's next Elvis Cole release. I can only hope that future stories will revert back to his older style of writing, the one which we've come to know and love.

Private investigator Elvis Cole and his longtime girlfriend Lucy Chenier are having a tough time making their relationship work. Lucy left her life in Louisiana to be with Elvis in Los Angeles even though she knew the transition would be a hard one, especially for her ten year-old son Ben, but she never dreamed the violence of the city would touch her.

While Lucy is away on business, Elvis is left in charge of Ben, and after a week of quality bonding time, Ben disappears without a trace. Confused as to what has happened, Elvis believes the boy ran away, until a mysterious phone call explains a much more sinister scenario...

The caller states that he has the boy and it's payback for what Elvis has done.

Now with the help of his partner Joe Pike and LAPD Detective Carol Starkey, Elvis must race the clock to save Ben and the key to doing this is a long buried secret from his past.

The highly anticipated `The Last Detective' is easily the best novel yet from Robert Crais, and that's saying a lot! From page one I was held captive by the gripping plot, well drawn characters and shocking twists. Readers of the previous Cole novels will see this as his best outing, and fans of `Demolition Angel' will welcome the appearance of Carol Starkey.

Robert Crais is one of our finest writers of suspense fiction, and with each new novel he gets better and better. With a writing style that is sharp and smooth, pacing that is pitch perfect and plots so tight and suspenseful, Crais creates novels that are intense reading experiences.

Expect to see `The Last Detective' on all the bestseller lists. This truly is a MUST read page-turner, one that I finished in one sitting.

Nick Gonnella

This was my first read of a Robert Crais novel; a recommendation from a friend. It won't be my last Crais novel and I owe that friend dinner. Crais' lexicon is the requisite tough "private dick-speak" but his storyline is elegant and intellectual. No offense to Mr. Spillane or Mr. Simmons but THE LAST DETECTIVE has overtones of a Mike Hammer or Joe Kurtz but is stratafied cerebrally higher. And, who can't love a hero named Elvis?

In strange fashion, particularly to a new reader of Crais, the prologue begins with a test of man against beast. The reader is introduced (RE-introduced for Crais vets) to Pike, who is in Alaska laser-focused on killing what is believed to be a rabid bear. The short prologue is intense but disjointed until later in the book.

As the book begins...

Our hero, Elvis Cole, is in a romantic relationship with Lucy (Luce) Chenier, an attorney cum TV personality. When Lucy takes an out-of-town assignment, she asks Elvis to sit for her 10-year old son, Ben. Before the reader is through the first few pages (subsequent to the prologue), Ben is kidnapped from the backyard of Elvis' house. Soon, Elvis receives a phone call from the kidnapper who tells him he's taken Ben as "payback" for "what you did" when Elvis was part of an Army Ranger outfit in Vietnam.

When the police arrive, Detective Carole Starkey and Elvis explore the slope behind his house and discover Ben's footprints stop abruptly. Upon closer inspection, Elvis finds a single heel print left in the soil by the kidnapper. As Cole continues his search, he realizes the kidnapper is extremely dangerous and will be difficult to corner. Why? Because, based on the lack of tracks or signs of struggle, Cole believes the kidnapper has a military background similar to his own, something scaring Cole to extreme levels. It's at this point Elvis summons his dark friend, Joe Pike.

Elvis and Lucy's relationship begins to disintegrate quickly when Lucy's super-rich ex-husband shows up and another telephone call from the kidnapper is placed, this time to Lucy. The kidnapper contends that Ben's kidnapping is Cole's fault and retribution for his atrocities in Vietnam. This immediately puts a dark spotlight on Cole generating doubt from Lucy, anger from Lucy's ex, and scrutiny from the police. Cole painfully disregards the kidnapper's allegations and sinks his teeth into the investigation with his lethal sidekick, Pike.

The climax of this book takes the reader into an abyss of adrenaline. Although a relatively short book, Crais has mastered the art of grabbing the reader by the heart and squeezing until the very end. Crais definitely has set the ending toward another installment in the Cole series albeit different as the relationship between Elvis and Lucy is dubious at best.

This is a five-star book however, there were any number of passages alludign to Cole's childhood that somewhat 'cluttered' the book. Now, this background expose may have been important to seasoned readers of Crais but to a new reader, it was filler. However, I am open to the fact that had I read the Cole novels chronologically, this may have been poignant. Regardless, this is an incredibly fast-paced, intoxicating novel, which I highly recommend.

The Last Detective was the first Elvis Cole book that I read. I enjoyed the author's previous two novels, Demolition Angel and Hostage, and I thought that I'd give this one a try despite the fact that I had not read any of the previous Elvis Cole books. Usually, if I'm reading a series, I like to read them in order, but I never felt lost or uninformed when I was reading this one, even though there are eight books before it. If you haven't read anything in this series, you can pick this book up and read it as a stand-alone - it's that good.

This novel is plotted well and moves quickly. Probably the thing I enjoyed the most about it was the idea that the kidnapping was solved through realistic detective work rather than convoluted coincidences and luck. Also, I usually don't like books that revolve around a child kidnapping, since its really an easy way to create false suspense, but The Last Detective rises above the typical kidnapping story.

Crais also switches point of view between at least four people throughout the story. The same event is seen through the eyes of several characters, though Cole is the only one who reads as in first person. There are not many authors who can pull this off, and the result for those who try is usually confusion and unnecessary repetition. However, Crais switches back and forth seamlessly and his use of multiple points of view actually adds to the story. It's interesting, for example, to read about the same event through the eyes of Cole, then get a different perspective on the same thing through the eyes of Ben, a child.

This is a series that I now look forward to reading. The characters are worthwhile and compelling, especially Pike. I was often reminded of James Patterson's Alex Cross series, with the interplay between Cole and Pike comparable to that between Cross and Sampson. If you enjoy those books, you'd enjoy this one. While Patterson relies on action and violence, Crais' work contains more police procedural work. He's like a mix of Patterson and Michael Connelly. In all, this book is certainly worth your time.

I have read nearly all of Crais' novels, and found this the least enjoyable. Not only was it very dark and lacking in humor, but the plot was simplistic and the person ultimately responsible for the kidnapping was faily obvious early on.

all i can say is, this book was damn worth the wait and the delay. A compelling, very fast-paced book, this is an immensely welcome return to his brilliant duo (probably the best detective team in all fiction) Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

An approximation of the plot is quite simple: Ben Chenier, son of Elvis's longterm girlfriend Lucy, goes missing, and then they recieve a sinister phonecall rom the kidnappers, clearly signalling that the disapperance is an act of terribly vengeance for something that Elvis did when he was a young solider in Vietnam...

Of course, things are slightly more complicated than that. Richard, Lucy's ex-husband and Ben's father, has never liked her relationship with Elvis, convinced that it can only put his son into danger, and he blazes into town from Louisianna, and desperately tries to close Elvis out from the case. Cue much squabbling, arguing, and going it alone.

We also see the return of Carol Starkey (of Demolition Angel fame), whose now working on the uvenile services unit. Coarse and hared edged as ever, she goes above and beyond the call of duty trying to keep Elvis and Joe in the loop as they desperately seek clues concerning Ben's disappearance.

This is a long-awaited novel, and it delivers everything that is expected of it. While L.A. Requiem was really Joe Pike's book, The Last Detective is really about Elvis, and there are some incredibly moving insights into his past re Vietnam and his boyhood. One or two scenes may even lead long-term readers of the series who have grown to care immeaureably for Elvis, the PI who dont like to grow up, yet who is older than his years, to shed a few tears.

It's very fast-paced, exciting, and very well written. If anything, im slightly disappointed that i let myself read it so quickly, because now i know i have quite a long an torturous while to wait for a new Elvis and Joe adventure!

If you've not read anything in the series before, what are you waiting for??? Go to "The Monkey's Raincoat" and devour your way through. If you're an existing fan, what are you waiting for??? This is another Elvis and Joe book, for heavens sake!

Would I buy this book? Yes. Why? I came in with and admit I struggled through Voodoo River. This one is just a lot better. Crais had a tough time setting up the Elvis Cole/ Lucy Chernier relationship the former novel, subsequent work seems to have made the writer comfortable with the device, and he works it into the plot structure (I don't think it gives anything away to reveal that by the end of the novel we learn that Lucy's ex is a good/bad guy. Could he reprise?) Joe Pike and Elvis Cole also develop as characters via flashbacks to childhood, wartime and other experiences entangled with plot events . In all of this Crais' prose is clear and driving toward the conclusion. There is little wasted space in this novel. No philosophizing a la Tom Clancy over nature of BAD/bad guys nor confrontation by forces of good with suchlike. ( I thought that ground was covered in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence") Cole and Pike smite the wicked. Curiously, however, as Cole becomes more human he loses some charm. The wisecracking,rogue "world's greatest detective" is now more the world's toughest detective. This may be as far as this can go without Crais losing the character, but for the time being, ENJOY.