Customer Reviews

Sunset Express (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike Series)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I guess this book was recently re-released, because for the longest time, it was the only Elvis Cole novel that I couldn't find in any book store. Well, now that it's out, it a pretty standard Elvis Cole novel. And that's fine by me.

Without giving too much away, a rich and famous man is accused of murdering his wife. He's hired by the defense to look for dirt on the women who arrived at the crime scene, and investigate other materials. Elvis has his doubts on some of his leads, and he uses his investigative clues and his partner, Joe Pike, to figure it all out.

Though it gets somewhat outlandish in the end, this book provides a good mixture of intrigue, detective work, back-stabbing and more. As usual, it's a fun fluid read, and I recommend it.

I've read all six of Crais' Elvis Cole novels starting with The Monkey's Raincoat. With but one other exception, I rate the rest of Crais' novels as 5 star reads (the other exception being Stalking The Angel, I dislike story lines where the hero is constantly being put in danger because of some fool). Sunset Express came close in the number and quality of great wisecracks but the denouement was somewhat unsatisfying (again probably because I was comparing it to his 5 star works). Elvis and Pike are the most intriquing detective characters I know of and I look forward to reading the next Crais effort.

You're not into this Elvis Cole case too long before you realize that Crais is using the OJ Simpson case as a model. And if you haven't read any of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, you'll also realize before too long that Elvis and his partner Joe Pike are similar in tone to Robert Parker's Spenser and Hawk. But Robert Crais has the ability to take these similarities and craft them into a series and a detective novel with it's very own flavor. Cole is hired to check out a detective who may have planted evidence. His findings aren't consistent with what the defense team wants and Elvis is forced to switch teams and work with Joe Pike to clear up a mess he helped create. Elvis' romantic tangle with a lawyer from Louisiana is brought into play and takes up a little too much page time, but the the climatic 3rd of the book is as satisfying a set of confrontations as anyything in the Spenser series. Not all of the bad guys get their just desserts and Elvis vows at the end to hound those who get away, which would make a nice story for a future case. A great PI novel especially for those who distrust lawyers and the media, which is just about everybody but lawyers and members of the media.

The sixth novel in the series is smooth, funny, intriguing and extremely well-written. The characters (and relationships between them), dialogue and plot developments are fun and believable.

Crais does it again. The only reason I give this four and not five stars is I have come to expect so much of Crais that I have set his books for extremely high standards. Elvis Cole has developed the more tender side as his love life grows, but this doesn't take away from the intriguing mystery and the characters themselves. If anything I think these developments make Elvis become more realistic and add to the story. If you have read the previous books don't be worried that this will skip a beat.

For any concerned Spenser fans, I'll say that I was a fan of Crais before I picked up a Spenser novel, and I have to admit I was initially blown away by the thought that Elvis Cole and Joe Pike were a reenactment of Spenser and Hawk. After reading this book though I think that while Crais may have been inspired by Spenser's stories, that his books do not fall into the category of imitations. They definitely stand on their own. In other words if you love Spenser then you'll love these books too, for the characters and stories and you will be begging for the next one to come along.

I can only guess that this book is not published due to some issue between Crais and the publisher of this book and Indigo Slam. I found my copy at a used book store. It's definitely worth the search. No matter how you find it, pick it up and bring it home.

This is my first Elvis Cole book, but it won't be my last. I disagree with the reviews that write Cole off as a Spenser-for-hire clone and his buddy Pike as a Hawk-wannabe. Cole is decent, and tough, and will do what has to be done to take on the bad guys and the establishment---often one and the same! The depiction of the rise and fall of Jonathan Green, world-class criminal attorney who will do anything (emphasize "anything"!) to get his millionaire client Teddy Martin off on the charge of murdering his wife Susan, is a joy to read. Anyone who has ever had reservations about lawyers will empathize with Elvis Cole as he starts to take Green down and get at the truth of the Martin murder case, as the people who could supply answers start turning up dead. Cole's romantic relationship with Lucy Chenier (of Voodoo River) is re-established, and the possibilities there (will Lucy move to LA with her son Ben?) are promising. Comparisons may be drawn with fictional character Angeli Rossi and real-life cop Mark Fuhrman, two LA detectives victimized by the so-called legal system. Fast-paced and entertaining! Keep 'em coming....

The next title in the evergrowing line of Elvis Cole novels sure is the best so far. Elvis is still his old wise-cracking self even with all the publicity he gets during this case. This has more than your fair share of plot twists and surprises while Cole takes his path down the twisting road of lies. This is a great read for anyone that is just getting into the Mystery genre or has been reading them forever. Pick this book up, you won't be sorry.

I recognize that it's tough to keep pumping out "fresh" whodunnit detective novels as part of a lengthy series, so I'll cut Robert Crais some slack here. The book is certainly a quick and engrossing read and there are enough little twists and turns (especially early on in the plot) to keep a reader turning the pages. Crais is a gifted wordsmith and he adds just enough Los Angeles "local color" to provide the novel an interesting sense of place along with its story line.

HOWEVER--there is a fair amount of padding and gimmickry here, including the "troubled but made-in-heaven love relationship" with his lawyer sweetie from Louisiana. This sideshow is not only derivative (reminds me too much of Robert Parker with Spenser's endless rhapsodizing about "Susan"), it really adds virtually nothing to the story.

The plot itself is, as other reviewers have pointed out, essentially O.J. warmed over with a few twists. Consequently, Crais has this time around taken the easy way out in crafting this novel through creation of a one-dimensionally "slimy bad guy" criminal defended by a "Green Machine" of Evil Rich Guy Svengali-like attorneys. Because of this, the essential plot line becomes discernible and predictable from a very early stage of the book; the rest is just filling in the paint-by-numbers.

Moreover, I found Crais' editorial slant on all things Los Angeles to be irritatingly self-righteous and to my mind, unjustified, i.e., that wealthy liberal Hollywood celebrity types are invariably hypocritical and degenerate, that accusations that the Los Angeles police might, in fact, tend toward racism and procedural sloppiness are all merely rhetorical, etc. And the ending, aimed at evoking a fist-pumping "Yessss!!" from the attorney-hating reader, is just plain hokey.

Crais remains an above-average crime novelist possessed of a distinctive enough voice to render his books worth perusing when one is in the mood for a quick, literary-junk-food type read. However, by this, his sixth Elvis Cole novel there has developed a formulaic, predictable quality to his work that leads me to wonder whether I'll bother to get to the subsequent volumes in this series.

In SUNSET EXPRESS, Elvis Cole - the Yoga-loving, Falstaff drinking PI who's the hero of this series - is unwittingly used as a pawn by a defense lawyer in a high profile LA murder trial. Cole is hired to investigate whether a cop could have been involved in planting evidence on a suspect....after he clears the detective, things get complicated.....

Joe Pike, Cole's taciturn partner, is at his side as always - although Joe's role here is not as big as in other books. Cole is a smart-ass, slightly more fun version of Spenser, and anyone who likes good crime fiction will enjoy this series....(Pike isnt as much fun as Hawk, though...) recommended....

I've read all but two of the Elvis Cole series and it's generally good throughout. This one was a little disappointing. For series fans, a lot more of Joe Pike's history with LAPD detective Angela Rossi could have been added here, and I think it would have fleshed him out a little. (We had to wait for LA Requiem for that.) There are a few geographic flaws which I found disconcerting as an Angeleno...San Pedro is not sixty miles from LA, maybe more like 16, which is a little like saying Brooklyn is twenty miles from Manhattan. The interplay with the Louisiana girlfriend lends a subplot which series fans will probably appreciate, but I can see where a casual reader might not get it.

But I occasionally found myself thinking that this book seemed like it was written in a hurry, or didn't have the full interest of the author. Not up to the usual standard, which is pretty good. I'd recommend starting with The Monkey's Raincoat first - this is best as part of the series, not as good read independently IMHO. Better than many other mysteries rated at three stars in Amazon, just less desirable in comparison to the rest of the Elvis Cole series.