The Last Detective (Hardcover)

by Robert Crais (Author) "The cold Alaskan water pulled at the fishing boats that lined the dock, the boats straining against their moorings to run free with the tide..." (more)
Key Phrases: evidence kit, jack handle, Elvis Cole, Los Angeles, Joe Pike (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Don't start reading The Last Detective with much on your calendar. This tense, satisfying thriller will glue you to your chair, as private eye Elvis Cole--the star of eight previous Robert Crais novels, prior to the Cole-less Demolition Angel and Hostage--faces his toughest case: the abduction of his girlfriend's son, 10-year-old Ben Chenier, who was staying with Elvis when he was snatched.

Panic at Ben's disappearance turns to terror when the kidnapper phones to reveal his apparent motive, a dark secret from Elvis's past. But the plot thickens and twists, and then twists again, as Elvis and his longtime buddy, tough guy Joe Pike, race the clock against a group of villains as sinister as they are capable. The author mixes Elvis's first-person narration with third-person sections that describe other points of view--a risky technique, but Crais makes it work. He also does a fine job resurrecting the wisecracking Elvis of earlier books while imbuing him with a new depth and darkness.

This dazzlingly plotted, crisply told story is threaded with real detection (what a rarity!) and peopled by characters you can't help but care about--including Carol Starkey, the haunted bomb-squad cop from Demolition Angel, who's now a juvenile-abduction detective. Crais has long been getting better with each book, and The Last Detective continues the pattern. --Nicholas H. Allison

From Publishers Weekly
Elvis lives! Elvis Cole that is, Crais's iconoclastic, smart-aleck L.A. PI, last seen in Indigo Slam (1997). Violent and action-packed, this eighth book in the series has less of Cole's usual wisecracking but all the intensity and convoluted plotting of his two recent stand-alone thrillers, Demolition Angel (2000) and Hostage (2001). Cole is babysitting Ben, the 10-year-old son of his lawyer lover, Lucy Chenier, when the boy is kidnapped. As Cole and his super-tough, enigmatic pal, Joe Pike, join the police in the search for Ben, Lucy's obnoxious ex-husband, Richard, arrives from New Orleans with his own investigators. At first, the kidnappers imply they're seeking revenge for atrocities Cole committed in Vietnam. Several powerful, beautifully written flashbacks to Cole's horrendous Nam experiences and his troubled childhood follow. The narrative switches between Cole's vivid first-person point-of-view and a third-person account of a brave, frightened Ben and his savage captors. As the kidnappers' deadline nears and disturbing motives surface, the suspense becomes almost unbearable. The terrible, heartstopping climax is so well written that time seems to stop. Crais combines the thriller and private eye genres into a dazzling novel that is far more accomplished than the sum of its parts.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385504268
• ISBN-13: 978-0385504263
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,877 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 9 in The Elvis Cole Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five, five, five STARS!, March 18, 2003

By	L. Quido "quidrock" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth waiting for...Bravo!, February 26, 2003

By	nobizinfla "nobizinfla" (Windermere, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

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.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robert Crais does it again!!, February 23, 2003

By	Janet Slezak "book addict" (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.