Loved this 8th book of his Elvis Cole series! My favourite of the series so far!

I can't stop reading Crais.In this one, our hero Elvis Cole is pulled into a case by long-time partner, Joe Pike. Despite seven earlier books, this is the first story that has Pike initiating an investigation. A very influential and wealthy father of an ex-girlfriend wants Joe to find her after she's gone missing. Elvis, much to his dismay, is pulled away from helping Lucy settle into her new L.A. apartment in order to help his closest friend."The Santa Anas continued to pick up as we drove nort...

I don’t know what Crais was doing in his personal life when he wrote this book. I don’t know if he changed his diet or got divorced or was going through a midlife crisis or what. But whatever it was, it ended up being a major shot in the ass for a series I already really liked.Discussion of the masterful plot in detail would be crude but I will say this one starts out with one of Pike’s old flames going missing. Fair warning to all Crais fans, this is an EXTREMELY Pikey book. If you didn’t alrea...

An older Crais that I missed somewhere along the line. It was great reading and actually gave the reader some so Joe Pike's background. The plot is well constructed and fascinating. Cole and Pike are as noir as one could hope. The LA cops (Robbery/Homicide) are as difficult and less than likable as one would expect. Cole and Pike do solve the case, but how engrossing the process is!

I feel like I just ate a huge bag of McDonald’s while drinking a case of Budweiser and watching a Steven Seagal flick. Not an altogether terrible time I suppose, but certainly a trashy one by any measure.I have to stop half-expecting these airport thrillers to be something they’re not. Which is better. And less in love with cliches. Excruciating cliches in the case of this one. The characters’ banter in this book has all of the eloquence and panache of the jeers you’d overhear from a slow twelve...

After repeated readings, the story never fails to entertain. Our first glimpse of recurring character criminalist John Chen.3rd read - A wealthy and influential L.A. businessman, Frank, approaches Joe Pike for a favor - Frank's daughter, an old flame of Joe's, is missing. The police have no leads, and Joe asks investigator Elvis for help. Elvis is in the middle of getting his amour, Lucy and her son settled in after she's moved West to be closer to Elvis.The missing girl is found and the hunt is...

My brothers are so cruel. All of them have, at one time or another, given me a novel late in a series (Doug gave me a Robert Vardeman fantasy novel that was #3 in the series and, naturally, I had to buy the first two and fill out the rest of The Cenotaph Road series. James introduced me to Martha Grimes' Richard Jury series with Jerusalem Inn (somewhere around #5 or #6). And now, my brother David gives me #8 in a series.) Well, you'd better believe I'm going to read the first seven and probably

LA REQUIEM is an emotionally driven fast-paced whodunit thriller that beautifully captures the vibrancy of LA and the dark gritty vibes of crime thrillers. Even though this is the 8th book in the Elvis Cole series, I did not feel at all estranged. It was incredibly easy for me to gel with the characters. LA REQUIEM picks up Elvis Cole and Joe Pike doing a favor for a friend, who wishes to find his daughter who has gone missing. Things go awry when the woman is found dead, shot in the head with a...

For a long time I've been looking for a detective series that I liked as much as Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard. I had tried a couple of Crais titles before and found them to be ok or better than ok by a little. Neither were quite what I was looking for since they were written more like thrillers than mysteries since you know who the bad guys were and got their pov. However, L.A. Requiem is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. An interesting case/mystery, tension, action...

This was an outstanding book in more ways than one. This is the book that we finally get to peak into the life of Joe Pike, and we get a real feel for the man behind the sunglasses and it is one hell of a story. The book starts with Joe calling Elvis and asking for his help, yes you read that right. Joe's old flame has been murdered and he wants Elvis to help him investigate. As is normal in these books the investigation twists and turns and the boys quickly find themselves in trouble. Luck they...

True to form, I've been reading this series out of order, beginning with #4, and now, having read #8 of the Elvis Cole series, I'm a fan for sure. The partnership between private detective Elvis Cole and his best friend, former L.A. cop, Force Recon Marine, and all around bad-ass strong, silent type, Joe Pike, forms the epicenter of these novels. It was refreshing to learn of Joe's backstory, so instead of viewing him as a pure literary caricature, he becomes more human, and I've a better unders...

A woman Joe Pike used to be involved with is murdered and her father hires Elvis Cole and Joe Pike the find the killer. Things take a dark turn when it turns out the woman was murdered by a serial killer and that serial killer appears to be... Joe Pike? As I've mentioned in pretty much ever review I've done for an Elvis Cole book so far, I thought he was a Spenser ripoff for the first book or two. This one leaves my initial impression in the dust like a drag racer trying to set a world land spee...

What’s this? Joe Pike has a personal history? And emotions? I was thinking he was just another Bad Ass Friend of the lead in a crime novel. Is this even allowed?Elvis Cole gets a call from Joe asking for help. Elvis is shocked when he finds wealthy Frank Garcia treating Joe like a son and begging him to find his missing daughter Karen. Even more shocking, Joe used to date Karen and admits to Elvis that he broke her heart. The two detectives start looking, but the LAPD quickly shows up to break t...

The eighth entry in the Elvis Cole series is easily the best to date. It begins when Elvis's partner in the detective agency, Joe Pike, calls and asks for his help. Frank Garcia, a very wealthy and well-connected businessman, is an old friend of Joe's. Garcia's daughter Karen, who is thirty-two, has been missing for a little over twenty-four hours. Garcia has called the police but, not surprisingly, they aren't going to go looking for an adult that has been gone for barely a day. Garcia is worri...

While this does provide a nice glimpse into Pikes formative years, a rather muddled, long, drawn-out ending fails to enhance this story, almost to the point of depression. 6 of 10 stars

According to a blurb, Robert Crais is the descendant of Ross MacDonald, who is the literary heir to James Cain, who is the direct inheritor of Raymond Chandler's crown. People who write reviews professionally love saying shit like that, and as in most cases they are wrong. James Ellroy is the heir to Chandler's position. Everyone else is just writing some genre fiction, like Chandler Ellroy is creating art of the the dirt and shit that make up Los Angeles. I'd agree that these other guys maybe a...

L.A. Requiem is a breath of fresh, cordite-soaked air for a series that was treading into some seriously-stale territory. Crais wisely eschews the formula of his last seven books and does not have best bud private eyes Elvis Cole and Joe Pike stumbling into a mystery that eventually leads them into several gunfights with the stereotyped criminal gang of your choice. But my bitching aside, the real achievement of this book is that Crais decided it was time to quit playing off how much of a myster...

The best novel by Robert Crais that I've read so far. We get background on the stone face behind the shades otherwise known as Joe Pike plus a finely done story that also features Elvis Cole. Typically well written although you can easily tell twice near the end of the book who is and isn't going to buy the farm. The verbal exchanges between the cops are practically worth the price of the book alone. If you haven't read anything previously by the author this is an excellent place to start. 4 1/2...

L.A. Requiem is the book in which Robert Crais elevated his game from being simply a great mystery writer to a great writer. The previous books in the Elvis Cole series center around wise-cracking detective Elvis Cole, a smart, moral guy who solves cases. They are usually funny, have good plots and are enjoyable to read. L.A. Requiem has all of these characteristics, but is a much more powerful book than other Crais efforts. Like its predecessors, Requiem has a good plot: a woman from Elvis' par...

A very flawed 3.5 Stars. Could have been Five. As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you. This is a special book in the series, a breakthrough book for Crais, with real power, eloquence, imagination. There's background on Elvis and Joe, and we begin to see why they are lions among men. Also, wonderfully, Elvis is becoming my favourite kind of protagonist: The Philosopher-Detective. See quotes below. Unfortunately, it doesn't last.A terrific