Rating: 
Summary: Good Book. I will read the others.
Review: I ran across this book sort of by accident, but once into it, I couldn't put it down. I have not read this author before, but I like what I read. Crais seems to have the ability to write a tight story that moves from point A to point B at a good pace. The characters are (mostly) fleshed out well, and got me genuinely interested at what would happen to them.Some may complain that this is run of the mill detective stuff - and it certainly has its share of cliches - but who cares? It's a tight story that moves well and keeps you guessing just enough to be interesting. That's exactly what I want from a detective book. Four stars. I will read the other Cole novels.
Rating:
Summary: A VERY LOW FOUR!!!
Review: I rated this a four but really thought about a three. I really like Crais as a writer, I like Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. However, I hate that Elvis has and is involved with Lucy Chenier. In my openion it takes away from the books. It was the same in Voodoo River and now this one. In fact this book was nearly half over before I thought it got down to the business at hand. Cole is hired by a high priced Attorney to find out if Angela Rossi, a detective, planted evidence against his client. Cole not only finds out but proves who did the killing and who actually did fool with the evidence. I liked the character of Angela Rossi and Ray Depente was brought back for a few pages. I hope both of these are in future books but Cole and Lucy together, I can do without. Cole and Pike are compared to Spence and Hawk and I agree but I don't think Hawk would have missed getting the shooter behind the car.
Rating: 
Summary: Crais goes on automatic pilot
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Trying to be funny but came short with lot of ???marks
Review: I've borrowed this novel from the local library, but as soon as I opened it, I've found many former readers have left a lot of question marks on the margine space on many pages. After I've read through, I've also found that the usually very annoying marks left behind by other readers were quite pardonable, because all the question marks were quite appropriate and reasonable. Crais obviously got almost all the police/detective stuff third-handly from the tube or the big screen. Like others, I just couldn't believe that Rossi still got to check the pulse of an already rotton decomposed corpse(???); Murderers almost always dumped the murder weapon with the body(??); leave it for the criminalist instead of the forensic team(?)....on and on. Especially when the dialogue written by Crais tried very hard to be funny and wisecracking, such as "Don't you have a gun?"..."A gun?"..."He should be wearing a gun. One of those things under the arm."..."A shoulder holster?"....even a worse coming next line: "A hat would be nice. Hats are romantic." Well, my gentle and tolerent readers, all of them, again and again, just reminded me of that Crais and his created hero, Elvis(Grizzly?) Cole, are just a pair of wannabes of Robert B. Parker and Spenser. The professionalism in this book is so thin and far-fetched just like Grafton's stuff, but if Crais likes to be himself and not so pretensious, just let the story flow, his potentiality is still there. Crais should not try to be a Parker's wonnabe but a better Michael Connelly, or just wannabe one level higher than of a better than the author of "MEG". Since Mystery stuff usually are all about homocides, murders, deaths, serial killers, kidnappings...and so on, that need a lot of persistent police and/or private detective investigations, and they are all about how to solve such cases, therefore, they are not funny at all in the least but solemnly serious. Trying to be funny in this genre is a deadly wrong and mi! sunderstood way of writing and marketing, especially for Mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: This is my favorite Robert Crais book I've read so far
Review: I've only read three Robert Crais books so far, but this one is by far my favorite. It's full of good writing along with a good story and an even better ending. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: In Every Detective Series, Some Are Better Than Others...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: In Every Detective Series, Some Are Better Than Others...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good read but not his best
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: good read!
Review: I've read the entire Crais series of Elvis Cole books, and even though Sunset Express is not a brilliant read, it was still enjoyable,
Rating:
Summary: Elvis Woos Lucy in L.A.
Review: If you have yet to begin the marvelous Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais, you've got a great treat ahead of you! Few series get off to a stronger start than Mr. Crais did with The Monkey's Raincoat, which won both the Anthony and Macavity awards for best novel while being nominated for the Edgar and Shamus awards as well. Stalking the Angel followed powerfully with classic noir style of the 1930s hard-boiled detective up against evil moderated with wise cracks. Lullaby Town updated the 1930s detective stories about Hollywood, and kept the same cynicism about Tinsel Town. Free Fall looked hard at the corruptibility of the police and found them wanting. Voodoo River added a love interest for Elvis to make him more vulnerable and appealing. And the books just keep getting better from there in their characterizations, action, story-telling and excitement. Elvis Cole is the star attraction, the co-owner of The Elvis Cole Detective Agency. He's now 40ish, ex-Army, served in Vietnam, ex-security guard, has two years of college, learned to be a detective by working under George Feider, a licensed P.I. for over 40 years, does martial arts as enthusiastically as most people do lunch, and is fearless but not foolish. He's out to right the wrongs of the world as much as he is to earn a living. Elvis has a thing for Disney characters (including a Pinocchio clock), kids, cats, scared clients and rapid fire repartee. He drives a Jamaica yellow 1966 Corvette Stingray convertible, and usually carries a Dan Wesson .38 Special. His main foil is partner, Joe Pike, an ex-Marine, ex-cop who moves quietly and mysteriously wearing shades even in the dark . . . when he's not scaring the bad guys with the red arrows tattooed on his deltoids, which are usually bare in sleeveless shirts. Although he has an office with Elvis, Pike spends all of his time at his gun shop when not routing the bad guys with martial arts while carrying and often using enough firepower to stop a tank. Pike rarely speaks . . . and never smiles. A standing gag is trying to catch Pike with a little twitch of his lips indicating he might possibly be amused. But he's there when you need him. He drives a spotless red Jeep. Robert Parker's Spenser is the obvious character parallel for Elvis, but Spenser and Elvis are different in some ways. Cole is more solitary, usually being alone when he's not working. Cole is very much L.A. and Spenser is ultra blue collar Boston. Cole is martial arts while Spenser boxes and jogs. What they have in common is that they're both out to do the right thing, with money being unimportant. They both love to crack wise as they take on the bad guys. The bad guys hate the "humor" in both cases, and can't do much about it. The dialogue written for each is intensely rich. Mr. Crais has a special talent for making you care about his characters, especially the clients and their kids. You'll want to know what happens to them. With a lot of experience in script writing, Mr. Crais also knows how to set the scene physically and make you feel it. He may be out finest fiction writer about physical movement. He gives you all the clues to picture what's going on . . . but draws back from giving so much detail that you can't use your own imagination to make things better. On to Sunset Express, the sixth book in the series. The title refers life in the fast lane of the Southern California rich and famous. The book opens with a fast-moving prologue in which a murder victim is found in the hills just off Mulholland Drive overlooking L.A., the police follow up, and the murder weapon used to kill Susan Martin is found near her home. The husband looks to be good for the crime. But he's Teddy Martin, celebrity restauranteur to the stars. That's a problem. As Detective Sergeant Dan "Tommy" Tomsic observes, "It's easier to cut off your own . . . leg than convict a rich man in this state, detective." Elvis is hired by Martin's legendary defense attorney, Jonathan Green, to check out whether one of the detectives, Angela Rossi, may have planted the murder weapon at the Martin home. She checks out clean, and then Elvis is given suspect leads to follow up. One of the leads quickly turns up two dead suspects. Suddenly, Green and his associates are spending more time smearing Ms. Rossi and manipulating the press than they are finding the guilty parties. What gives? Angered, Elvis quits and looks to right the wrong. Unless you've been away on another planet for the last 20 years, you will notice some parallels to the OJ Simpson case. The plot is quite inventive in working out the details in another way, however. In fact, this story is very much in the John Grisham school of dirty lawyer tales. There's not much mystery here, but a lot of good plot and character development. I graded the book down for insufficient mystery. In this story, it's Lucy who becomes a more complex and interesting character. The main appeal of this book to me was Elvis sandwiching in a visit from Lucy Chenier, the Louisiana lawyer from Voodoo River, and her son, Ben. It made Elvis more real and appealing as a character. This book is structured like a short story (the initial crime investigation) and three connected novellas (Elvis working for the lawyers, Elvis entertaining Lucy and Ben, and Elvis working against the lawyers). After you finish the book, I suggest that you think about the dangers inherent in our society's cult of celebrities. Where could you improve your life by paying more attention to sound values than to what is popular on television? Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
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