Rating: 
Summary: Where is the mystery?
Review: I read this book hoping the next page would bring some sort of unexpected twist. Nothing, nada, zip, nilch... nothing in this book is unexpected. In fact, you can read the first half and pretty much guess how the rest of the book plays out. It was a disappointing read after reading the works of Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane. Perhaps Crais' later works are a lot better, but this is just a simple cut-and-dry action book, with a lot of killing. I'm not sure why this is labeled a mystery.That being said, the dialogue in this book was fantastic, and character development was pretty comendable as well. Any weakness in the book can be forgiven since it is his first novel, provided that his later works are a lot better.
All in all however, this book could easily be a one-hour episode of some crime show on tv.
Rating: 
Summary: Like Mysteries? Start This Series Here!
Review: I just finished re-reading this. I read about 30 mysteries in 2003 and I would put this near the top - highly recommended. If you do want to start the Elvis Cole series, this is the first book - fast-paced, idiosyncratic in spots, and humorous in turn. The rest of the reviews have told enough of the story. But it's hard to categorize Elvis Cole by comparison to other series detectives. The L.A. scene is laid on appropriately without being overbearing. There's a little character development - if this were a single book, you would want more, but the series as a whole allows for that in stages. I imagine there are a few frequent mystery readers who will not enjoy this series...but not many. And this first book is head and shoulders above the majority of mysteries. You can't go wrong.
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