Rating: 
Summary: Presley, Grbac? No, it's Elvis Cole.
Review: This first book in the Elvis Cole series is a better than average book. It's a quick small read (I read it in a day). Elvis, with his biting sarcasm, and Joe Pike, the mysterious non-nonsense detective are introduced. While not as intriguing or captivating as Crais's latest book, L.A. Requiem, this is not bad at all.Crais's love of conflicting characters starts off with Elvis working with a timid woman looking for her son and husband. The plot is further enhanced with the introduction of her forceful and diametrically opposed friend. The plot sifts through the seedy and strange back lots of Hollywood and develops into an interesting mystery. More than a who done, it's all a why was this done, and what to do next type mystery. It involves a good mixture of action, suspense, and character development, despite the constant descriptions of unrelated items that seem to slow the book down This book is good little mystery/action book and would be a good bet for a lazy Sunday.
Rating: 
Summary: Meet Elvis
Review: I made the mistake of reading VOODOO RIVER before reading THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT that has Elvis Cole's first appearance. I had trouble knowing who Cole was in the earlier book but after reading this one things starting falling into place. Elvis Cole is an L.A. Private Investigator who collects Jiminy Cricket as well as other Disney memorabilia. He is hired by Ellen Lang to find her husband and child. He learns that Ellen Lang's husband is dead and that a drug lord has kidnapped her son. The criminal will give the son back to his mother as soon as he gets back the cocaine that Mort allegedly stole from him, Another problem that Elvis faces is that Ellen has disappeared. What follows is a lot of shooting and fighting in the search of Ellen's son. I was not convinced by Crais' characterization of Ellen. She has a lot of emotional problems and low self-esteem that after a few days with Joe Pike (Cole's partner), she is a stronger woman. Cole is [cynical] who likes to live for the moment and finds the humor in anything. Pike is just Pike. He is the strong and silent type who is ready to go into action into a pinch without hesitation. Who cares about the consequences? The Elvis Cole novels seem to be a good series to start when one wants to give their logic circuits a break.
Rating: 
Summary: The Monkey's Raincoat
Review: This was the second Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novel I've read and I'm hooked so I plan to read them all! Elvis Cole's humor mixed with the suspense keeps you reading and you can't stop until you're done. Robert Crais is an excellent author and has climbed to the top of my favorites. I think everyone should read this now!
Rating:
Summary: Early Parker and Block
Review: If you liked Parker's early books and Block's Rhodenfuror and Scudder series, you will thoroughly enjoy Crais. He developes his characters as well so you get to know them and root for them. Elvis Cole - the main PI - has a sense of humor and irony. Many scenes are laced with a wry comment and his own editorial comments on it. Pike is similar to Hawk, but Cole eyes him with a speck of humor also. Oh- and also - the mystery part is darn good too! This was my first of Crais, I've read another, and am hooked.
Rating: 
Summary: Not all that brilliant
Review: It is not often i find an American Private eye author which i like (im English). There are very few, the only two i can think of right now being Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly. I thought, after finishing The Monkey's Raincoat, that this would probably be yet another American PI novelist which i read a couple of, and get bored with. However, i was very very wrong. Robert Crais is a superb, superb writer. It is just this one book which lets him down. All the others are briliant. The PI's in this novel are the main character Elvis Cole, and his detective agency partner Joe Pike. It's quite clear from reading this - his first novel- that Robert Crais does have considerable potential, not just because his characters are drawn so superbly. Which they are. The lead two characters are the best PI's i have ever read. they're brilliantly interesting, especially the silent but deadly Joe Pike. I am glad i didn't just read this one, and did decide to read a couple more. This book is somewhat laclustre in it's style and content. All the hallmarks of his future novels are there. Well rounded plot, well drawn cahracters, the great humour which seems to seep out of all PI novels of this day and age. But there is definitely something in it that does not click in the mind of the reader. As it is a first novel, the writing isn't particularly confident, or assured. Also, you feel he was trying to pack a lot into quite a small number of pages. this, essentially, is a mafia/mob/gangster tale. It's understandable, he was young when he wrote this. He's an american, he's male. It's understadable he would like to write a book about mob related issues and mafia style morals and violence. But this novel is very much "one for the boys". I can't women liking this as much as men. You even get the feeling that at times Mr Crais wasn't really taking this very seriously. At times this crosses the line into piece of comedy writing. And not very good comedy. If he restricts his humour,as he does in his other books, it makes them extrememly funny. But in this one it doesn't. it's overused. The plot is slightly...complicated. And boring. are the two words which comes to mind. really, a lot does happen, but none of the events are really that interesting. As a first novel, it is not really a very good one. The plot is not all that interesting, and the mix of humour and mob violence does not really work. However, this book still does have Robert Crais most prolific hallmark. His furious yet subtle compassion. He has a very finely honed sense of right and wrong, and he tries to brings this out in this novel, without the reader actually noticing he is doing it. and he manages it brilliantly. This fact made me want to read more of his, otherwise i might not have continued. And i was glad i did, because from here on in it's plain sailing. ALl his other novels are much better. the humour is not so much a central part of the book, and the plots are all interesting and very readable. He goes on to tackle the topic of the mafia yet again much better in several of his other novels. (namely Indigo Slam) In short, if you want to read Robert Crais, it is not really necessary that you read this. Like every good Pi novels he reintroduces the characters with each new book. So you can give this one a miss and concentrate on his other novels. Which are well worth a read.
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Summary: Pastiche or cliche?
Review: It starts of with a tough, cynical, honest,hard-drinking, wise-cracking Los Angeles PI taking on a female client. At first it seems as if it's going to be a parody of that genre. A problem with this is that there are so many humorous take-offs on Philip Marlowe et al already. The other problem I had is that sometimes the book suddenly switches gears to take itself seriously. For example in one scene the hero (an alcoholic 35 year old whose workouts consist of tai-chi) enters the lair of a bad guy and single-handedly floors two bodyguards. Are we supposed to be laughing or not? Ian Fleming could make his hero ridiculously superhuman but we knew exactly how far he had his tongue in his cheek (Fleming I mean). The plot centers on a kilo of cocaine that the client's disappeared husband may or not have stolen. A kidnapped child provides a suspense ingredient. I agree with the reviewer who said that the behavior of the distraught mother is unlikely.
This lacks that spark of originality that makes humorous crime writing like Elmore Leonard's or Janet Evanovich's great. All the same it's excellent entertainment for those who like their crime laced with laughs, including myself. I'm ordering the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: A Book That Is Neither Good Or Bad
Review: I don't understand all the hype to this. It wasn't that great. It wasn't a bad read, it was just mediocre. It was a bit boring and cliche. I don't know. I guess I feel like this because I have read the better books out there. Maybe I am trying to compare this one with the better ones. There are moments throughout the book that makes it worth the price though. There are many more books that are much better, so I would pass on this one.
Rating:
Summary: a PI named Elvis?
Review: And a Mickey shadow on the cover? Well I've read everything in the bookstore so might as well give this a try. Hmm. Hey! This is good! I like this book! Wonder if this guy is going to write any more? I'm so glad he did - Robert Crais is very very good. Read this book and the next and the next and see if you don't think so, too!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: This is the first Elvis Cole book in the series, and it is a can't miss. This is one mystery book that you will not want to put down. It will make you laugh out loud.
Rating:
Summary: Comic-Book Style Marlowe
Review: Elvis Cole is the comic-book version of Phillip Marlowe. He is wise-cracking, cynical and insightful; yet, he manages to chuckle where Marlowe would frown, and get the girl when Marlowe would be stonewalled. The introductory installation of the Elvis Cole series is an extremely entertaining read, with the thoughts and ruminations of the title character, instead of the plot, as the driving force behind the book. What makes Crais compelling, and sets him apart from mystery contemporaries, is his concentration on character. Crais charismatically draws the super-sized Elvis Cole. Cole is never want for a witty remark, never loses his composure in the most unnerving of circumstances, and always gets the girl. In every moment that Phillip Marlowe would be subject to humane failure; Elvis Cole is gifted with heroic reserve. Cole's counter-part is Joe Pike, a sinewy misanthrope with a moral code that would rival a Kurasowa samurai. Pike is literally Cole's silent partner, whose character is developed though his actions, rather than his comments. Even Cole's adversary, a Mexican drug lord, is an almost likeable former matador. The plot itself is somewhat pedestrian compared to the characters that it consumes. Ellen Lang hires Cole to find her missing husband, Mort, and her son, Perry. Lang is dominated by her overly assertive best friend, Janet Simonson, and relies on Cole as much for his psychological advice, as she does to find her loved ones. As many contemporary mysteries, the plot revolves around missing narcotics and the missing husband's young lover on the side. Cole is able to resolve all issues. Ultimately The Monkey's Raincoat succeeds as a result of crisp commentary and quick-paced writing. The plot itself does not have the grainy realism of other true noir authors. Approach this book with an appetite for faced-paced clever writing and an acceptance of over-the-top Die Hard type action, and you won't be disappointed.
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