Rating: 
Summary: Falls short of the mark
Review: I started reading Elvis Cole with the five-star LA Requim--and was hooked. Unfortanately, this books is far worse. Implausible plot, lack of action, phony dialog and more left me very disappointed. My take is that Crais has really learned a lot, and readers should start with his more recent books and never go back...
Rating: 
Summary: Elvis has left the building!
Review: I think Mr. Crais is suffering from having to keep writing about the same character. I enjoyed his first couple of books but now the shtict is becoming a bit too obvious and predictable. I would like to see Mr. Crias try something different. he is a talented writer. Of course there will always be those Elvis fans who want to read about him until they puke! For those of you looking for something different I highly recomened: "A Tourist in the Yucatan" A thriller/mystery/adventure that will keep you guessing until the last page!
Rating: 
Summary: A page-turner. Great mystery Great writing
Review: I was hooked from the minute I started reading. I didnt realise the book was several years old but its timeless in its compelling storyline. It mixes hollywood with the fascinating world of bayous and Louisiana culture. A search for a woman's past leads the detective into all sorts of trouble. Absolutely one of the best mysteries I read in a long time. Im a norterner who loves the south and this book is very southern fried. Realistic in its ambience. I simply loved it!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Second Half was Tired and Cliched
Review: I've read most of the Elvis Cole series, and this is by far one of the worst ones. This book has the feel of two different novels pasted together. The first half is very intriguing, where Elvis has to search for a Television star's biological parents. Elvis searches Louisiana and comes up with even more mysteries and secrets, making it interesting and a page turner. I almost felt the anxiety and the hot muggy air when I read the first half.
Then, all of a sudden, a horrible travesty of a book breaks out. Suddenly, Elvis somehow becomes involved in multi mob-boss fighting and immigration issues involving government stings, racial tensions from long ago, and horribly over-sentimental goals. The fluidity of the book is lost. The motivations and character involvement's are convoluted at best. Compared to the first half of the book, the second half is pure garbage.
Crais took a good book and sabotaged it.
Rating:
Summary: Another hit from one very hip "heroic private eye" writer
Review: If you are a fan of the "heroic private eye" genre, then Elvis Cole and his sometimes surprisingly human partner, Joe Pike, are the guys for you. VOODOO RIVER provides the two of them at their best, and even throws in a terrific love interest for Elvis. Hip and smart, with tough guy dialogue to match, this is my second favorite Elvis Cole mystery (still loved STALKING THE ANGEL).
Remember: "The man with the gun is always there."
Rating: 
Summary: Elvis Falls in Love in Bayou Country
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. Free Fall looked hard at the corruptibility of the police and found them wanting. 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 Voodoo River, the fifth book in the series. The title refers the mysterious evils that can lurk amid the Louisiana bayous. Mr. Crais is from Louisiana originally, and he credibly moves the locale for this story from Los Angeles to his first home. Those who love the L.A. color to his novels will be disappointed. Those who want a little more mysterious and colorful backdrop will feel rewarded. It takes a little work to follow all of the bayou and food references in the book. I've been to Louisiana many times, and I was stretched. Keep your dictionary handy. Television star Jodi Taylor hires Elvis to find her biological parents so she can understand her health history better. Elvis travels to Louisiana to work with an attorney, Lucy Chenier, who specializes in handling the delicate Louisiana law for arranging such contacts. He quickly uncovers the answer, and finds out that there are lots of hidden motives involved in his assignment. From there, he has to take on some truly imposing villains to right the wrongs that began many years before. In the process, Elvis falls deeply in love with Lucy. Now, he has something to lose when he faces the bad guys . . . and it makes him both more vulnerable and appealing as a character. It was only a matter of time before Elvis climbed down off of his pedestal and became a regular, vulnerable human being. Voodoo River marks the first of several novels that develop around his relationship with Lucy and her son, Ben. Those who like a love interest in their detective novels will see this as a major plus. Those who do not will like the series much less well from here. Pay particular attention to the evolution of the characters of Elvis Cole and Jodi Taylor. Mr. Crais stresses both to their core, and they come out changed by the experience. The book's story-telling style differs from the earlier books in the series. Voodoo River reads like a series of novellas strung together like jewels on a necklace by a common theme. Since I liked all but the last novella quite a bit, this structure made the book more appealing. It was like getting five stories for the price of one. After you finish the book, I suggest that you think about what your values are. To defeat a great evil, which of your values could you feel compelled to abandon? Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Rating:
Summary: Elvis Falls in Love in Bayou Country
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. Free Fall looked hard at the corruptibility of the police and found them wanting. 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 Voodoo River, the fifth book in the series. The title refers the mysterious evils that can lurk amid the Louisiana bayous. Mr. Crais is from Louisiana originally, and he credibly moves the locale for this story from Los Angeles to his first home. Those who love the L.A. color to his novels will be disappointed. Those who want a little more mysterious and colorful backdrop will feel rewarded. It takes a little work to follow all of the bayou and food references in the book. I've been to Louisiana many times, and I was stretched. Keep your dictionary handy. Television star Jodi Taylor hires Elvis to find her biological parents so she can understand her health history better. Elvis travels to Louisiana to work with an attorney, Lucy Chenier, who specializes in handling the delicate Louisiana law for arranging such contacts. He quickly uncovers the answer, and finds out that there are lots of hidden motives involved in his assignment. From there, he has to take on some truly imposing villains to right the wrongs that began many years before. In the process, Elvis falls deeply in love with Lucy. Now, he has something to lose when he faces the bad guys . . . and it makes him both more vulnerable and appealing as a character. It was only a matter of time before Elvis climbed down off of his pedestal and became a regular, vulnerable human being. Voodoo River marks the first of several novels that develop around his relationship with Lucy and her son, Ben. Those who like a love interest in their detective novels will see this as a major plus. Those who do not will like the series much less well from here. Pay particular attention to the evolution of the characters of Elvis Cole and Jodi Taylor. Mr. Crais stresses both to their core, and they come out changed by the experience. The book's story-telling style differs from the earlier books in the series. Voodoo River reads like a series of novellas strung together like jewels on a necklace by a common theme. Since I liked all but the last novella quite a bit, this structure made the book more appealing. It was like getting five stories for the price of one. After you finish the book, I suggest that you think about what your values are. To defeat a great evil, which of your values could you feel compelled to abandon? Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Rating:
Summary: Voodoo River
Review: Missing-persons specialist Elvis Cole (Free Fall, 1993, etc.) thinks his fifth case is right up his alley: locate the blood family of white-hot TV actress Jodi Taylor, adoptive and concerned about her long-term medical history. So Elvis plunges into the Louisiana bayous, racing against another local shamus, and soon finds not only the bashful parents, but a secret about Jodi that nobody told him when he was first hired. So far, so good: the first half of this tale is so cunningly tailored to Elvis's strengths--the cocky confidence, the droll humor, the aw- shucks authority--that reading it is like scrunching into a comfy featherbed. But just as it seems the case is winding down, Elvis stumbles onto an elaborate plot to smuggle illegals into the country. Jodi, who's been promised confidentiality, has a hard time dealing with this development, and no wonder: Except for some shared characters, this second plot has nothing to do with what she thought was her book. It's a lot less tricky and inventive, too, though a lot more violent. Half a masterpiece is better than none, but you've gotta feel for poor Jodi, abandoned still again just when she thought she finally had it made.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a great way to know Elvis
Review: My only experience with Robert Crais was reading DEMOLITION ANGEL. I discovered that aside from DEMOLITION ANGEL and HOSTAGE, he has a series of books starring Elvis Cole, a California Private Investigator and his partner, Joe Pike. Unfortunately, I started to learn about the characters in VOODOO RIVER instead of THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT. Cole is sent to Louisiana to investigate the adoption of a well-known television actress. He later discovers that the actress (as well as her birth mother) was being blackmailed. There is a second story involving the trafficking of illegal aliens which I ended a little to conveniently. One does not get to know much about the characters in this book. I had no idea what was Elvis' past, age or even a physical description. I heard a lot about Joe Pike but people keep telling me to read LA REQUIEM, to know more about Pike. VOODOO RIVER is formulaic in which the action tells the story and just ignores the characters and their motivations. I acquired Elvis Cole's first appearance (THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT) and I hope with this I might change my mind about Cole and get to know him a bit better. Crais has a lot of fans in Texas.
Rating:
Summary: Voodoo River? I thought it was called something else
Review: No offense to all of you 5 star fans but isn't this the same novel that was published in 1997? and 96 and 95? Elvis Cole is a has been. I say someone runs this guy(Crais) off the road in the mountains and makes him write a new novel that is good again. Wait I guess someone already did that to Caan. Anyway, I'm surprised that you let this Elvis guy into your lives; he's not real. But James Bond is.
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