Friday Forgotten (or Overlooked) Book: FREE FALL (1993) by Robert Crais

Jennifer Sheridan, the young and impressionable, innocent and plucky heroine of Robert Crais' fourth Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel is just the kind of girl that Elvis was born to protect. After all Elvis is the ultimate self-confessed, knight-in-shining armor in the guise of a Los Angeles-based private eye -  someone to turn to when your life begins to go down the tubes. He is the original gun-carrying, bone-crushing, boy-scout; a self-admitted Peter Pan who, for a two thousand dollar advance, will come to your rescue with a quip and an elbow to the gut. He is (in his own words) 'the world's greatest detective." Or at least, that's how he answers his phone. World's Greatest to the rescue.

If you can read this book and NOT fall in love with Elvis, then, well, you are beyond mortal help.

Back to the story: Jennifer Sheridan is sure that her fiance Mark Thurman is in some sort of deep trouble but since he won't talk to her about it, she can't help him. She wants to help him. She loves him. He lover her - that will never change. No matter what. Her earnestness is infectious.

"On the phone you said something about your boyfriend."

"My fiance. I think he's mixed up in some kind of criminal thing. I've asked him, and he denies it, but I know that something going on. I think he's scared, and that worries me. My fiance is not scared of very much."

I nodded again and tucked that away. Fearless Fiance. "Okay. What kind of crime are we talking about.?"

"I don't know."

"Is he stealing cars?"

"I don't think so."

"Is he embezzling?"

"No. It wouldn't be that."

"How about fraud?"

She shook her head.

"We're running out of choices, Ms. Sheridan."

.....I took out a yellow legal pad, a black SenseMatic pencil, and made as if I were poised to copy the rush of information she was about to provide. I drew a couple of practice marks on the page. Subliminal prompting. "I'm ready. Fire away."

She swallowed.

"Anytime."

She stared at the floor.

I put the pad on the desk and the pencil on the pad. I put my fingertips together and looked at Jennifer Sheridan through the steeple, and then I looked at the Pinocchio clock that I've got on my wall. It has eyes that swing from side to side as it tocks, and it's always smiling. Happiness is contagious. It was twelve twenty-two, and if I could get down to the deli fast enough, the turkey would still be moist and the baguette would still be edible. I said, "Maybe you should go to the police, Ms. Sheridan. I don't think I can help you."

She clutched the purse even tighter and gave me miserable. "I can't do that."

I spread my hands and stood up. "If your fiance is in danger, it is better to get in trouble with the police than it is to be hurt or killed....Try the police, Ms. Sheridan. The police can help you."

"I can't do that, Mr. Cole." The misery turned into fear. "My fiance is the police."

"Oh." Now it was my turn. I sat down.

So begins this very tricky case.

Turns out Mark is a 'special forces' L.A. cop and cops have 'codes' they live by - Jennifer understands that. But Mark has NEVER kept anything from her before. Jennifer is worried. She wants to hire Elvis to find out what's going on.

Elvis isn't crazy about the idea of checking into a cop's private life - they don't usually like that.

Sure enough, almost as soon as Jennifer  Sheridan has left his office, Mark Thurman and his quarrelsome drunken lout of a partner, Floyd Riggins show up, with attitude. (Obviously they had been waiting and watching outside.) The meeting doesn't go well. Floyd is a pain in the ass from the get-go. Mark calms him down and explains to Elvis that the 'trouble' Jennifer senses is of a 'personal' nature and Elvis needs to give him [Mark] time to set things right.  It's personal, he insists. Okay, sounds reasonable.

So Elvis has another go at disentangling himself from what has the appearance of turning into a very messy business. He meets Jennifer for lunch near her office, to let her down gently.

What follows is a very funny restaurant scene when Jennifer refuses to let Elvis off the hook. Every time I read this book I can't wait to get to this moment. And every single time I laugh out loud. It's one of those perfectly paced sequences RC is famous for. Elvis is such a sucker for a dame in distress. Especially for a dame who won't stop crying in a crowded restaurant with diners nearby ready to spring to her aid.

AND before you get the idea that this is all fun and games, please think again. It's just that life is occasionally funny (it would have to be for us to stand the rest of it) and Robert Crais makes the most of it. This is one of the things I love best about his writing.

The plot of FREE FALL swirls around L.A. racial troubles, wayward cops and gang violence. But somehow, RC makes it all work together in a new way. (The book is over twenty years old but the same type of troubles, unfortunately, are still pretty much on-going.)

Once he finally accepts the case Elvis finds himself up against a rogue unit of the fearsome L.A. police. Within days, calling on his partner, the enigmatic, taciturn, sunglasses-wearing man of few words, Joe Pike, seems like a good idea. Pike is a man of, shall we say, 'reputation.' Everyone treads carefully around Pike, an ex-cop who doesn't suffer fools lightly and is afraid of no one.

The first phone call between Elvis and Joe:

I used the payphone there to dial a gun shop in Culver City, and man's voice answered on the second ring. "Pike."

"It's me. I'm standing in a 7-Eleven parking lot on San Pedro about three blocks south of Martin Luther King Boulevard. I'm with a black guy in his early twenties named James Edward Washington. A white guy and a Hispanic guy in a dark blue 1989 sedan are following us. I think they've been following me for the past two days."

"Shoot them." Life is simple for some of us.

"I was thinking more that you could follow them as they follow me and we could find out who they are."

Pike didn't say anything.

"Also, I think they're cops."

Pike grunted. "Where you headed?"

"A place called Ray's Gym. In South Central."

Pike grunted again. "I know Ray's. Are you in immediate danger?"

I looked around. "Well, I could probably get hit by a meteor."

Pike said, "Go to Ray's. You won't see me, but I'll be there when you come out."
Then he hung up. Some partner, huh?

These books are not comedies, not cozies, not anything but great private eye stories with their fair share of action and violence, but that not especially overdone. The duo's sense of justice and the rightness of things is especially acute and I like that no matter how difficult the situation, there is never any idea that Elvis and Pike won't do the right thing.

From the moment Pike comes on board, he and Elvis will take on the whole LA Police force AND a bunch of heavily armed lethal gang bangers. As the violence escalates, they find themselves on the other side of the law, (my favorite part of the book), on the run from desperate bad cops, misinformed good cops and a bunch of murderous punks - ugly, nasty dudes who will stop at nothing, to hang onto their turf. It is especially satisfying to read about bad cops getting their comeuppance but it is also especially disturbing reading about cops who have compromised their souls and in the process lost themselves.

But despite the constant sense of danger, there are still moments of pure delight as the relationship between Elvis and Joe is always a joy to read about. These books are basically at their heart all about the strength of their friendship - how Elvis and Joe react to the world around them. A world that isn't  easy. A world in which each man relies completely on the other. There's never any question in my mind that Joe would die for Elvis and vice versa. Though not related, they are brothers. I love that about these books. There are certain 'absolutes' that I enjoy reading about - Elvis and Joe's friendship is one of them. 

Robert Crais loves the city of Los Angeles and knows it like he knows the back of his hand. This comes across in his books as the setting is an integral part of each story. I don't know L.A. at all, but somehow, sometimes, reading R.C., I feel as if I do.

This is a series that should probably be read in order. (Always remembering that Joe and Elvis grow richer and stronger in tone and depth of character as the series goes on almost as if Robert Crais didn't actually realize what he'd created until the series took deeper hold of his imagination.)

My favorites going in:

THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT 

LULLABY TOWN
FREE FALL

VOODOO RIVER

INDIGO SLAM

L.A. REQUIEM

I recommend reading at least two of these BEFORE you read L.A. REQUIEM which is, to my mind, a genre masterpiece. REQUIEM is very much enhanced if you already know the depth of Elvis and Joe's friendship and Elvis's relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier whom he met in VOODOO RIVER. After that, as you please. It's difficult to go wrong with Robert Crais at the helm. Sequence is not absolutely necessary, after all I began with VOODOO RIVER and then worked my way around the series. Not every book is a keeper, but those that are will remain in my library (to be read and reread) forever.

There are also some quite wonderful books written later on from the point of view of Joe Pike - not to be missed.

Since this is Friday once again (funny how that works) it's time to check in at author Patricia Abbott's blog Pattinase, to see what other forgotten or overlooked books other writers are talking about today.

Review: TAKEN by Robert Crais (An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel)

Some writers get better and better with age and experience, some start out great and just get greater. That's Robert Crais.

TAKEN is the 12th Elvis and Joe book, though I notice that fantasticfiction has it as a Joe Pike book. I beg to differ. But, either/or, it's all in the family. Numbers are irrelevant. Let's face it, Elvis and Joe are family - their remarkably close-knit friendship going back many years - each having saved the life of the other several times. (Heck, occasionally I feel as if they're my family. Wouldn't hurt to have a couple of bruisers with brains and military training hanging about now and again.)

The setting is Southern California, Elvis and Joe's preferred stomping grounds. Robert Crais knows this area of the world better than just about anyone. He writes about it with comfortable familiarity and style. But he knows the danger, he knows how the bad guys operate, he knows about the vile human trafficking taking place this close to the border.

Krista Morales and her boyfriend, Jack Berman have disappeared, though her mother believes it's more likely a prank of some sort - maybe an elopement. She's not happy with Berman as a boyfriend for her daughter, a college grad who is headed for a great job in Washington - destined for big things. Not bad for the daughter of a Mexican immigrant.

But Nita Morales has gotten a disturbing phone call demanding ransom for her daughter and decides to call in the World's Greatest Detective. Elvis Cole always says he's joking when he calls himself the world's greatest, but we know he really is the greatest.

Sure enough, Krista and Jack are in serious trouble. They've witnessed an execution out in the desert and been mistakenly scooped up with a truck load of illegals - held captive by a band of cold-blooded cut-throats known as bajadores. These are bandits who prey on other bandits, stealing and selling human cargo as if dealing with items off a grocery shelf.

Poverty stricken illegals are caught in the middle - siphoned in from other countries (not just Mexico) by competing cartels who charge exorbitant fees with no guarantees. This is such a tragic situation and I can only imagine that the reality of it is just as sad and dramatic as Robert Crais makes it out to be.

Elvis Cole finds signs out in the desert that show him Krista and Jack have been taken. He also discovers a body dump nearby and recognizes this as the work of the bajadores. He breaks the bad news to Nita Morales.

Cole realizes he's going to need help and calls in Joe Pike. Pike calls in Jon Stone, another 'independent contractor' - a quirky (very quirky) mercenary with a photographic memory and an ability to speak several languages. Jon can be off-putting, but he and Pike work very well together having essentially received the same elite military training. These are two very dangerous men and TAKEN is not a pretty story.

When Elvis Cole is, himself, taken by the bad guys - you almost role your eyes. Boy did they pick  the wrong person. Pike is intent on getting Elvis back but, as Jon Stone tells Nancy Stendahl - Jack Berman's aunt who also happens to be a federal agent: "When we find these people, if Cole's dead, they aren't walking out. There will be no court of law. No judge and jury. You're an Assistant Deputy Director at the ATF. This will not go down in any way you can live with."

They know that Elvis has been taken by a guy the Mexicans call the Syrian, a merciless killer whose business is stealing and selling human beings, replenishing his cargo from other bajadores then getting rid of the detritus of murder as he moves from 'safe house' to safe house.

The Syrian and his henchmen do not play by the Marquis of Queensbury rules. The violence in TAKEN can be hard to deal with, but these are people who have no conscience - Robert Crais understands this.

As for the 'how-to', Crais has divided the book into sections, some which count back in time, some which separate the points of view of Krista and Jack, Elvis, Pike, Jon Stone and even Nancy Stendahl who enters the story in the latter part of the book. This works well in the telling of the story, acting as a kind of kettle drum roll as events unfold one by one, hour by hour, day by day.

The book is handily designed in way that makes everything clear as you go along.

An amazing book written by an author at the very top of his game. A guy unafraid to try something new.

Friday Forgotten or Overlooked Books: LULLABY TOWN (1992) by Robert Crais

This is my entry in the Friday Forgotten or Overlooked Books Weekly Meme hosted by Patti over at her blog, PATTINASE. Don't forget to check out the other bloggers' Forgotten Books choices. There are always several intriguing titles in the mix. Link here.

LULLABY TOWN was the fourth in the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series by the irrepressible Robert Crais, thriller writer extraordinaire. The books are normally set in Los Angeles and this one begins there, but then takes Elvis and Joe east to a new clime combo: NY and the Connecticut countryside.

When Elvis Cole is called in to track down Karen Shipley, the long lost ex-wife and son by the latest Hollywood phenom director, Peter Alan Nelsen (based loosely on a Steven Spielberg type), he  is leery at first. Nelsen is the kind of Hollywood local Elvis usually avoids; a man/child with over-the-top power and money and no emotional restraints - a 'Peter Pan' run amok. The first time Elvis meets Nelsen at the studio, the director is literally having a temper tantrum atop a table in his office. Uh-oh.

But, after all, Elvis is the 'world's greatest detective', at least by his own estimation, so he takes the case anyway. What he doesn't foresee is that he and Joe will eventually have to come up against a very deadly NY crime family. Things are different in New York.

I called Joe Pike at seven-thirty that night, L.A. time.

"It's me. I'm in New York on this thing, and it's heating up. Looks like the Mafia is involved."

"Rollie George."

"You got his number?"

Pike gave me a phone number. "Where are you staying?"

I told him.

"Wait ten, then call Rollie. Try to survive until I get there."

He hung up. That Pike. Some partner, huh?

Part of the fun of the book is seeing how Elvis and then, Joe, survive on the tough streets of the city and in the Connecticut suburbs as they search for Karen Shipley (now Lloyd) and her son by Nelsen when he was then just another drop-out film student.

Finding Karen is no big deal for the relentless Elvis, but the case is complicated by the fact that Karen has gotten herself improbably involved in a Mafia scheme from which she cannot break free AND she no longer wants to have anything to do with Peter Alan Nelsen or his new found fame and fortune. She is not impressed that after years of ignoring him, Peter has suddenly decided he wants to be a father to their son Toby.

Events are made even more complex when Peter Alan Nelsen, tired of waiting in Los Angeles, shows up in Connecticut with his entourage thinking his fame carries weight anywhere he goes, thinking he can buy off anyone who gets in his way, including the Mafia. Uh-oh.

This is another very well done yet less well-known early entry in the continuing saga of friendship between two men, which to my mind is the basis of the entire series. The strength of that friendship is the glue that holds it all together.

A couple of things I love most about LULLABY TOWN:

One - The usual banter between Elvis and Joe and Elvis and everyone else. The scene when Joe shows up out of the blue and in the nick of time in a Manhattan back alley just as Elvis is cornered by some Mafia hoods and Elvis's reaction is the very cool, "What kept you?" - is worth the price of the book alone. If you're not wide-eyed and grinning at the end of this scene, put the book down, it's not for you.

Two - I like the secondary storyline which is basically about a man forced to grow up in a hurry. About how tragedy, caused mostly by a total lack of understanding how the 'real' world works, changes a character forever. Elvis and Joe, in cohort, are shown to be examples of  how 'real' men, competent men, behave in crisis. Extreme dramatic crisis, it's true, but Crais uses the guise of a mystery/thriller to get the point across. It's a good point to make any time.

Something else: There are two concurrent 'parenting' story lines going on in LULLABY TOWN, you pick up the dichotomy of it as you go along. A bit of 'sins of the father' type influence. One kid who is saved at an impressionable age, one man who was not. One kid who matures almost too late, one who never does. But maybe I'm stretching the point. For me, this was evident beneath the surface.

There is also my very favorite action sequence in almost any book EVER, near the end of LULLABY TOWN. When all appears to be over, happy ending in sight, and suddenly it isn't. When the bad guys show up unexpectedly in the middle of a quiet Connecticut evening, intent on murder. When Elvis and Joe must not only stand up to overwhelming force to save themselves, but also to save the lives of a man, a woman and their child. I re-read this sequence occasionally just to remind myself what terrific, spell-binding, pulse-pounding, thriller writing is all about.

When it comes to this sort of thing, there is absolutely no one better than Robert Crais.

Here, by the way, is a link to an interview done recently with R.C. for Venice, a California magazine.

Robert Crais

Monday Book Review: THE SENTRY by Robert Crais

When I read a terrific book I can't wait to tell everyone about it. (I waited on this one though 'cause I finished it last week and wanted to save it for my review today. But it was hard.) As I've mentioned before, Robert Crais is one of the very best writers working today. His Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books are my favorite modern detective series. There are few writers who can

match R.C.'s talent for quick characterization, breathless plotting and for making the men in his books more than one dimensional killing machines.

R.C. laid the groundwork for Cole and Pike's relationship years ago with books set mostly in L.A. and written in the first person from Elvis Cole's often jaunty point of view. Where R.C.'s series excels is in the book-to-book's unwavering devotion to that friendship. Part of my expectation as a reader of this series is to be reassured by the continuation and strength of Elvis and Joe. It is the hub around which all of these stories turn.

When the vegetables were good to go, Cole went upstairs, changed into a T-shirt, then returned to the deck to fire up his Weber. The sky was a beautiful sangria by then, and inspired him to have another beer.

When Cole went in, Joe Pike was in the kitchen. Unannounced and silent as a ghost. The cat was twined between his ankles, purring. Pike was the only person besides Cole the cat would abide.

"White bean salad with grilled veggies we can share. Maybe a little couscous. Carne asada for me. Sound good?"

"Good."

Sure.

Notice how the loyal friend prepares his subject for the evening's festivities.

"I'm having a beer. Get one, then you can fill me in while I'm prepping the coals."

Pike took a beer from the fridge. Cole grabbed a third, and followed him out. The cat trailed behind them. He liked to watch the slope for field mice and gophers.

Cole pushed at the coals, which was a completely unnecessary act. Notice the immaculate technique as the World's Greatest Best Friend stalls the moment of truth.....

Later, that evening, when Elvis is forced to reveal some unpalatable truths to Joe:

...Pike remained motionless, floating at the edge of the deck. Cole wished he could see behind the black glasses, but that view was hidden.

....His phone rang. Cole wasn't going to answer, but decided to give Pike some time. He covered the grill then inside for the phone.

.....When Cole put down the phone, he went back to the deck. He wanted to share the one piece of good news he'd gotten that day, but when he stepped outside Joe Pike was gone.

"Joe?"

The cat was gone too.

"Joseph?"

The canyon swallowed his voice.

I think a great part of what R.C. is writing about is this idea of the bond of friendship and what it means, how it develops. How friendship itself becomes a stabilizing force. Without giving anything away, I can say that the very satisfactory ending of THE SENTRY continues to perpetuate that ideal.

The latest books, begun with THE WATCHMAN (2007), are being told from Joe Pike's point of view but not in the first person. Joe Pike is not a 'first person' kind of guy. A solitary man of secrets, Joe is one of the most centered individuals you will ever meet. He is a warrior honed by years of work, first as an L.A. cop then as a mercenary/soldier of fortune. He lives in L.A. and operates a gun shop. He is enigmatic with a capital E, wears sunglasses day and night and has red arrows tattooed on his deltoids. The arrows point forward, always forward - Pike's philosophy of life. He is the coolest dude you will ever meet. But don't tell him I told you that.

In this series of books, we learn a bit more about what Pike thinks of Joe. For instance:

When in THE SENTRY, Joe mentions that Cole is one of those men who thinks he 's funny, you have to laugh. This is so exactly right on the money. If you've read the earlier books you know this already, so the laugh is one of recognition. But it's said in such a bald-faced way, as fact, Joe's not kidding. That's what makes it even funnier, for me.

The Joe Pike books are each written in the dark form of R.C.'s grim classic L.A. REQUIEM. They feature nasty sorts and some pretty ugly violence that sometimes appears to spin out of control. Why these books work, why they are not just run-of-the-mill thriller-dillers is simply because at the heart of these books there is Joe Pike and Elvis Cole.

If not for Elvis and his influence, Joe would likely be dead by now or close enough as makes no difference. Though Elvis is more adaptable, the same thing probably applies to him.

In THE SENTRY, fate takes a hand: Joe Pike stops his red Cherokee jeep (not new but kept looking new by Pike's penchant for keeping everything just so) for air at a Mobil station and from that moment, events take on a life of their own. Joe is the noticing sort, it's what's kept him alive for years. Well, that and the pure fact that he's totally fearless and competent at what he does.

He notices two Latino guys skulking up the block across from the gas station, and decides to take a look and see what they're up to. Just a look. Afterwards he thinks back to that moment and wonders what would have happened if he'd looked the other way, pretended not to notice or minded his own business. But that's not Joe.

The events unfolding inside the takeout shop had happened quickly. When he reached the door, the two men had an older man on the floor, one punching the man's head, the other kicking his back. The man had rolled into a ball, trying to protect himself.

The two hitters hesitated when Pike opened the door, both of them sucking air like surfacing whales. Pike saw their hands were empty, though someone else might have been behind the counter or in the back room...

"You wan' this, bitch? Get outta here."

Pike didn't get out. He stepped inside and closed the door.

Pike saw a flick of surprise in the kicker's eyes, and the puncher hesitated again. They had expected him to run, one man against two, but Pike did not run.

The victim - the man on the floor - still curled into a ball, mumbled - "I'm okay. Jesus - "

- even as the kicker puffed himself larger. He raised his fists and stomped toward Pike, a street brawler high on his own violence, trying to frighten Pike away.

Pike moved forward fast, and the surprised kicker pulled up short, caught off guard by Pike's advance. Then Pike dropped low and accelerated, as smoothly as water flows over rocks. He trapped the man's arm, rolled it backward, and brought the man down hard, snapping the radius bone and dislocating the ulna. He hit the man one time in the Adam's apple with the edge of his hand, the water now swirling off rocks as he rose to face the puncher, only the puncher had seen enough. He scrambled backward across the counter, and bounced off the wall as he ran out a back door.

The kicker gakked like a cat with a hair ball as he tried to breathe and scream at the same time. Pike dropped to a knee, watching the back door as he checked the man for a weapon. He found a nine-millimeter pistol, then left the downed man long enough to make sure no one was behind the counter or in the back room. He returned to the kicker, rolled him onto his belly, then stripped the man's belt to bind his wrists. The man shrieked when Pike twisted the injured arm behind his back, and tried to get up, but Pike racked his face into the floor.

Pike said, "Stop."

Pike had neutralized the assailant and secured the premises in less than six seconds.

Five years before Joe Pike gets involved, Dru Rayne and her uncle fled New Orleans just ahead of Hurricane Katrina. They were on the run from as mercilessly vile a killer as has ever been created. A killer who never gives up, who five years later is still hunting, still on their trail.

After Joe Pike crosses the street from the gas station and steps in to save Dru's uncle from a savage beating by a couple of L.A. gangbangers, he is immediately taken by Dru's attractive guilelessness. There's something about Dru that penetrates Joe's defenses. There's also something about the uncle's behavior that doesn't add up. Joe decides to get more involved even as their initial story begins to unravel. They are in desperate danger, that much Joe knows. Sometimes that's all he needs to know.

In the course of this story, a couple of old friends, characters from previous books make their appearance. John Chen is back. (It's always good to have an 'in' at the L.A. Medical Examiner's office.) So is Lucy Chenier, Louisiana lawyer and one time girlfriend of Elvis Cole. She's back, to help, at least on the phone.

This is the sort of story in which very few things are as they seem and betrayal is commonplace. We get three points of view: that of Joe Pike, that of the killer and that of Elvis Cole, once he's called in. (I'm not fond of killer points of view, but R.C. makes it tolerable.)

I've rarely seen Joe Pike this vulnerable, this unsure of what the truth is. For Joe things are absolute, either black or white. It's hard to read about him floundering a bit in the murky gray.

As you can tell, I am very fond of these characters, this happens sometimes when you've read every book in a series (most of them more than once) from the very beginning and know the characters inside and out. It's hard on an author too, when his readers expect (demand) so much with each book. When a reader has a lot of affection invested in certain characters they don't want certain things to happen and of course, they're always hoping that what they do want to happen will happen. It's not easy being a writer. It's not easy being a fan. Where there's great story-telling and writing, affection and emotion involved, it becomes a kind of symbiotic relationship. A mutual pact.

Very rarely does R.C. let me down. That's one of the reasons I love these books.

For a quick look at all the titles in the Elvis and Joe series, please check here