The Monkey’s Raincoat: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais (Epub)

Description

WINNER OF THE ANTHONY AND MACAVITY AWARDS FOR BEST NOVEL • NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR AND SHAMUS AWARDS FOR BEST NOVEL

Meet Elvis Cole, L.A. Private Eye. . . . He quotes Jiminy Cricket and carries a .38. He’s a literate, wisecracking Vietnam vet who is determined to never grow up.

When quiet Ellen Lang enters Elvis Cole’s Disney-Deco office, she’s lost something very valuable—her husband and her young son. The case seems simple enough, but Elvis isn’t thrilled. Neither is his enigmatic partner and firepower, Joe Pike. Their search down the seamy side of Hollywood’s studio lots and sculptured lawns soon leads them deep into a nasty netherworld of drugs, sex—and murder. Now the case is getting interesting, but it’s also turned ugly. Because everybody, from cops to starlets to crooks, has declared war on Ellen and Elvis. For Ellen, it isn’t Funtown anymore. For Elvis, it’s just a living . . . He hopes.

Praise for The Monkey’s Raincoat

“Outstanding characters, tight plot, and scintillating prose style. . . . This fast-paced story speeds Elvis Cole to a chilling, heart-stopping ending.”—Mystery Scene

“Is Bob Crais good? Put it this way: if they’re taking you out to put you against the firing squad wall, and you want to enjoy your last moments on earth, pass on the last cigarette and ask for an Elvis Cole novel.”—Harlan Ellison

“Far and away the most satisfying private eye novel in years. Grab this one—it’s a winner!”—Lawrence Block

“The best private eye novel of the year . . . lots of action; bright, crisp dialogue; and sharply drawn characters.”—The Denver Post

“Robert B. Parker has some competition on his hands. . . . Elvis Cole is an appealing character and Crais’s style is fresh and funny.”—Sue Grafton

“In Crais, a new star has appeared on the private eye scene—a dazzling first novel.”—Tony Hillerman

User’s Reviews

Review [T]his action thriller is pure escapism and has great dialogue * HEALTHY MAGAZINE * –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ So, here we’ve got two guys, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. They’re partners in an odd-couple sort of way in a detective agency. Both are Vietnam vets, and they’re both as tough as they come. Yet there’s little else they have in common. Pike, an ex-marine, owns and runs a gun store in Culver City and never uses the office Cole sets aside for him. “Sometimes he goes to places like El Salvador or Botswana or the Sudan” to work as a mercenary. He never smiles, never laughs, and he “thinks Clint Eastwood talks too much.”Introducing Elvis Cole and Joe PikeCole, on the other hand, is the quintessential wiseguy. He never passes up a chance to crack a joke or an insult. For instance, in dealing with a (beautiful) would-be client who has annoyed him, he says “as much as I’d like to lick chocolate syrup off your body, I want you to shut up.” Cole manages to stay on an even keel by constantly practicing yoga, tai chi, and several martial arts disciplines you may never have heard of. And he has a habit common among fictional private detectives of hopping into bed with women who cross his path. Like the chocolate-syrup lady, for example.A wild ride with Elvis Cole and Joe PikeThe Monkey’s Raincoat is the first book in Robert Crais’s now eighteen-strong series of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels. The two guys’s adventure starts when Ellen Lang and Janet Simon show up in Cole’s office. Lang is there because her friend Janet has dragged her along. She’s reluctant to hire Cole just because her husband and nine-year-old son have disappeared. She’s convinced Mort will show up any day with the boy. But, of course, Simon (and Cole) both know that’s not going to happen. Eventually, though, first Cole, and then Pike as well, become involved in the search for Mort and the boy. And, naturally, the investigation turns violent when they discover malevolent forces have come down on Lang’s family. It’s a wild ride, and hugely entertaining.

⭐ In a sense, this is a rehash of the Robert Parker type book. The main character, Elvis, is a former military guy who knows martial arts, cracks smart alec jokes left and right even when he is in danger, favors the underdog, has a violent sometime-partner who says little and somehow never gets caught by the police, lives by a code of purposeful living and personal integrity, gets the women into bed….. You get the picture.The book takes place in LA, the dialogue is snappy, occasionally there are short lectures on purposeful living by the code, typical mystery setup with the first office visit and then the hero drives around and shakes the tree until some bad guys fall out, and then there is a final rescue and shootout. On the good side, this is better written than a Parker novel.So this is good if you want the basic hard boiled smart ass detective book. If that does not sound like what you want or if it sounds formulaic, then this will not be for you.

⭐ Ok, I couldn’t get past the first two chapters. Glad they gave me a refund. And I don’t knit which was worse, the writing or the narrator. But the narrator didn’t have much to work with. And I had such high hopes! The book even started with a haiku by my favorite haiku poet! And the haiku gives the book its title.Tempted to leave my review with just the title, but it is unfair to do that. The characters were very stereotypical. The characters so far, unlovable, and the narrator sounded like a race track announcer reading a book. I am a search for new authors as I relisten to my old favorites, but even in the midst of sheltering in place, this book is worth listening to.

⭐ Set in the Hollywood of the 1980s this feels a bit dated, but only because it was written then as the debut novel of screenwriter Robert Crais, who wrote scripts for Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice amongst others so it has that authentic 1980s feel about it. At first Crais’ PI, Elvis Cole seems like a wise-cracking smart-arse but he grows on you as his smart, compassionate side comes out. Apart from quoting Jiminny Cricket and being a yoga and martial arts practitioner, Cole is a Vietnam vet whose partner, Joe Pike is a mercenary he calls in when he needs heavy duty surveillance and gun power.When Cole takes on a job to find missing husband Mort and young son Perry for Ellen Lang, he expects it to be a simple case of a husband running away with his younger mistress but instead when Mort is found dead and the boy missing, the case gets a whole lot more complicated involving done very nasty characters from Hollywood’s seamier side. While the plot line is not terribly inventive, the characters, the smartness and the sharp quips kept it interesting. This was a good introduction to a series that promises to get even better.

⭐ I love Elvis and Joe. I like Robert Crais’ style of story telling.A woman comes to Elvis to find her husband. Well, she comes to the office with a friend who pushes her to hire Elvis.Elvis begins the investigation, only to find out that the problem is more than a missing husband,and at that point Joe gets involved.The story builds as Elvis and Joe put the pieces together.Then, the story ends.A really good read.

⭐ This is the first installment of Robert Crais’ award winning Elvis Cole-Joe Pike series of private eye novels. Its a super read and an excellent place to start the series although each book can be read independently. The book almost functions as a textbook for the modern PI novel–a wisecracking private investigator, who exhibits both heart and toughness; a sidekick to do the serious dirty work (think Hawk in Robert B. Parker’s Spencer series); and a great setting in LA that Crais uses to the max.The plot involves a damsel in distress. In this case a husband and a nine year old son are missing and Cole sets out to find them. The plot thickens and involves sleazy movie producers, drug dealers and irritating cops, all of whom offer obstacles to Cole’s investigation.This is one of my favorite mystery series and I don’t know why I waited so long to read the first volume. But it was worth the wait. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys modern private eye stories or anyone looking for a top flight new series of crime novels.

⭐ I was so hoping I would like this book as there are so many books in the series and was looking for another series I could follow. I read at least a couple novels each month . I like Michael Connelly, some David Baldacci, and other police detective books, but this one just didn’t grab me. I read about two-thirds of the book and then decided to cut my losses. I know many people love the author but his style just didn’t work for me.

⭐ I have been _intending_ to read Mr. Crais for quite awhile but there are so many books and so little time. I found out about him by learning we were both big fans of an author in another genre, but I will get to that.The genre this book belongs in is the same one that John D. McDonald was doing when he wrote the Travis McGee series. And the story this book tells would fit in that series, although Elvis Cole is, to me, an even more appealing character than old Travis. He’s rawer and he and I are of the same age with some of the same life experiences. Although mine pale by comparison. It would seem that his colleague, Joe Pike, was too much like him but they both leap off the page, easily distinguishable. There are lots of other interesting characters. In fact, one of the secondary characters seems to experience a great deal of personal growth.And there is lots of sex and violence.The SF author we both admire is Robert Heinlein and I could detect a trace of RAH in the prose and especially in the dialog.I think I will read this whole series. I concede that I probably won’t be so blown away after this because you only meet Elvis Cole once.

⭐ It was a pretty good read. Not the best thing I’ve ever read but enough to keep me engaged. The protagonist had some interesting quirks which I would have liked to have more background on, why he keeps Jimminy Cricket statues on his desk and so on, but maybe in the next few books. Wish I knew more about why Pike and Poitras butt head but like I said, maybe later on. There’s enough violence to keep me going (Unusual for a girl I know but hey, I like it.) while not being a non-stop gore fest. Plenty of mental exercise from the detective. I enjoyed it enough to continue the series.

⭐ I love all of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike books by Robert Crais. This was the 1st and is a multi-award winning read. Elvis Cole is a sexy, wise-cracking, private detective in LA whose breezy exterior overlays a smart, tough multi-layered interior. The self-styled ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ sticks to his beliefs (against his own best interests) and is intensely loyal to his friends – chief among them, his partner, the silent and intimidating Joe Pike.The well-constructed plots and beautifully drawn characters elevate this series far above similar LA detective stories. These are people you come to know and care about. These are two guys that appeal to men and women. This is a series I can highly recommend. Try them – you’ll like them.

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