Elvis Cole is a tough guy private eye – but not too tough. He actually has a soft inner core that makes him slightly less hardened than many protagonists of the hard-boiled genre. Yet, he's hardly a cream puff. In fact, he'll kick ass, if need be. And he has a sardonic sense of humor that makes him reminiscent of Robert Parker's Spenser, except he's in Los Angeles.
Cole has a partner, Joe Pike, who's stoic (to say the least). Hard to read behind his ever-present sunglasses, Pike plays even-more-badass sidekick to Cole's good-hearted, but tough, main character. What's going on inside Pike's head and how he got that way is part of this story.
The Set-up
The plot's set in motion when the young and beautiful Karen Garcia (Pike's ex-girlfriend, it turns out) goes missing and is found murdered in cold blood. The girl is from a wealthy family, whose patriarch hires Cole and Pike to find her, then to monitor the police investigation into her death. The cops aren't happy about having to work with Cole (and extremely unhappy about working with ex-L.A. cop Pike, so Cole ends up being the point person), but the murdered woman's rich father pulls political weight. So Cole gets assigned to work with female detective Samantha Dolan, who's as icy as winter in Minnesota toward Cole. At least, at first. But, of course, that changes.
Meanwhile, Cole manages to turn up and follow more leads than the police, due largely to the investigation being led by a detective named Krantz, who lacks street smarts (and the guts to go with them), but advanced through the ranks primarily by kissing rear and political finagling. Bureaucratic business as usual.
More Going on Than Meets the Eye
Cole discovers there's more to Karen's murder than meets the eye. Something the police are choosing to ignore, perhaps? Based on bias or is there something to their suspicions? The dark possibilities are hinted at in the story, which is told from several viewpoints and includes many flashbacks, so the reader knows various facts before Cole does – a technique that creates great suspense and the whisper of a doubt about who can be trusted.
Part of the joy of reading this book is, not only Crais' fluid and evocative prose, but his extraordinary plotting, achieved through the use of alternating viewpoints and flashbacks. And while Cole and Pike are well fleshed out (to say the least) as characters, some of the lesser characters may come across as slightly stereotypical. This is particularly true of the women in Cole's life. His girlfriend, Lucy, who moved from Louisiana to take a job in L.A. and be closer to Cole, makes him rearrange her sofa a few hundred times – stereotype. Lucy gets rather easily bent out of shape after first meeting Dolan and even threatens her bodily harm, if she makes any moves on Cole – stereotype. Dolan, in the meantime – well, without revealing details, her super-sized hard-ass demeanor (a stereotype in itself) ends up morphing into yet another stereotype. Even a male fantasy figure, actually.
Compulsive Reading that Leaves One Wanting More
Despite these flaws (hardly unusual ones for the genre, for good or ill), the story is rich with detail and delves thoroughly into Joe Pike's life and background – which are significant to the plot. And the situation for Cole and Pike becomes so dire on both the personal and professional front, it makes for compulsive reading. The story changes both men's lives, challenges their relationships and ends with many unanswered questions. Making it simply impossible not to want to read the next book.
L.A. Requiem Ballantine Books (February 1, 2000), ISBN: 978-0-3454-3447-0
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