::READERS REVIEWS::

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Gipetto cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words.

Dishonest book dealer - It's unfortunate that all Amazon book dealers do not conform to standard industry termonology. A PAPER BACK book is about 5" x 8". A MASS MARKET PAPER BACK book is about 4" x 6-3/4".
No ethical dealer would send a Mass Market PAPERBACK when they advertized the novel as PAPERBACK. That is waht this lousy dealer did and they do not respond to my correspondence.

Thus, their grade is an "F."

This has happened several times to me in the past by various dealers.

Alvin Holmes

Elvis for President! - I started with The Last Detective, a gift from a friend. After falling in love with both of the main characters, Elvis Cole and his hunky, taciturn sidekick Joe Pike, had to go back and start at the beginning, my intention being to read every single one.

This was great. Details incredible and real about my old town L.A. Story woven just right around rough and smooth and with every kind of conflict and resolution - all the things you want in a great detective novel. Characters so well developed you begin to think you actually know them in real life. If only.

Only disappointment is the publisher who evidently was trying to save a little newsprint by printing the entire paperback in about 8 point type! I.R.S. forms are easier to read. Shame on the publisher - I almost threw the book across the room when struggling with that cheapo tiny type. As Joe Pike would say, "Cheaper is not better."

EXCELLANT - Great series starter for Robert Crais...The Elvis Cole novels were recommended to me while I was reading the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child...This series is set in Los Angeles and certainly keeps the reader's attention..It is, to a degree, a lot like the old hard-boiled private eye novels, but has enough freshness to make it highly enjoyable..Cole is a Viet Nam vet who is tough, but not to the the degree some heroes (Jack Reacher in the previously mentioned series) are ..He has a partner, Joe Pike to handle his rough stuff and to take care of his back ..Great start to a series..I had already read two of the books on Kindle and got tired of wating for this one to be published on Kindle, so I ordered this one in print...Always better to read the series in order..

ELVIS IS GREAT IN BOOK 1 - Why have I waited so long to start so many of these mystery/detective books?? And why did I wait for the Robert Crais set? I will say to you, jump right in, don't wait, Elvis Cole is about as good as it gets. And Joe Pike is partner in the detective agency is one bad... This is the first book and I enjoyed it so much. Good story/mystery, good intro to characters, great humor, it just doesn't get any better. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the book and look forward to the next Elvis Cole mystery.

Not a Standard Audiobook Format - I was delighted to purchase "The Monkey's Raincoat" as an audiobook. The audiobook was advertised as MP3 format, no problem. But it's not your typical audiobook format. All eight hours of reading are on a single CD that did not play well on any of my PCs and did not play at all on most CD players. Fortunately, I own a Sony MP3 CD player and I found this audiobook totally delightful. Buyers should be aware, however, that this audiobook is not compatible with most CD players. The Sony player I own is old and no longer sold, just as the format of this audiobook is old and not commonly used.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers. Elvis sits in his Corvette on a stake out on the bad side of town. He is on his second good taco with real meat that puts Taco Bell to shame when he has action. His client is held hostage in a dumpy bungalow. Elvis sneaks in and frees his client; but he has to cap two thick-necked Mexicans to escape whole. The action is coming to a boil.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers. Elvis sits in his Corvette on a stake out on the bad side of town. He is on his second good taco with real meat that puts Taco Bell to shame when he has action. His client is held hostage in a dumpy bungalow. Elvis sneaks in and frees his client; but he has to cap two thick-necked Mexicans to escape whole. The action is coming to a boil. Two pounds of pharmaceutical cocaine are missing. Unless Elvis finds the coke in a hurry a rich, evil Mexican industrialist will kill the clients kid. Just to bring home the point the kidnappers let Elvis listen on the phone as they torture the kid to elicit heart piercing wails.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers. Elvis sits in his Corvette on a stake out on the bad side of town. He is on his second good taco with real meat that puts Taco Bell to shame when he has action. His client is held hostage in a dumpy bungalow. Elvis sneaks in and frees his client; but he has to cap two thick-necked Mexicans to escape whole. The action is coming to a boil. Two pounds of pharmaceutical cocaine are missing. Unless Elvis finds the coke in a hurry a rich, evil Mexican industrialist will kill the clients kid. Just to bring home the point the kidnappers let Elvis listen on the phone as they torture the kid to elicit heart piercing wails.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers. Elvis sits in his Corvette on a stake out on the bad side of town. He is on his second good taco with real meat that puts Taco Bell to shame when he has action. His client is held hostage in a dumpy bungalow. Elvis sneaks in and frees his client; but he has to cap two thick-necked Mexicans to escape whole. The action is coming to a boil. Two pounds of pharmaceutical cocaine are missing. Unless Elvis finds the coke in a hurry a rich, evil Mexican industrialist will kill the clients kid. Just to bring home the point the kidnappers let Elvis listen on the phone as they torture the kid to elicit heart piercing wails.

BACK TO THE PAST WITH ELVIS - Elvis Cole is a graduate with a 2 year degree from Saigon U ( i.e . a tour in Vietnam in Uncle Sam's Army) He is a detective in 1987 L.A. with a Pinnocchio cuckoo clock with moving eyes in his office. He overcomes morning depression with a yoga, tai chi, tae quan do routine. He shares a beer with his cat. He is a good looking private dick who has a way with the ladies. Two teary eyed dames in a powder blue Mustang GT crossed his path to seek out a missing husband and kid. Elvis starts crisscrossing town looking under rocks for sleazy agents and third rate actresses. I am liking Robert Crais so far on page 40. I am using this work as an entre to this author after reading good things. I would like to advise the readers, though, that the BANTAM BOOKS EDITION paperback which I purchased from Amazon has TINY PRINT. And I have perfect eyes. Beware, with this pot-boiler you will feel like Sherlock Holmes because you will need a magnifying glass to read the tiny words. Well things are heating up. Elvis sexes up the victims hard-bodied best friend. He has her moaning with pleasure. They say Elvis looks like a young John Cassavettes. The client's husband Mort turns up dead. Time to call Elvis's partner Joe Pike. Joe is tall, lean, and all stringy muscle. He is a man of few words behind his tinted aviator glasses. His office which shares a door with Elvis has no furniture and is empty. He is a buddy from Nam. When Elvis needs Joe to put a tail on two bad Mexican dudes with thick necks Joe is on it like white on rice. Joe only needs to know if Elvis also wants them "gutted and cleaned". Elvis knows with a man as dangerous as Joe Pike; he better be careful how he answers. Elvis sits in his Corvette on a stake out on the bad side of town. He is on his second good taco with real meat that puts Taco Bell to shame when he has action. His client is held hostage in a dumpy bungalow. Elvis sneaks in and frees his client; but he has to cap two thick-necked Mexicans to escape whole. The action is coming to a boil. Two pounds of pharmaceutical cocaine are missing. Unless Elvis finds the coke in a hurry a rich, evil Mexican industrialist will kill the clients kid. Just to bring home the point the kidnappers let Elvis listen on the phone as they torture the kid to elicit heart piercing wails. Elvis Cole and Joe Pike go on a little road trip. They go Rambo in 1987 L.A. There is heart thumping gun play and hand to hand combat. The pair tie up the adventure in a neat bow. This book generated a good buzz. These two are a dynamic duo of a detective team. This is a very solid foundation for a series. I recommend this book to all readers. I will now look for the rest of the Elvis Cole series.

Excellento! - Robert Crais' books remind me a lot of Robert Parker and his Spencer novels. Mr. Parker recently passed away, so I am re-reading all his Spencer books and new Westerns like "Brimstone." About a month ago, I met Robert Crais at a book signing and he was everything I thought he would be. I can see by his face and the way he stands and presents himself that his main characters are very much him. Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are a lot like Spencer and Hawk, I cannot even begin to imagine my world without them. I will warn you now, once you have read one Robert Crais book, you will be hooked immediately and have to go out, like I did, purchase all his books (there's a lot) put them in date order and start from the beginning. It's a must. His two main characters are his meat and butter. His location in California is what I grew up in and remember so well. When you read his books, you feel like you're in the car with the character going with him to the airport or the canyon, his descriptions of this City is that of an native Angeleno. Give it a try and read "The Monkey's Raincoat." Robert Crais is a Master.

No Raymond Chandler - Purchased this based on all the good reviews. Readers must enjoy books that have all the same basic features: stolen cocaine, police hostility, and graphic beatings. The author seems to think he is a modern day Raymond Chandler giving his protagonist clever sayings. However, they are not clever and so annoying and unnecessary that you feel he deserves it when he gets his mouth slapped.

Enjoyed It - The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais is the first Elvis Cole novel, and it was a treat to read the early days of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike partnership. I have read many of the later books in the series so I really enjoyed this one. Elvis is called in to look for a missing husband and son and before the case is over, he has left a trail of dead and battered bodies and outwitted some mobsters. Crais did a good job of setting up his two characters, as well as recurring character of police detective Lou Poitras. I could have done without Elvis hopping into bed with two of the female characters, but that's a minor quibble. This was a fast paced, enjoyable read and a good start to what has become one of my favorite series.

The Monkey's Raincoat Review - This is the tenth book I've read by Robert Crais but I should have read it first. I maintain that characters in novels become your friends if you read enough about the the same character. This is certainly true of Elvis Cole !
He's a character and a half and one great detective, maybe even the " world's greatest "! For a book written in 1987 it stays current, up-to-date and provides a good read even today. I like the way Cole follows a trail, picks up on clues and gets the job done. I like the way he wisecracks, works from a 4th floor office and knows L. A. so well.
My kind of story, my kind of detective, my kind of author.....and don't forget Cole's partner and sidekick, Joe Pike...one tough guy. You'll like this book !!

Decent but not thrilling first entry in Elvis Cole / Joe Pike series - We enjoyed our first Crais/"Cole" story ("Voodoo River") so much, we decided to read his whole bibliography in order, and so started with "Raincoat", which introduces us to Elvis Cole, a wise-cracking, somewhat classic private eye, and his reclusive "enforcer" partner Joe Pike. We may have been led astray by the acclaim and awards attributed to Crais' first novel, for while we found it entertaining, we weren't at all sure it measured up to "Voodoo", his fifth in the set. We wonder if the original publication date of 1987, going on 25 years ago, is a factor - the world before ubiquitous PC's, internet, cell phones, and so forth, was after all a bit different.

The plot was perhaps a little ho-hum - two ladies darken Cole's door: the client, Ellen Lang, and her domineering but seemingly only friend Janet Simon. The mousy Lang reveals that her hubby, a self-employed casting director, and her young son Perry have gone missing. Apparently hubby's business is in trouble, and before long Elvis sniffs out seedy connections with various nefarious Hollywood types, with drugs (cocaine) in the mix as well. Hubby soon enough turns up but finding the son is no picnic. You get the drift.

We continue to be amused by Cole's quick wit - he likely could succeed as a standup comedian if his sleuthing business were to turn down! And apparently he has something irresistible to the ladies, as ere the tale is over, with little provocation, he "scores" with both Land and Simon, which frankly seemed somewhat inconsistent with the plot. A bonus, though, was the exposition of the relationship between the two women, and how Elvis eventually teaches Ellen to not only write her first check (at like age 39) but to almost stand on her own two feet !!

So - a fun enough affair, mildly entertaining, showing good promise for an author's first outing, and a fair introduction to an interesting leading man. But we thought "Voodoo" was better and might rather decide to switch to a more recent entry in the set before we decide to plow through the entire series, just to make sure we're attracted enough to these stories to make that kind of investment. Stay tuned.