Unless something surprising shapes up as I write this, I don't think I have anything new to add to the general consensus that other reviewers have established for this novel, the first mystery in a series that features private eyes Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. If you've read Robert B. Parker's novels, and I haven't, this may strike you as a rip-off, or so I've heard. However, it seems to be a good rip-off, the kind with promise, because the book starts well and gets better and better, apparently, whether or not Parker's oeuvre is weighing on you.I enjoyed Elvis Cole's tough guy, first person narration/banter from the get-go. It was ridiculous at times, but in a good way because it was interesting, inappropriate, or odd, like when he tells the client's friend in chapter 1 that he'd "like to lick chocolate syrup off your body." Don't be offended or turned off, the context actually makes it palatable, and Elvis Cole turns out to be a really nice guy, despite a few issues left over from the Vietnam War and despite an interest in Disney merchandise. Details like that don't make him a fully rounded character right away, but I warmed to him as he went about trying to help a woman named Ellen Lang locate her husband Mort and son Perry. His partner Joe Pike does not make an appearance for a long time and we only hear about him from secondary sources, which was an amusing way to build him up because he is one of those over the top mercenary characters, whose presence Crais makes more than acceptable. I suspended disbelief and skeptical humphing completely and let Pike be Pike and I am a better person and reader for it. I don' think the novel twists and turns through virgin territory, but Crais showed in this book, his first I believe, that he could make the most of plot as well as character: some spice gives each scene a robust health. Pike proves human for example. Ellen Lang matures. Cole mutes his banter when necessary.Despite the fact that it takes place in the horrid 80s, you could do much, much worse and probably not much better, though I haven't read mysteries widely enough to bet on it.
This is my first Robert Crais and also the first in the series of books featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. I always like to start books at the beginning of a series and in this case this first book of his was published back in 1987. The book starts off a little strangely and straight away you can tell that Elvis Cole is not going to be your typical `hero' of a book. He is a Private investigator who has a case trying to locate a missing husband and son for Ellen Lang.What at first seems like an open and shut case of finding the missing husband and son takes Elvis down a deep and murky path of sex drugs and murder. I couldn't help but really like Elvis from the very beginning. He is sarcastic, witty and very, very readable. His partner Joe Pike doesn't seem to make that much of an impact in this first book and seems very much a background addition, albeit an interesting one. Pike is an ex-Marine who says very little but still seems to make an impact.I admit that this first book I found myself struggling with in parts where I felt it dragged a little bit, but soon enough the personality of Elvis Cole dragged me back. There are quite a few things going on plot wise and it held my interest, but I felt that this was more of a book to establish the characters and use this as a great springboard for the rest of the series.Towards the end it got a bit more interesting and when I had finished I knew I was on to a winner because I certainly wanted to read more about Elvis and Cole. Overall, the story wasn't the best, but the writing of Robert Crais and the production of two great partners has spurred my interest. When I consider this book was written over twenty years ago I realise that as a debut novel it's a pretty good one. All I can say is that I have an awful lot of catching up to do with the series and I'm looking forward to it!
What do You think about The Monkey's Raincoat (1987)?
The start of the Elvis Cole series and supposedly a popular, well-done mystery. This was bad. The mystery wasn't that interesting, the female characters not very believable, and the hero is a dick--and I don't mean that like as a detective. For example, he doesn't like his client's friend because she is apparently a strong woman who thinks her friend is wasting her time. So Elvis, to get her to shut up, says, "I'd like to pour choclate on you and lick it off." Now, would anybody ever say that? No. If they did, would they get punched? Yes.I think that is all you need to know.
—Ryan Mishap
3.5 starsAt first blush this seemed a typical 80s mystery. The plucky P.I. with the snark and the habit of sleeping with, well everyone. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the ending. It got good. The mystery didn't dazzle and the characters, for the most part, stayed in their preordained boxes, but it really hit that right chord in me. I was impressed with the development of Ellen Lang's character and with the action at the end.I can see a lot of potential for Elvis Cole and Joe Pike and look forward to reading more about them both, especially Pike.
—Alice
This book has been somehow a disappointment. Not because the plot is bad - it is not, thought pretty standard for a detective story - but because the writing is rather b(l)a(n)d. About a fifth of the book is written in two-word sentences and the remaining contains just marginally longer constructions.Moreover, the narrative, told in the first voice, only has one speed: jocular-slow. Jocular because Elvis Cole is that type of guy who thinks that the earth will stop spinning if he doesn't crack a joke every other sentence. Slow because the narrator decides to share with us every single sensorial stimuli that he encounters and every thought (no matter how random) that crosses his mind. Unfortunately by doing so, the rhythm of the story relaxes considerably - not a good thing when it comes to a mystery novel.I try to stay away from quoting, but in this case I think it's necessary to understand my complaint about the writing technique and the listlessness. Joe Pike, a mercenary friend, just came to the main character's house when the events got incendiary. One might think that his arrival would speed up the pace, but instead we are given this:"She say this guy Dom's a matador?""Yes." The pancakes were good. I wondered if he'd put cottage cheese in them."I put cottage cheese in these," he said, reading my mind. "What do you think?"I shrugged. "Okay."He ate. "You know what matador means?"And it goes on and on like this, even when (view spoiler)[his friend is shot and bleeds (possibly to death) on the pavement (hide spoiler)]
—Andreea Daia
