LA Requiem [Hardcover]

Robert Crais (auhtor of Monkey's Raincoat) returns with his eighth Elvis Cole mystery, LA Requiem, a breakneck caper that leaves the wise-cracking detective second-guessing himself. Cole's partner, the tight-lipped, charm-free Joe Pike gets a call from his friend Frank "Tortilla" Garcia. Not only is Garcia a wealthy businessman, he's a political heavyweight and father of Karen, Joe's ex. Frank sends the gumshoe duo out to find his girl but the boys are beaten to the punch by the men in blue: Karen is found in a park with a bullet in the brain. The two stay on the case but when another murder points to Pike as a suspect, things take a turn for the worst. The boys on the force are all too willing to put Pike away--he has a chequered past. When Cole attempts to save him, he finds a lot more than he bargained for and some life-altering, soul-searching to boot. Crais' knack for snappy dialogue and clean-cut scenes bespeak his former days as a writer for the award-winning television series, Hill Street Blues and LA Law: "Krantz's mouth split into a reptilian smile and I wondered what was playing out here. He said, 'I want this man questioned, Lieutenant. If Pike here knows the vic, maybe he knows how she got like this.' Pike said, 'It won't happen pants.' Krantz's face went deep read, and an ugly web of veins pulsed in his forehead. I moved close to Pike. 'Is there something happening here that I should know about?'" --Rebekah Warren --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

'Clever, observant, atmospheric and witty - and the talented William Hootkins has a ball with such grade-A material' (THE SUNDAY TIMES ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Clever, observant, atmospheric and witty - and the talented William Hootkins has a ball with such grade-A material' THE SUNDAY TIMES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

They killed the only one who ever cared and now they're going to pay. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Los Angeles is a city of perpetual reinvention. Inviting, with a promise of infinite hope, it can also be a glittering landscape of debilitating isolation. The city's lost souls take comfort in its promise--the notion that tomorrow could be the day to start all over again, to transform oneself into someone else. Someone more powerful, more beautiful, more daring.

At the core of L.A. Requiem is Joe Pike, a former cop with a past as dark and foreboding as his demeanor. His only stable relationship is with his partner of twelve years, Elvis Cole, a talented and quick-witted PI with skeletons in his own past.

When Pike's former lover is found dead at a reservoir in the Hollywood Hills, the duo is brought in by the woman's father to monitor the police investigation. But Pike's no stranger to the men and women in the LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide Division, at least one of whom has been harboring a long-buried desire for revenge.

With a rich cast of characters reminiscent of Raymond Chandler's classic The Long Goodbye, L.A. Requiem is the apotheosis of Crais's writing career--a gripping novel that envelops Cole and Pike in an ever-tightening web of conspiracies, secrets, and mortal passions that threatens to destroy their friendship, and leave one, or both, dead.

Robert Crais lives in LA with his wife and daughter. He has won the Shamus award and his Elvis Cole novels have won universal critical acclaim. William Hootkins was acclaimed in 2003 for his portrayal of Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock Blonde, which ran in the West End. He was a Russian expert and fluent Russian speaker. He made his feature film debut in Star Wars. Other major films included Batman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Valentino, Flash Gordon and Hear My Song. Stage work includes a season at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and amongst his many other audio books is Moby Dick. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.