Monkey's Raincoat: Amazon.co.uk: Crais: Books

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Product Description

Product Description
When quiet Ellen Lang enters Elvis Cole's Disney-deco office, she's lost something very valuable - her husband and 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 and 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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
Robert Crais is the author of eleven Elvis Cole novels and three stand-alone thrillers, one of which, HOSTAGE, was made into a major film starring Bruce Willis. Crais has won numerous awards, and lives in LA. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Debut of a Wanna-Be Tough PI, 28 Jun 2003

By	Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole Novels) (Paperback)

Elvis Cole doesn't think there'll be much trouble from his new case. Ellen Lang just wants her son Perry back from her husband. The biggest problem is going to be working with Ellen, who seems helpless and doesn't want to get her husband into any trouble. But first, her home is broken into and searched. Then her husband is found. Dead. Who killed him and why? And where is Perry? Elvis is going to have to work fast if he's going to rescue the boy.

This book is a definite departure from the cozies I normally read. Still, I couldn't put it down. The plot moved quickly, and the tension built steadily until the end. The characters were well developed. I loved Elvis and his partner Joe, both tough on the outside but with big hearts just under the surface. And the wisecracks kept me chuckling through most of the book.

While I'm not ready to jump ship to PI novels exclusively, this was certainly a pleasant departure. I'll be checking in on Cole and Pike's further adventures.

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first of the fast,funny, fab Elvis Cole thrillers, 20 Nov 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole Novels) (Paperback)

I had read all Robert Crais's Elvis Cole novels when I heard him interviewed on Woman's Hour (yeah, yeah) and learned that he had written scripts for some of my all-time favourite TV shows, like Quincy, Hill Street Blues and LA Law. Then it all fell into place: the great dialogue; cool, classy characters you really get involved with; and can't-put-it-down pace. If you like wise-ass-with-an-edge American crime fiction from Chandler and Hammett to Evanovich and Lehane, you'll love Robert Crais.

This is Elvis Cole's first case - and it's a stunner. Drippy Hollywood housewife Ellen Lang comes to his office, having been bullied into doing so by a strident friend. Ellen's showbiz agent husband, Mort, has vanished, taking with him their young son, Perry. She doesn't want the cops involved, so Elvis starts looking for the missing pair. He starts with Mort's mistress - but she has vanished. And soon the sleazy friend Mort had been cooking up deals with disappears, too. Then Mort's body is found and it's time for Elvis to call in his partner Joe Pike - a taciturn, lethal fellow Vietnam vet who left the LAPD under a cloud (think Ranger in the Stephanie Plum novels).

As the plot unravels Cole and Pike get involved with a deadly former matador, a ruthless blonde with a talent for leaving devastation in her wake, a badly-dressed Miami mob don - and ends up carting a 2kg pack of lab quality cocaine round town. And as they build the case, Ellen's self-esteem builds, transforming her from weepy woman into avenging angel.

It's a fast, funny, suspenseful story from an addictive writer. Start here and then follow Cole and Pike through their following cases: Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town, Free Fall, Voodoo River, Sunset Express, Indigo Slam and LA Requiem. I set a friend off on them in September and she had to start rationing herself! She's now worked her way through the whole series.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good book, 4 Feb 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole Novels) (Paperback)

I have read a number of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, and not in the order in which they were written. This is actually the first book in the series, but probably the third or fourth I've read. I found this book to be well written, with a fast moving plot, and - for me at least - it had that "X-factor" that made me want to try and finish it all in one reading. A "page turner". Having previously read some of the other books in the series, I felt that in this early novel Crais is still defining and learning about his characters, and so perhaps the whole package isn't quite as slick as his later efforts. But it's still a very good read. Like Crais' other books, the narrative is an almost "minimalist" style of writing, reminiscent of the early Micky Spillanes, although Crais' approach is more thoughtful, human, and contemporary than Spillane.
Essentially this is a good old fashioned American private detective novel, with a hard boiled edge, and humourous middle.
Crais has definately become one of my favourite authors, and I thoroughly recommend this book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Monkey's Raincoat.
Elvis Cole is a private investigator with his partner Joe Pike. Ellen Lang enters his office with her very pushy friend stating her husband has disappeared with her son. Read more

Published 1 month ago by P. Smy

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine first novel in the Elvis Cole series.
The Monkey's Raincoat (Elvis Cole Novels)

So far I have only read the later Elvis Cole novels and it was fascinating to go back right to the beginning... Read more

Published 4 months ago by pointone

3.0 out of 5 stars Good debut
My first venture into the world of Elvis Cole in this, the first of the series.

This is a private eye adventure set in Hollywood. Read more

Published 6 months ago by N. Brett

4.0 out of 5 stars No Monkey Business Here!
'The Monkey's Raincoat' is the first in the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais. Cole is a smart alec LA based PI who not only has to deal with crimes but also the assorted... Read more

Published on 24 April 2006 by Sam

5.0 out of 5 stars Near-perfect hard-boiled thriller
This superb thriller, set in Los Angeles, has all the ingredients that make it hard to put a book down. Read more

Published on 2 April 2006 by 100wordreviewer

3.0 out of 5 stars The First Elvis Cole mystery!
Elvis Cole is not your typical P.I. When we first meet Cole, he’s staring at the Pinocchio clock in his office waiting for a frightened woman to make up her mind. Read more

Published on 28 Feb 2006 by Clarence T. Henry

4.0 out of 5 stars Having fun with Elvis
I was recommended to read this book by Alex, Janet Evanovich's daughter on her web site. I wanted another writer who writes with a humourous and minimalist style, as I was... Read more

Published on 5 Aug 2005 by D. A. Crangle

5.0 out of 5 stars The Monkey's Raincoat
I loved this book - it was the first I have read by this author, and I thought it was brilliant. It was more "beliveable" than other crime novels I have read. Read more

Published on 4 Mar 2005 by tinyboo

5.0 out of 5 stars L.A.'s Toughest and Gentlest P.I. -- Done with Humor
If you have yet to begin the marvelous Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais, you've got a great treat ahead of you! Few series get off to a stronger start than Mr. Read more

Published on 1 Jul 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars L.A.'s Toughest and Gentlest P.I. -- Done with Humor
If you have yet to begin the marvelous Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais, you've got a great treat ahead of you! Few series get off to a stronger start than Mr. Read more

Published on 1 Jul 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

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