I've really enjoyed Crais' Elvis Cole series -- especially LA Requiem -- but Indigo Slam was a disappointing, even boring read. The book starts well enough with an intriguing story about three kids abandoned by their father. Crais ruins the book by solving the mystery quickly in the first half of the book. That leaves about a hundred pages for utterly unbelievable shootouts and a farcically complicated end-game designed by Elvis. Are we supposed to find the notion of multiple shoot-outs believable? Is Elvis immortal? Can he in fact be killed? You could skip the final part of the book -- I skimmed it.

Robert Crais breathes new life into the wisecracking PI genre with his Elvis Cole series. What at first looks like a Spenser clone, becomes fresh and satisfying with Crais' guidance. Cole and his partner Joe Pike find themselves as nursemaids to 3 kids whose father has flown from the care of the witness protection program. What looks to be a case of finding a deadbeat drugged out lowlife takes a turn when the father turns out to be a bit different than Cole's image of him. The fight to save the family brings Cole into conflict with Vietmnamese expatriates, the Russian mob, the Witness Protection Program and the US Treasury. It leads to an exciting chase at Disneyland which guarantees that this book will never be made into a Disney film and a stunning conclusion which puts the family in extreme jeopardy. Write on, Mr Crais, write on.

For me, the mystery of Indigo Slam is why it was out of print for years. Originally published in 1997, it didn't come out in paperback till 2003 (and the hardcover disappeared), while other later Crais novels (including another Cole book) did the usual hardcover-to-paperback cycle and remained on the shelves. Whatever the reason, it's here now and it's really good.

Elvis Cole, self-proclaimed World's Greatest Detective, is hired by three children to find their father. Motivated more by conscience than money, he helps them. When it turns out that the father is on the run from the Russian mob, Elvis starts getting in over his head. Fortunately, there is his laconic partner Pike to watch his back.

Mystery fans will see a certain similarity between the Cole books and Robert Parker's Spenser. Both feature wise-cracking tough private eyes with mysterious but generally good-hearted partners. Unfortunately, over the years, I found Spenser getting unlikably smug and self-righteous, while Cole remains a pleasure to read about. And both Cole and Pike are much more well-developed than either Spenser or Hawk, neither of whom even reveal their full names (the single-named hero is a bit of a tired gimmick nowadays...Richard Stark's Parker is forgiven because he's been around since the mid-60's).

You don't need to have read other Elvis Cole novels to get into this one; Crais makes it easy to get right into things. For fans of the private-eye novel, you'll find this - like all the other novels by Crais - delightfully entertaining.

Crais does it again. The only reason I give this four and not five stars is I have come to expect so much of Crais that I have set his books for extremely high standards. Elvis Cole has developed the more tender side as his love life grows, but this doesn't take away from the intriguing mystery and the characters themselves. If anything I think these developments make Elvis become more realistic and add to the story. If you have read the previous books don't be worried that this will skip a beat.

For any concerned Spenser fans, I'll say that I was a fan of Crais before I picked up a Spenser novel, and I have to admit I was initially blown away by the thought that Elvis Cole and Joe Pike were a reenactment of Spenser and Hawk. After reading this book though I think that while Crais may have been inspired by Spenser's stories, that his books do not fall into the category of imitations. They definitely stand on their own. In other words if you love Spenser then you'll love these books too, for the characters and stories and you will be begging for the next one to come along.

I can only guess that this book is not published due to some issue between Crais and the publisher of this book and Indigo Slam. I found my copy at a used book store. It's definitely worth the search. No matter how you find it, pick it up and bring it home.

You're not into this Elvis Cole case too long before you realize that Crais is using the OJ Simpson case as a model. And if you haven't read any of Crais' Elvis Cole novels, you'll also realize before too long that Elvis and his partner Joe Pike are similar in tone to Robert Parker's Spenser and Hawk. But Robert Crais has the ability to take these similarities and craft them into a series and a detective novel with it's very own flavor. Cole is hired to check out a detective who may have planted evidence. His findings aren't consistent with what the defense team wants and Elvis is forced to switch teams and work with Joe Pike to clear up a mess he helped create. Elvis' romantic tangle with a lawyer from Louisiana is brought into play and takes up a little too much page time, but the the climatic 3rd of the book is as satisfying a set of confrontations as anyything in the Spenser series. Not all of the bad guys get their just desserts and Elvis vows at the end to hound those who get away, which would make a nice story for a future case. A great PI novel especially for those who distrust lawyers and the media, which is just about everybody but lawyers and members of the media.

Robert Crais has done a wonderful job of writing in the Elvis Cole mystery series. The wisecracking private investigator is back for the sixth novel in his series.

Cole is hired by the leading attorney for a multi-millionaire arrested for the murder of his wife. Cole is hot on the tail of the Los Angeles Police Department in suspecting that they have planted evidence in this murder case. As Cole and his "hired muscle" partner, Joe Pike, investigate further, the evidence starts to turn on the defense team. Things heat up with everyone wanting a piece of the self proclaimed "World's Greatest Detective." Throw in a surprise visit from Lucy, Cole's love interest, and you have an intense thriller.

What always makes Crais' novels so great is his well-developed, interestingly complex characters. He weaves an amazingly intricate storyline around these characters with well-described settings, making for a complete book.

This is another solid effort by Crais, and an excellent novel that is a pleasure to read. Enjoy the ride.