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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345451903
ISBN number: 0345451902
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: March 30, 2004
Publishing house: Ballantine Books
Release Date: March 30, 2004
Sale Popularity Level: 20652
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
P.I. Elvis Cole’s relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier is strained. Then the unthinkable happens. While Lucy is away on business and her ten-year-old son Ben is staying with Elvis, the boy vanishes without a trace. When the kidnappers call, it’s not for ransom, but for a promise to punish Cole for past sins he claims he didn’t commit. With the LAPD wrestling over the case, and the boy’s estranged father attempting to take control of the investigation, Cole vows to find Ben first. But Cole’s partner, Joe Pike, knows more about this case than he has said. Pike lives in a world where dangerous men commit crimes beyond all reckoning. Now, one of those men is alive and well in L.A.—and calling Elvis Cole to war. . . .
Amazon.com Review:
Don't start reading The Last Detective with much on your calendar. This tense, satisfying thriller will glue you to your chair, as private eye Elvis Cole--the star of eight previous Robert Crais novels, prior to the Cole-less Demolition Angel and Hostage--faces his toughest case: the abduction of his girlfriend's son, 10-year-old Ben Chenier, who was staying with Elvis when he was snatched.
Panic at Ben's disappearance turns to terror when the kidnapper phones to reveal his apparent motive, a dark secret from Elvis's past. But the plot thickens and twists, and then twists again, as Elvis and his longtime buddy, tough guy Joe Pike, race the clock against a group of villains as sinister as they are capable. The author mixes Elvis's first-person narration with third-person sections that describe other points of view--a risky technique, but Crais makes it work. He also does a fine job resurrecting the wisecracking Elvis of earlier books while imbuing him with a new depth and darkness.
This dazzlingly plotted, crisply told story is threaded with real detection (what a rarity!) and peopled by characters you can't help but care about--including Carol Starkey, the haunted bomb-squad cop from Demolition Angel, who's now a juvenile-abduction detective. Crais has long been getting better with each book, and The Last Detective continues the pattern. --Nicholas H. Allison
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Rated by buyers 
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I stumbled upon my very first Elvis Cole story earlier this year and ever since I have read five more. The Last Detective is fast moving and thrilling and I highly recommend it.
Rated by buyers -
This was my very first Robert Crais book...he was recommended to me by my BFF who is an avid reader of his.
I live in L.A., so maybe that's why I connected with it so easily... but this was also just one of those books I could NOT bear to put down. His character Elvis had me so intrigued as to what lengths he would go to rescue that kidnapped boy, I just had to keep going with it!
It will be fun now too, to go back and see what I missed in Elvis' earlier adventures. Thanks Mr. Crais...well done!
Rated by buyers -
THE LAST DETECTIVE is the ninth book in Robert Crais's "Elvis Cole" series dealing with the adventures of a private detective working in Los Angeles. While not nearly as great as LA REQUIEM, the prior installment, this is still a very well done thriller.
This is pretty much a kidnapping drama, involving the young son of Elvis Cole's girlfriend, Lucy Chenier. Soon after the boy is kidnapped, the kidnappers announce that they are kidnapping the child to pay Cole back for atrocities he committed in Vietnam. This plot development gives Crais an excuse to delve into Cole's childhood and his experiences as a young soldier. These flashback scenes, which really flesh out Cole as a character, are probably the best part of the novel.
THE LAST DETECTIVE has the same serious tone as LA REQUIEM, and lacks the cartoonish nature of the earlier Cole books. The writing is crisp, and Crais does a good job of ratcheting up the tension. The only major downside of this novel is that the final twist is highly predictable, and Crais gets a little too cute by sticking a character from another one of his novels (DEMOLITION ANGEL) in a thankless supporting role.
All things considered, THE LAST DETECTIVE is yet another solid entry in the Elvis Cole series. It's worth delving into, although I would recommend reading LA REQUIEM first, if you haven't already done so.
Rated by buyers -
I love Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries. His stand alones are good, but his Cole mysteries are spectacular. In this one, Elvis is going without sleep to track down his girlfriend's son. Ben Chenier has been kidnapped while in Elvis' care and it seems to be connected to Elvis' past, but nothing is ever as it appears.
Joe Pike is back, too, recovered from his wounds from his previous adventure and trying to get back in the groove of investigations.
Tension builds quickly and stays taut all the way through.Don't miss the return of Elvis!
Rated by buyers -
Robert Crais has created a very interesting series with the tough and quiet Joe Pike and the outrageous and outspoken Elvis Cole. The Series has come to a crossroads with this novel and Crais has masterfully maneuvered himself into a terrific situation. The always cracking wise and smart mouth of Elvis Cole is gagged for this book and the serious side of Cole and the caring side of Pike are moved to the forefront. When Ben, Lucy's son is kidnapped and Richard (Lucy's ex) comes into town to put the blame directly on Lucy and Cole, the thrills begin and the story unfolds quickly. But woven into the story are flashbacks into Cole's life that we have never been allowed to see previously.
The writing is crisp and the story taunt. We again get to see Carol Starkey (Demolition Angel) and she adds another interesting character to the series. There is even a cameo appearance of another of my favorite detectives of Michael Connelly fame.
This story has it all and is not easy to put down.
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