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, ... read more