Lullaby Town

I find it funny how quickly we become accustomed to how the reality of the little things are in whatever period of time we live in. My husband is still laughing at the question I voiced more than once while reading this book. This novel was written in 1992. I found myself wondering and commenting on why Elvis Cole didn't "just call and let people know what kind of trouble was headed their way"? My chuckling husband reminded me that the cell phone mania didn't even exist during this period, so all Cole's detective work had to be done the good "old fashioned" way...standing outside in the weather feeding quarters into a big chunky black, pay phone. In spite of the lack of a devise that wouldn't become attached to our hands until a good 10 show more or so years in Elvis Cole's future, this showcased the really hard work by this hard-boiled private detective with a heart of pure gold. In this case there was two of them, Elvis and his friend, Joe Pike, who found themselves stepping over bodies and taking on the New York mob. What actually makes this story good is the dialogue...the not too complicated story line...the believable characters, and the occasional, even if predictable, outcome. A lot of people are murdered. Don't even try to keep up with that. The New York Mafia characters, while full of stereotyped speech and mannerisms, still manage to capture your interest. It's been quiet sometime since I read an Elvis Cole book, so I had forgotten how much I loved the smart-a** answers often delivered by Cole. They somewhat reminded me of the John Cory character in Nelson de Mille's books. It was great visiting with Elvis and Joe again. show less

Finally--I found a new detective series that manages to entertain without offending. Fabulous. I don't mean that the book is fabulous; I was starting to despair that I could find a private eye series that didn't involve cats or serial killers. Seriously, people--does is have to be one or the other? I mean, honestly--cats are kind of serial killers, right?



I started with this one based on friends' reviews--thanks, friends. Published in 1992, there's definitely an aspect that feels very period to me, but its done well enough so forgetaboutit.



The story has a two part structure, so there isn't much to say about the second without spoiling the first. Our hero is Elvis Cole, a private eye with a smart mouth, no style sense (unless you call a show more sweatshirt with Mickey Mouse a style), and extensive martial arts training. A good friend asks him to meet with a ridiculously famous Hollywood director who wants him to find his ex-wife and son who he hasn't had contact with in over ten years. Cole doesn't ask enough questions, of course, but who can blame him? Mr. Hollywood Director got on my last nerve as well. Of course, not everyone appreciates Elvis' humor:

"Donnie Brewster made the nervous frown. 'Stop with the humor, okay? I tell him you're brilliant and gifted, you make with the humor, he's gonna know that you're not.'"

Elvis is not in the least a tortured soul, and as for his bestie, Joe Pike, well, who knows? He's a man of few words.

"Pike didn't answer.
'You know the director, Peter Alan Nelsen? He's our client.'
Pike didn't answer some more. Trying to talk with Pike is like carrying on a fill-in-the-blank conversation."

The writing is interesting, with thoughtful bits interwoven. Crais' style is occasionally deceptively simple, with a reliance on 'and' that would have had my English teacher reaching for the red pen.

"I closed the toilet lid and sat on the seat and felt myself living. I felt the blood move and the lungs work and the muscles pull against bone. I hurt, but it was better than being in the hospital and better than being dead."

The plotting managed to surprise me more with a deviation from the traditional missing persons format and then a couple of twists based on actions that were completely logical within character context, just not within the mystery plot format. I appreciated that the missing woman was given a great deal of agency, respect and self-awareness. Kudos to Crais for being ahead of his time.

As far as I can tell, the only downside is that Elvis does indeed own a cat, who probably a closet serial killer. I'll have to learn to tolerate it. Humor, decent writing, a general lack of overt sexism and an absence of torture means this is easily a four star genre read and a series I'll continue. show less

Audiobook:

Cole is hired by an arrogant and self-absorbed Hollywood director to find his estranged wife and son, now gone for more than 10 years. He just wants to connect with his son. Finding the woman is easy enough, but Cole learns she is now the VP of a small-town bank who is being used by some Boston mob bosses to launder money.

Now, I think Cole screwed up by trying to fix things in his macho way. A quick call to the FBI (despite her reluctance to enter witness protection) might have solved things since she had evidence of all sorts of wrong-doing. Cole risked messing up her life and that of her kid. She wanted nothing to do with Peter, the Hollywood bigshot, and to my way of thinking should have had nothing to do with Cole show more either.

All that aside, at least Cole uses his brain to figure a way out for her by pitting one member of the “family” against another. The spate of violence at the end is really not their doing. It was also refreshing that neither Cole nor Pike found it necessary to jump in Karen's bed.

Satisfactory, although Pike starts to grate after a while. show less

People who read my reviews will know that I'm not a fan of literary fiction. Elmore Leonard has a list of rules on writing, one of those rules is to leave out the parts that people skip. Literary fiction is loaded with those parts you want to skip. Robert Crais must be a fan of Leonard as well.

The last book I started to read was a literary fiction author trying to write a crime thriller. Lullaby Town is Robert's example of why literary fiction authors can't make the switch to genre fiction.

Elvis and Pike are back, this time sorting out what should have been a simple family reunion, but ends up with the New York mafia wanting them dead. My only regret with finishing this novel is that my pile of Crais books have now been read and I have show more to buy the rest before reading more. show less

Elvis Cole is your modern day(ish) equivalent to Philip Marlowe with the exception of having Joe Pike, his partner, to call on in case of emergencies. In this, his third outing, Elvis will once again need Joe's help as a case of a missing person escalates into confrontation with the Mafia. Peter Alan Nelsen, current bigshot direct du jour, hires Elvis to find the ex-wife and son he left 10 years ago and hasn't seen or heard from since. Despite a distinct lack of information at the outset, it's not long before Elvis finds out where they are and flies off to New York to go say hello. That's when the trouble really starts.

Another fast-paced action thriller told in small chapters which are used to build tension to good effect. Cole is an show more easy to like detective of the wise-cracking variety and his taciturn partner almost manages to crack a smile this time around. I doubt I could read too many of these in a row but good to visit with every now and again. show less

I'm glad I didn't give up on this series after the first book, Monkey's Raincoat. I wasn't crazy about that one, although it was not bad. But after reading a later one featuring more Joe Pike, I decided to skip to number 3 as others have recommended. It didn't disappoint.

The story was good, the humor seemed to fit in better, and Joe Pike came through. The style is a lot like the Spenser series, but I like it better, perhaps because it's a little less dated. And Elvis Cole is the world's best detective, so there's that.

One of the best Joe Pike lines in the book (and he doesn't say much) is one where they are being chased by 8 mafia guys trying to kill them, and the woman they're helping says:

“How can you stop them? There’re eight

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of them and we’re trapped here in the middle of nowhere with them.”
Pike chambered a round into his shotgun. “No,” he said. “They’re trapped with us.”

I'm looking forward to reading more now, and may reread one that I read long ago and forgot about. show less

In his third book featuring Elvis Cole, Crais is making some progress along two fronts. First, the conclusion departs from the formula established in his first two novels in this series. To recall, in books one (The Monkey's Raincoat) and two (Stalking the Angel) Cole and his partner Joe Pike must find a way into a mansion where the bad guys are holed up with a hostage they are trying to rescue. The bad guys are protected by layers of body guards. Pike is wounded during the assault and Cole, while also wounded, pushes through to a successful conclusion.

Lullaby Town, while still featuring a shoot-out against sizeable odds, varies this formula in several ways. There is no mansion; It is replaced by a rural field followed by a small rural show more airport. There are seven body guards plus the primary antagonist instead of the legions in the first two novels, and it is Elvis Cole who is wounded—although only because he intentionally exposed himself to draw the antagonist's fire— and Joe Pike administers the coup de grace.

Second, Crais takes baby steps in the direction of establishing Joe Pike as a multi-dimensional character. There's not a lot of detail to report here, but we do learn a tiny bit more about Joe.

Although the first three novels in this series are all well worth reading, I enjoyed Lullaby Town a bit more than the first two novels.

I found the most annoying feature of this book to be the use of a false climax. It appears that Cole has successfully resolved the situation some 30 pages before the end of the book. I was wondering how the conflict could have been resolved so early in the book when Crais throws the reader a curveball that necessitates a second and final resolution. I was busy, not prepared for the surprise turn of events, and not particularly interested in reading yet another resolution so I actually put the book down for a day or two before picking it up to read through to the end. Nevertheless, I did find the final climax to be interesting. Perhaps your reaction will be different. show less