Ratings9
Average rating3.8
Bradley Warren had lost something very valuable, something that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth-century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure. Everything PI Elvis Cole knew about Japanese culture he'd learned from reading SHOGUN, but he knew a lot of crooks - and what he didn't know, his sidekick Joe Pike did. Together, Cole and Pike begin their search in LA's Little Tokyo, the nest of the notorious Japanese mafia, the Yakuza - and find themselves caught up in a white-knuckled adventure filled with madness, murder and sexual obsession. Just another day's work for Elvis Cole. . .
Featured Series
20 primary booksElvis Cole and Joe Pike is a 20-book series with 20 primary works first released in 1987 with contributions by Robert Crais.
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A more developed version of this appears on my blog, Irresponsible Reader, as part of my Reread Project.
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I said, “You should try this. Invigorates the scalp. Retards the aging process. Makes for embarrassing moments when prospective clients walk in.”
noir
Monkey
“You ever notice . . . that sometimes the bad guys are better people than the good guys?”
The Monkey's Raincoat
Stalking the Angel
Lullaby Town
Maybe a little bit of a sophomore slump going on with this particular Cole novel. Still like his brand of humor but at times it felt pushy, like Crais was trying too hard. There were a couple of times when I wanted to turn to Elvis and tell him to shut up already. And normally I like Pike, but this time around he felt a little too two dimensional, a little too there just to allow for some blood splatter.
Enjoyed the major mystery with the Hagakure, but would have enjoyed it more if the thief hadn't been staring me in the face from the moment the character was introduced.
Overall not a bad story, but it could have been better.
Plot was ok, characterisation is what makes these books. Onwards with number 3!