From Publishers Weekly
L.A. detective Elvis Cole aids a woman distressed by her fiance's involvement in illicit police work in this Edgar nominee. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Despite an improbable jailbreak and obvious character types--the dangerous, sadistic cop; the dewy ingenue, and her doltish boyfriend--Robert Crais almost manages to make the mean streets of Los Angeles as ferocious as they were in LA REQUIEM. The plot, riddled with bad cops, gangs, and corruption in high places, provides enough excitement and twists to be fun. True, some of the snap has gone out of Elvis Cole's repartee, but Joe Pike is as enigmatic a hero as he ever was. An engaging performance by James Daniels keeps things moving. Daniels provides even the least interesting characters with inner lives by the subtlest change in his tone. With equal touches of irony and insight, he makes Elvis and Joe a great way to spend an evening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

ANNOTATION

Elvis lives . . . Elvis Cole, that is, the hottest, hippest L.A. gumshoe detective from award-winning author Robert Crais. In a roller-coaster of excitement and mystery, a dirty cop's girlfriend hires Cole to get the goods on the cop. However, the cop swears he's clean--merely cheating on the girlfriend. Crais's smart-mouthing detective rivals the best in the genre.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Elvis Cole's first appearance in The Monkey's Raincoat garnered Robert Crais the prestigious Anthony and Macavity awards as well as nominations for Edgar and Shamus honors. With the next two electrifying entries in this bestselling series, Stalking the Angel and Lullaby Town, the legion of Elvis fans expanded among readers and critics alike. Now in Free Fall Elvis gets caught up in his hottest case yet, a case that tests the limits of the human heart as Elvis uncovers a world of cops gone wrong in L.A.'s most explosive neighborhood. Jennifer Sheridan has a good job, a great future, and an engagement ring from the man she loves, a member of an elite LAPD plainclothes unit operating in the war zone known as South Central Los Angeles. But her great future is suddenly in jeopardy - and it's her cop fiance who's the problem. Jennifer is certain that Mark Thurman is in some kind of trouble, and she wants Elvis Cole to find out what it is. Elvis never could say no to a woman in love, so he takes on the case only to find that some jobs are easier than others: Before Elvis even has a chance to leave his office, Thurman himself drops by to discourage Elvis from proceeding with the investigation. Jennifer's suspicion that he's in trouble is off track, he says; there's no trouble, there's just another woman - it may not be pretty, but it's not criminal, either. Elvis's investigation seems to bear out Thurman's claim. Then he discovers the very thorough, nearly undetectable search someone has made of his office. Someone with a lot of practice at careful inspections. Someone like a cop. Suddenly the case turns deadly as Elvis and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike plummet into a world of racist cops, South Central street gangs, and conspiracies of silence. But Jennifer Sheridan won't give up on her man so easily, and the case kicks over into white-hot overdrive as Elvis and Joe find themselves framed for a crime they didn't commit, and L.A.'s deadliest street gang targets Mark a

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

L.A. detective Elvis Cole aids a woman distressed by her fiance's involvement in illicit police work in this Edgar nominee. (May)

BookList - Wes Lukowsky

Elvis is back. No, not that one . . . the good one, the one who's fun to read about. Elvis Cole, Los Angeles private eye, returns in the fourth installment of a series in which there is way too much time between installments. Jennifer Sheridan wants Elvis to find out what's bothering her fiance, Mark Thurman, an undercover cop with an elite LAPD unit. Jennifer is certain it's not another woman, but Thurman himself tells Elvis the opposite. Elvis breaks the news to Jennifer in a hilarious restaurant scene, but she convinces him to stay on the case. Inevitably, Jennifer's suspicions turn out to be more than wishful thinking. Take the Rodney King case and put this spin on it: the guy with the camera was more interested in blackmail than justice. Pretty soon Elvis and his borderline sociopath partner, Joe Pike, are up to their smoking guns in renegade cops and angry gangs. Crais, who also writes for television ("L.A. Law," "Hill Street Blues"), has created a series hero who is tough, witty, resourceful, and even romantic. Let's face it: we all want to be Elvis Cole when we grow up.

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