Stalking the Angel (Elvis Cole, Book 2)
by Robert Crais
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Book Reviews of Stalking the Angel (Elvis Cole, Book 2)
Book Review: Great character, great writing, mediocre story
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Crais has created an appealing and humorous protagonist for his Los Angeles-set crime novels in private investigator Elvis Cole. Cole is a fascinating combination of post-Viet Nam hardboiled cynicism and golden-hearted idealism, a wisecracking, Corvette-driving master of martial arts who is also a first-rate detective. Crais makes Cole's adventures all the more appealing through his lively and witty writing style; his stories are carried along by his colorful descriptions of places and people, and he punctuates his narrative with clever verbal "zingers" through which Crais demonstrates considerable insight into human beings and their foibles. In this, the second of the Elvis Cole novels, Crais focuses upon a crime scenario involving the *yakuza*, the so-called "Japanese Mafia." The first part of the book sets out the elements of a potentially intricate mystery involving the stealing of a precious Japanese sacred text; this leads to murder, kidnapping, and a fascinating foray into the Japanese-American underworld by Cole and his gun-toting associate, Joe Pike.
The promise that is presented by the first part of the book, however, goes largely unrealized in the second. The "mystery" proves to be fairly easily solved, and the last portion of the story mainly involve a lot of chasing, fighting, and ultimately shooting of stereotyped Asian bad guys by Cole and Pike. Cole actually has a heart of gold (of course), and ends up doing much of his crime-solving work for free, because it is the "right thing to do." To a point, this is reasonable as part of the author's strategy for creating a hero appropriate to the genre. However, by the end of the book, the highly risky course of action followed by our heroes simply out of the goodness of their hearts seems way too implausible, and their methods for righting wrongs way too violent. The story actually impressed me as akin to something one might see in a private eye television series, i.e., light on intricacy of plot, heavy on "fightin' and shootin'," and with a highly simplistic differentiation between the "good" and the "bad" characters.
Crais is an indisputably skillful writer who can turn a phrase as well as any of the best crime story writers around today. However, *Stalking The Angel* is lightweight fare when compared to the deeper, more substantial work of say, Michael Connelly. Having now read Crais' first two Cole novels, I am curious to read one or more of his more recent works. I want to see whether as Crais has developed his mystery writing acumen he has shown himself capable of developing books in which the appeal to readers is based not just upon private eye wisecracks, alluring locales, and a socko series of action-packed sequences, but also upon a more highly-crafted plot structure.
Book Review: read all about it: what detectives eat
Summary: 2 Stars
A good rule for writers is, write what you know about. Stalking the Angel is a good example of what can go wrong when you ignore that rule. The author blows hard to convince us that he is a real tough guy who knows all about real tough things like martial arts, and ends up convincing us that he doesn't. (The note About the Author specifies that he lives with an Akita guard dog. What's he afraid of?) It seems that he researched his background by reading "Shogun" and eating in a bunch of Asian restaurants.I do not expect a detective story writer to be an Orientalist, but the author screws up the background so often that it is distracting. Tang is a Chinese name. Naming your Japanese villain Eddie Tang is like having a Gestapo general named Paddie O'Brian. Maybe to the author, these Orientals all look alike, like waiters in a Chinese restaurant. Thus the sentence in which Elvis performs the "dragon kata from the taekwondo." Dragon is a Chinese martial art element, not a kata, which is a Japanese term; adding a 'the' to Korea's tae kwon do is as annoying an affectation as his "the Nam". Maybe he's trying to show how macho he is, as in the scene -- which drags on for page after page -- in which the hero heroically eats all the pepper the sinister, ungrammatical Oriental cook puts in his food.
During and since the war, I have traveled all over Viet Nam, sometimes the only foreigner to set foot in a vicinity for years, and when I ate with these people, we all used chopsticks. Even in the boonies. Don't they know better? If they learned English and read American detective novels, they would discover the error of their ways. Crais informs us that people in Viet Nam don't use chopsticks. Either my friends were all mixed up, or the author was thinking of Burma, or maybe Indonesia. Can't tell all those pesky Orientals apart, can you, sir?
Belief must be suspended, credibility given wide leeway. If you kick someone in the side of the head with a reverse spin kick and he appears a few minutes later with a swollen cheek, either you didn't connect or your leg is made of cotton candy. Okay, one guard goes down, so the bad guys just walk away and let the hero sort of roam about at leisure in their stronghold. I did not realize California law was so lenient to PI's. Elvis and Joe go kill half a dozen bad guys, and go home: no inquest, no trial, just go home. Not even OJ got such a good deal.
Frankly, I thought the characters were paper-thin, especially Bradely Warren and Joe Pike.The only part of the book that really comes to life is the description of Traci Louise Fishman, a scared, lonely teenager. Here the author is dealing in territory he knows. The rest of it is like a Jet Lee movie: lots of posturing, but it's not the real stuff.
Book Review: Love Elvis but don't care for the standard PI plot
Summary: 2 Stars
First Line: I was standing on my head in the middle of my office when the door opened and the best looking woman I'd seen in three weeks walked in.
When Bradley Warren and his assistant, Jillian Becker, try to hire Elvis Cole to find a stolen (and priceless) Japanese manuscript, Cole isn't all that eager to accept the case. Warren rubs his fur completely the wrong way. But when Warren's young daughter is kidnapped, the P.I. puts aside his differences and starts tracking down the bad guys.
When I read the first Elvis Cole mystery, The Monkey's Raincoat, I fell head over heels for Elvis and his partner, Joe Pike. Unfortunately, while reading this second book in the series, the bloom was off the rose. The plot, the pacing, the writing are just as good, and I still love Elvis and Joe, but reading Stalking the Angel made me realize something:
The reason why I don't read many mysteries featuring the hard-boiled types of private investigators is because I have a very low tolerance for the plots.
The plots all seem to be the same. Some drop dead gorgeous broad clacks her way into the P.I.'s seedy office, bats her eyelashes, and persuades the manly investigator to do something he really doesn't want to do. There's usually an obnoxious male cretin on hand as a foil for the P.I. and his wisecracks. At least 30% of the characters are pond scum, and the P.I. hero has to have the crap beaten out of him at least once. Preferably twice.
Unfortunately (for me) the plot and the formula went hand in hand in this book. I still love Elvis and Joe, but I think this love affair just has no room for growth. And before any of you die hard fans gang up on me, let me say once more that these books are well-written and the two main characters are fantastic. Even though the story lines aren't my cup of tea and I seriously doubt that I will read any more books in the series...
...if you give me an ELVIS AND JOE 4EVER!!!! bumper sticker, I'll cherish (and use) it with pride.
Book Review: The Way of the Warrior is Death
Summary: 5 Stars
Elvis Cole is a wisecracking private investigator who likes Falstaff beer, Mickey Mouse, and can tell you exactly which designer made the clothes and accessories the villains wear. A Viet Nam vet who came back determined to preserve what was left of his childhood, a man with a strong hero complex, and, when need be, a stone killer. Now he is working a case for financier Bradley Warren, trying to find a stolen copy of the Hagakure, the ancient Japanese code of behavior for the Samurai.Elvis' clue gathering style is to keep stirring the pot of likely sources and suspects until something floats to the top. This time what comes up is trouble. Warren's family receives several threats, which he chooses to ignore. Suddenly the worst happens and Mimi Warren is kidnapped, leaving no trace. Incensed, Warren fires Cole and the detective decides to continue the case on his own. He promised Mimi he would protect her, and he's not about to let the Yakuza of two countries get in his way.
Robert Crais' tactic is to lure the reader in with Elvis Cole's humorous attitude and hard-boiled attitude, and then follow through with a series of severe hammer blows. Even when you know that there is a nightmare waiting to happen, its onset is a shock. Perhaps this is formula writing, but few authors can shift gears as smoothly as Crais can. One moment you are listening in on some sarcastic dialog between Cole and his partner Joe Pike, the next minute they are dealing out badness - and you are liking it.
In addition, Crais' characters are never one sided. If anything, they defy the common stereotypes. Cole and Pike don't simply hunt villains and right wrongs; they hold intelligent conversations and understand the issues they must deal with. Good plot, great characters and a fine eye for detail makes 'Stalking the Angel' a memorable story. One that will drive you back to the bookshelves looking for more.
Book Review: Lots of Joe Pike in this one. I liked that.
Summary: 4 Stars
The Elvis Cole series written by Robert Crais is turning out to be one of those multi-volume series where I'm going to want to read each book. This is the second in the series so now I've read three of the books and think I understand the characters pretty well. I especially liked having Joe Pike present during so much of this novel. He is such an enigmatic character when compared to the ebullient nature of Elvis Cole and the two opposite characters work very well together. Robert Crais did a very good job of filling this novel with characters who had depth and dimension. As seems to be the case in these novels, there is a lot of driving around the streets of LA and it's surroundings with detailed descriptions of where everything is located. Maybe a little bit on the long winded side for me, but at least I get a good feel for the neighborhoods and countryside.
Perhaps what intrigued me most about this plot is that the reader is left not quite sure of why certain things happened. Not that the threads of the plot were not finished up, that's not what I mean. The motivation and truth of why something happened, that's what you are unsure of. And, quite frankly, I think it makes for a much better book because it was left that way. Cole starts off looking for an extremely valuable Japanese book, but the case rapidly moves into other areas because what he encounters is a completely dysfunctional family, a totally self-absorbed billionaire, a kidnapping and a murder. And questions, many, many questions.
This second book in the series follows along in the same direction as the others I've read and I will continue to work my way through the Robert Crais canon. And I'm sincerely looking forward to it.