Indigo Slam (1997)

The writing is so much more distinctive than Connelly. More fun and much richer. ( )

Elvis is protecting a family of chldren whose father is a counterfieter. ( )

In the seventh novel featuring private investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike a young teenage girl attempts to hire Elvis to find her father. It is clear that she and her younger brother and sister are alone and her father has been gone for 11 days. Elvis declines but follows her home to be sure they are okay. He finds a neat, orderly home and no apparent cause for concern aside from the absence of the father. However, Lucy Chenier, his Baton Rough attorney girlfriend, is visiting and she insists on visiting the children when Elvis explains the situation to her. After a brief visit she insists that Elvis help find the missing father.

It turns out that the father (Clark) is a former counterfeiter and apparent drug user. He has been in the witness protection program after testifying against a Russian mobster but left the program and is now involved in another scheme involving Vietnamese loyalists. The brother of the Russian mobster wants Clark dead. Elvis has to find Clark, extricate him from his present situation, reunite him with his children, and secure their safety from the Russians and Vietnamese.

As in Voodoo River, in the end Elvis and Joe manage to pit the two gangs against each other. Meanwhile, Lucy is offered a job and begins making plans to move to L. A.

This is a solid addition to the Cole/Pike series. ( )

From Amazon:

Life in the California sun suits Elvis Cole—until the day a fifteen-year-old girl and her two younger siblings walk into his office. Then everything changes. Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night. What he finds is a sordid tale of high crimes and illicit drugs. As clues to a man’s secret life emerge from the shadows, Elvis knows he’s not just up against ruthless mobsters and some very angry Feds. He’s facing a storm of desperation and conspiracy—bearing down on three children whose only crime was their survival.

My Thoughts:

It seems that Robert Crais just can't write a bad or even mediocre book. From the witness protection program, to the Russian mob, to countefeiting, to child neglect.... Robert Crais throws all this into his newest Cole novel. It has a great plot and characters that are so lifelike, you immediately become enmeshed in their lives. The author never loses track of where he is going with the storyline or how he gets there. Anyone that thinks that a good mystery needs to involve serial killers, piles of bodies, and buckets of blood will soon find that Robert Crais, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, show us what an excellent crime novel is all about. ( )

Three children walk into Elvis Cole's office and hire him to find their missing father. The trail leads form LA to Seattle and a group of Russian Mafia who counterfeit money. Searching for the father and dodging the Mafia hit men while looking after three children, keeps Elvis and his partner, Joe Pike, busy. The ending may a bit too pat but it sure is a fast, fun read.

Meanwhile, his girl friend, Lucy Chenier, is job hunting in LA. When her ex-husband interferes and sabotages her dream job application, Elvis has another problem to worry about. Fortunately, Lucy has the moxy to beat her ex at his own game and the novel ends with Lucy planning on moving to LA from New Orleans and the ex calling to warn Elvis that this isn't over. You can read how that works out for all concerned in the Crais' next novel, The Last Detective. ( )