Fast read. Typical Crais. Bit of focus on Pike's life as separate from Elvis'... the story was a bit... similar... I don't think you'll find any surprises, but it is a quick light read for the beach. ( )

Excellent read! Just wish I didn't skip 8 and go straight to 9, oops! Really liked the look back at Elvis's younger years, and there were some really emotional moments in the book. Just wish Elvis and Lucy didn't end up the way they did but maybe after I read 8 and go back to 10 I'll find out more. Love this series! ( )

Tres años después de que, gracias al programa de protección de testigos, su familia abandonara Seattle y se salvara por minutos de ser asesinada, Clark Hewitt se encuentra huyendo de nuevo. Pero esta vez sin los suyos consigo. Su hija mayor, Teri, que a sus quince años tiene la experiencia de una mujer de cuarenta, conduce a sus hermanos a la oficina del detective Elvis Cole, a quien le entrega un grueso fajo de billetes y contrata para que encuentre a su padre. Al principio parece un caso sencillo. A Cole no le toma mucho tiempo descubrir que Clark ha regresado a Seattle, y para cuando se lo diga a sus hijos, probablemente ya se habrá puesto en contacto con ellos. Pero todo lo que Cole encuentra son pistas que indican problemas: Clark es un drogadicto y un falsificador que ha entregado a las autoridades pruebas contra la mafia rusa, que ahora está decidida a matarlo. Pero no puede buscar la ayuda del FBI porque Clark ha vuelto a las andadas y de nuevo está imprimiendo billetes falsos. Las cosas no marchan mucho mejor en la vida de Cole. Su novia, Lucy Chenier, fiscal de Baton Rouge, está buscando un trabajo que la mantenga tan cerca de él como le sea posible, pero su ex marido ha resuelto ponérselo difícil. Cole tendrá que mantenerlo a raya, y no sólo a él sino a los federales y a la mafia rusa, en un intento por poner un poco de orden en su vida.

Elvis Cole se enfrenta a uno de los momentos más delicados de su vida: una llamada le anuncia que Ben, el hijo de su compañera sentimental, que se encontraba bajo su tutela en ausencia de la madre, ha sido secuestrado.
El acto delictivo está relacionado con el pasado de Cole. Éste fue el único superviviente de un batallón estadounidense aniquilado en Vietnam y, aunque entonces fue premiado por su heroicidad, alguien le guarda todavía rencor. Para complicar las cosas, Cole debe enfrentarse con el padre de Ben, que le culpa por lo sucedido y entorpece sus investigaciones.

I didn't really like this one as much as most of the previous books in this series, perhaps because it simply didn't meet my expectations for an Elvis Cole mystery. The humor was not as good, for one thing. And Joe Pike, my infallible hero, who always saves the day when fighting is required, was not infallible. He seemed to be second-best, and unfortunately, the villain was first. Although, to his credit, Joe did seem to be recovering from a fight with a big bad bear.

And although Elvis did a pretty good job as the world's greatest detective, he seemed a bit desperate and almost lost much of the time. But he too had his problems to deal with. Not only was his girlfriend's son, Ben, missing while staying at his house, but the boy's father blamed Elvis, brought up some bad stuff from his early background that Elvis had neglected to tell his girlfriend that made Elvis look like someone not qualified to care for their son. And the kidnappers seemed to be blaming Elvis due to something he did in the past. I felt sorry for him, but still, he's supposed to be on top of everything, not some pathetic loser. I guess that's why his humor just wasn't up to snuff.

The story was pretty interesting, though, maybe more so than many others. The ending was a bit sad if you're following the ongoing romance, but that's not so important to his real fans.

If this had been my first Elvis Cole book, I think I might have liked it a lot more. Still, a very good read. ( )