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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Crais's latest L.A.-based crime novel featuring super-sleuth Elvis Cole blends high-powered action, a commanding cast and a touch of dark humor to excellent dramatic effect. One morning at four, Cole gets a call from the LAPD informing him that a murdered John Doe has claimed, with his dying breath, to be Cole's father, a man Cole has never met. Cole immediately gets to work gathering evidence on the dead man - Herbert Faustina, aka George Reinnike - while cramping the style of the assigned detective, Jeff Pardy. Though Cole finds Reinnike's motel room key at the crime scene, the puzzle pieces are tough to put together, even with the unfailing help of partner Joe Pike and feisty ex-Bomb Squad techie Carol Starkey, who's so smitten with Cole that she can't think of him without smiling. Days of smart sleuthing work take the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Detective" from a Venice Beach escort service to the California desert, then a hospital in San Diego, where doubts about Reinnike's true heritage begin to dissipate. Meanwhile, a delusional psychopath named Frederick Conrad, who is convinced that his partner in crime was killed by Cole, stalks and schemes to even the score. There's lots to digest, but this character-driven series continues to be strong in plot, action and pacing, and Crais (The Last Detective) boasts a distinctive knack for a sucker-punch element of surprise.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
When an apparently homeless man is found shot in an alley, the first officer on the scene tells private investigator Elvis Cole that the dying man claimed to be Cole's father. Cole has never known the identity of his father. His mother was mentally unstable and would often go missing for extended periods. Cole was conceived during such a disappearance, and the only clue his mother gave him was the cryptic comment that his father was a "human cannonball" in a circus. Long obsessed with finding his father, Cole backtracks through the years to learn the dead man's true identity. As he searches, Cole is unaware that he is the target of an associate of the dead man. Crais' Cole mysteries are infinitely superior to his stand-alone thrillers. The snappy, Spenser-like dialogue and the bursts of violence notwithstanding, the series is most memorable for its intense, character-driven studies of people searching for context and purpose in their lives. Cole's career as a detective stems directly from his childhood attempts to find his father, and his sidekick, Joe Pike, measures himself through a self-defined process of readiness. Very few thrillers leave readers with teary vision, pondering such profundities as acceptance and forgiveness. This is one of the few. A deeply moving, heartfelt mystery. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Elvis in Pain,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 112,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (#1 HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: The Forgotten Man: An Elvis Cole Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
The Forgotten Man opens with a powerful flashback -- a mother, father and son have been brutally murdered and a four-year-old girl has been left behind to witness the awful results.Since Lucy Chenier left town with her son, Elvis Cole hasn't been sleeping all that well. A call from Detective Kelly Diaz of LAPD at 3:58 a.m. finds him not really asleep. A homicide victim has been found in a dangerous alley and with his dying breath has said that he's looking for Elvis, his son. The victim's pockets reveal newspaper clippings about Elvis. With that call, Elvis is thrown back into his childhood trauma of never having met his father and having a mother who wasn't all there. Riveted by this information, Elvis asks to investigate the case along with the LAPD. Despite occasional friction, "the world's greatest detective" is soon ahead of the police and rapidly tracking down who the John Doe is. The story alternates narrators between Elvis, Carol Starkey and a villain. In this way, Mr. Crais keeps us ahead of Elvis in knowing what's going on. For those who like Elvis, the superman, this book will be a disappointment. He's so emotionally under the weather because of losing Lucy and with this new hunt for his father that Elvis is having trouble functioning. You'll think that you are reading about a binging alcoholic (although that's not his problem) rather than Elvis Cole. I suspect that these readers will find this to be a 2 or a 3 star book. The best parts of this book come in flashbacks to the young Elvis as he repeatedly runs away from home to find his father. I was impressed that Mr. Crais could write such emotionally strong material. It's quite a contrast with his usual action style. The plot itself is awfully contrived . . . and not very satisfying. With a better plot, this could have been an outstanding book. I hope that Mr. Crais won't give up on developing Elvis Cole as a character. That's what he did best in this book. Even Superman was vulnerable to kryptonite (and Lois Lane). A more vulnerable Elvis will be a better and more interesting character in books to come.
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Forgotten Man" Is Unforgettable,
By "corbs66" (Listowel, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Forgotten Man: A Novel (Hardcover)
This novel is about retribution, justice, and ultimately coming to peace with the past. In this novel we learn about the childhood of Crais' serial hero Elvis Cole. We are reunited with characters from previous novels, in particular the Demoltion Angel herself: Carol Starkey.Crais' writing style is brilliant- if you start this novel be prepared to stay up late at night. The humour of Cole is as sharp as ever, as is Starkey's sardonic temperment. Do not hesitate to read this book!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (114 customer reviews) 24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Crais never fails to entertain.,
By L. Quido "quidrock" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Forgotten Man: A Novel (Hardcover)
Elvis Cole dwells in the past in this, Robert Crais' 10th novel featuring the "world's greatest detective". And while Crais' readers love the wise-cracking detective, many of us read the series as much for Joe Pike, his scary, warrior-like back up system. Tough turn, then, that Pike is merely an afterthought in this book.Taking up much of the slack is Carol Starkey, the alcoholic, former bomb-squad detective who starred in Crais' "Demolition Angel" and met up with Elvis in "The Last Detective". Carol's having strong romantic feelings for Elvis, but he's not ready for a new love yet, still licking his wounds from the breakup with former paramour Lucy and her son Ben, who appear briefly. The story allows the reader to break into the murky past of Elvis, when a man is shot, who has been looking for his son. As a child, Elvis was on an endless quest to discover the identity of his father; his mother suffered from an emotional disorder and his grandparents could hardly restrain his need to wander, to try to find himself. He's had a rough childhood, and the possibility that the dead man is his father draws him out of a depression and into the mainstream of the police investigation. During the track of the novel, a character named Frederick, a paranoid schizophrenic, lurks in the background, convinced that Cole was responsible for the death of his friend Payne. As his search for the truth about the dead man evolves, Cole starts to shed light on a cold case, rediscovering his power to energetically pursue answers as he buries himself in his work. A little oblivious to Starkey's feelings, Cole is nevertheless drawn to her by mutual need on the case, and by the recognition that she's another tortured soul. Elvis may be the wittiest of today's detectives in this genre, but Crais proves here that he's not just witty, lucky and likeable, he's also the product of his past. Although "The Forgotten Man" is not nearly the book "The Last Detective" was, Crais continues to disarm his readers and keeps the series alive. There's some complexity here, and some surprises at the end, and Crais fans will be begging for more Elvis Cole when the story concludes. For my money, any real 5 star Elvis Cole story will also bring more action and reaction with the inclusion of the volatile Joe Pike in the story. Recommended for fans who like their thrillers in series, but read the earlier books first. 23 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's the best thing about this novel?,
By Michael D. Trimble - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Forgotten Man: A Novel (Hardcover)
Well the best thing is this book was my FIRST Robert Crais novel. That means, as best I can figure, there are eleven more books of his to read before the next one comes out! So I have lots to look forward to and can imagine that long time Crais fans probably envy me.Since I have not read anything else Crais has done, I am able to judge this book on its own merits without comparing it to his other stories. That said, it is well written, the story flows from scene to scene in an orderly and logical fashion. I know it sounds cliché but this book was hard to put down. The chapters are short and it is easy to read JUST ONE MORE chapter before going to bed. There was plenty of action, which is what you expect from detectives, and there were lots of witty repartee and cracking wise between the characters. Most of the best lines come as Crais let's us hear the thinking of his characters, so the lines aren't necessarily spoken to anyone. Elvis Cole (the man around whom the book is written) is a great PI, extremely introspective with lots of endearing qualities, and if you enjoy reading authors who develop their cast over the course of a series of books, then I would have to say that Robert Crais has the franchise for you. He seems every bit as good as Robert B. Parker, perhaps more so since this book has the "thriller thing" going for it. Highly recommended and you won't be disappointed! 13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A GLIMPLSE INSIDE THE SOUL OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST DETECTIVE,
By Wayne C. Rogers - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Forgotten Man: A Novel (Hardcover)
I've been reading Robert Crais since 1992, and I'm still like a little kid whenever a new "Elvis Cole/Joe Pike" novel comes out. After waiting for two long years, I tried to make THE FORGOTTEN MAN last, but ended up reading it in one day. The newest novel continues a few months where THE LAST DETECTIVE left off. Elvis Cole has recovered from the wound in his hand, Lucy Chenier and her son, Ben, are now living permanently in Louisiana, the publicity has finally died down from the rescue of Ben from the kidnappers by Cole and Pike, and the World's Greatest Detective is now at a lost on what to do with his life now that Lucy and Ben are gone. When the telephone rings at 3:58 in the morning and a voice tells Cole that a man has been killed who, in his last few breaths, claimed to be the Detective's long, lost father, a new adventure begins that will lead our hero on a journey of deep introspection and eventually to personal tragedy. Along the way, the reader will learn of Cole's search for his father as a thirteen-year-old boy and what led him to become a detective many years later, why his mother would disappear for months at a time, leaving him with his grandparents. The reader will also jump up and down at the return of Carol Starkey (DEMOLITION ANGEL & THE LAST DETECTIVE), who now has a crush of the World's Greatest Detective, but is afraid to let him know. With the help of his close friends, Elvis Cole will track down the killer of the man who claimed to be his father, but at a cost that is devastating, leaving the reader numb and shocked, which is exactly how the author planned it. THE FORGOTTEN MAN is Robert Crais at his best, delivering a story that is both compelling and fun to read. It's been a tremendous pleasure to watch Mr. Crais grow as a writer over the last decade, as well as to see the characters of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike evolve. This is definitely one of the best series on the market today, and I highly recommend it any reader who loves suspense and action
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