Review: The Last Detective

I thought this might be a hard book to review. So much hype, the delayed publication, the eager anticipation. I've been trying to downplay it in my mind almost from the first, but of course, when I saw a copy today, I had to get it. A few hours later--with just a small break to scarf down dinner--I was finished. Elvis Cole is, indeed, back in the house, and I was oh so glad to have spent my time in his company.

THE LAST DETECTIVE takes place a scant few months after the end of Elvis's previous appearance in LA REQUIEM; his relationship with Lucy Chenier is extremely strained, though still barely hanging on. Her son, Ben, has just spent a few days at Elvis's A-frame, playing video games and generally hanging out. On the last afternoon, Ben goes outside while Elvis is on the phone; a few minutes later, the boy's vanished without a trace.

Naturally all hell breaks loose, as Lucy tries to hold herself together as the news gets worse and worse; her ex, the shrill, slimy lawyer Richard, barges in from New Orleans with two NOPD detectives to referee matters; fending them off is newly minted Juvie Detective Carol Starkey (of DEMOLITION ANGEL fame) who goes above and beyond keeping Elvis in the loop. Even though it looks like Elvis's past instigated Ben's disappearance, he's going to save the boy, even if the cost may prove too great, both in terms of lives lost and to his relationship with Lucy.

There were so many touches that made this book special. There was Starkey, still tough as nails but taking a supporting role; John Chen, my favorite criminalist, doing his job while holding his horniness at bay; And of course, there really can be no Elvis Cole without Joe Pike. His past already disseminated in LAR, Pike is back to his supporting player ways, but he's gone so far beyond the mouth-twitching taciturn days of old that he can't help being enigmatically three-dimensional.

Where LA REQUIEM was about Pike, TLD is Elvis's book. There's a scene depicting him as a little boy, dealing with his wayward mother, who has decided to change his name to Elvis. It's a scene I had wished for--in fact, I'd said numerous times to people that all I wanted in TLD was a little throwaway scene that showed young Elvis, the morning after his name change, facing the kids at school. And that's exactly what I got. It's the scene that turned a very good book into an excellent one.

And then there's the story itself. The suspense never lets up, and the final twist, though logical and somewhat expected, is still extremely shocking. The denouement almost seemed like an homage to earlier battles Cole and Pike had waged on viilains--but with the stakes so, so much higher.

Quibbles? My nitpicky self wonders why Elvis got so much leeway in terms of police help and hanging around crime scenes, and I kind of wished the pace was just a little bit slower--one of the best things about LAR was how beautifully everything unfolded, taking its time; TLD is leaner, more raw, the time more compressed. Though comparing the two books is like comparing apples and oranges, really.

And much to my amazement, the book ends with more questions. Will Elvis's life be further explored in future books, both past and present? All I have to say is, I sure as hell hope so!

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Sarah - RAM

Book Review: The Last Detective