• Stalking the Angel

  • An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel, Book 2
  • By: Robert Crais
  • Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
  • Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (758 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Stalking the Angel  By  cover art

Stalking the Angel

By: Robert Crais
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.00

Buy for $20.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Meet Elvis Cole, L.A. private eye...he quotes Jiminy Cricket and carries a .38. He’s a literate, wise-cracking Vietnam vet who is determined never to grow up.

The blonde who walked into Cole’s office was the best looking woman he’d seen in weeks. The only thing that kept her from rating a perfect "10" was the briefcase on one arm and the uptight hotel magnate on the other. Bradley Warren had lost something very valuable - something that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth-century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure.

Just about all Cole knew about Japanese culture he’d learned from reading Shogun, but he knew a lot about crooks - and what he didn’t know his sociopathic sidekick, Joe Pike, did. Together their search begins in L.A.’s Little Tokyo and the nest of notorious Japanese mafia, the yakuza, and leads to a white-knuckled adventure filled with madness, murder, sexual obsession, and a stunning double-whammy ending. For Elvis Cole, it’s just another day’s work.

Praise for Stalking the Angel

"Stalking the Angel is a righteous California book: intelligent, perceptive, hard, clean."--James Ellroy

"Out on the West Coast, where private eyes thrive like avocado trees, Robert Crais has created an interesting and amusing hero in Elvis Cole."--The Wall Street Journal

"Devotees of the rock ‘em, sock ‘em school should find [Stalking the Angel] tasty."--The San Diego Union

©2011 Robert Crais (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Stalking the Angel is a righteous California book: intelligent, perceptive, hard, clean."--James Elroy

"Elvis Cole provides more fun for the reader than any L.A. private eye to come along in years."--Joseph Wambaugh

What listeners say about Stalking the Angel

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    343
  • 4 Stars
    256
  • 3 Stars
    121
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    15
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    350
  • 4 Stars
    201
  • 3 Stars
    95
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    23
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    324
  • 4 Stars
    210
  • 3 Stars
    116
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    10

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • K.
  • 10-24-13

SARCASTIC AND ANNOYING

I endured this book,(I'm not a quitter).The narrator was just not macho enough to make the story believable. And like the other characters I was annoyed by the silly comments from Elvis...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stands the test of time; awful narrator

I’ve read Crais from the beginning. I love the fact that he went quickly from a “first-novel” writer to become the top writer of this genre in a step-by-step fashion: the quality of his writing between the first and the eighth, L.A. Confidential, is remarkable. He has only gotten better since that time.

But this narrator, Lawlor, is so completely wrong for Crais’ books that the publisher should really order a redo with any of the fine narrators who have read his later novels. The pitch and tone of this reader are all wrong — the guy is as high-pitched as an Irish tenor. Bono could do better. Moreover, the reason that the dry humor, mental quips, and smarmy comments work so well in Cole’s character is because he’s basically a straight man with a quick, irreverent attitude. This guy makes Cole sound like a greased up William F Buckley.

As I’ve found consistently, to enjoy Crais’ writing, there’s no substitute for just reading his books. But certainly the later two narrators deserve 5 stars compared to this effort.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Dated. Irritating reader. Buy a Luke Daniels read

It's, of course, Spencer and Hawk in LA, but that's a good thing. I enjoy these books, as they are as good as the early to mid-series Spencer novels, before Mr. Parker started just cranking them out yearly. But this one is too old for 2018, actually implies that Elvis wouldn't understand about Asian crime, and has a reader that makes the "jokes" sound like a high school kid. Robert Crais is a good writer. The whole Joe Pike series is outstanding, as are the single character books about Carol Starkey and Scott James, for example. Start the series later, like with Voodoo River, and enjoy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not Crais’ Normal Standard

I enjoy Robert Crais’ characters and storylines. This book didn’t rise to his normal excellent plots. It will be satisfying for Elvis Cole fans but is not a strong enough story to be a stand-alone example of his normal excellence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

4 th book I have read from this author newer are

this is the forth book from this author and the later books were much better this was OK and I will try a newer book when available

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Ugh

I love this series and this was a good story but the ending was not good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Reader wrong

Story was OK , but the narrator was all wrong for this part. Needed someone with a deeper voice and a little more menacing sounding.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars

Hated the performance. The last one was so good.

Whoever directed this one needs to check the previous work for performance continuity. hated it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

2nd book I tried by him, wanted to like it but....

What disappointed you about Stalking the Angel?

It just couldn't hold my attention.

Would you ever listen to anything by Robert Crais again?

Maybe if it was a narrator I love.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

His sentences seemed to run together, pace or speed. I am not sure it just couldn't keep me interested.

Any additional comments?

I may try it again, not sure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book keep up the good work Robert.

Mr. Lawlor could do better voice parts. I have heard better. keep trying to do each voice per part.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful