L.A. Requiem

By: Robert Crais

Narrated by: Ron McLarty

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Edgar Award nominee Robert Crais’ L.A. Requiem is a gritty, harrowing look into the minds of a serial killer and the men determined to stop him. Elvis Cole and former cop Joe Pike have been partners in a detective agency for 12 years. After an ex-girlfriend of Pike’s disappears, the girl’s father asks them to help the police with the search. When the missing persons case turns into a hunt for a killer who has been stalking victims in Los Angeles, Cole and Pike find themselves battling both a hostile police department and a madman. Ron McLarty’s masterful narration subtly builds a sense of Cole’s and Pike’s growing desperation to find some link between the victims as the body count continues to grow.

©1999 Robert Crais (P)2000 Recorded Books, LLC

Great mystery with love stories.

Where does L.A. Requiem rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

My top 30.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Samatha Dolan. She was a determined detective.

Which scene was your favorite?

The eye witness with her buddy Jack.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

A great listen with a great but yet surprising ending. The ending being a surprise but yet a little sad. I am glad I chose this one.

Good listen

A real page turner so to speak. Well done. Good narration, suspense, storyline. Crais does it well

Classic Elvis and Pike, smartass and sidekick.

This is an early book by Robert Crais, who has since become an extremely popular guy. This series has about eighteen books in it by now, and Crais has branched off to a couple of spin-offs. One of these is particularly great. It's about an LAPD Canine Officer and Maggie, his German Shepherd partner. In the Cole-Pike series, later books have made Pike the focus. Crais doesn't want to get stuck cranking out one Elvis Cole after another, and he's right about that. I remember when I first discovered Crais. One day I was sitting outside a cafe near my home, reading one of his first books and laughing out loud at how funny Cole was. A woman came over to me and asked what I was reading. She said that one seldom sees a reader enjoying a book so much. I have been enjoying Robert Crais for the ensuing twenty-five years or so.
In LA Requiem Cole and Pike are trying to track down a serial killer. This was back in the day when serial killers weren't a dime a dozen in the detective genre, as they are today. The killer is a very careful, clever and elusive guy. At the same time, Elvis's girlfriend Lucy has moved in with him. Lucy is an attorney who has been living with her son Ben in New Orleans. Living together is a giant step forward in a relationship, and Lucy is becoming quite alarmed with the amount of violence that is in Cole's life. She is rightly concerned that Ben will not be as safe living in LA as he has been in NO. In another book Ben is in fact kidnapped, which drives both Elvis and Lucy almost insane. In this one, Cole once again proves himself to be a better detective than some of the LA cops. There is a particularly horrid villain named Krantz, who heads the team that is trying to find the killer. Krantz hates both Cole and Pike, and his rage is so ferocious that it distorts his judgment. One of the cops in his detail is a lovely woman named Samantha, who is quite fine, and who eventually lets Cole know that she has been head over heels in love with him for quite a while. Cole, though, is loyal to Lucy, which makes Samantha insanely jealous. Crais keep things hot and interesting with the characters here, and with the plot as well. The search for the bad guy becomes more and more intense, and the good guys soon discover that a new target is in danger. The LAPD is clueless, despite their humongous resources. Cole, as you might guess, with Pike's help, uncovers the pattern in the identities of the victims. As Cole and Pike get closer and closer to their quarry, and the Cole-Lucy-Samantha triangle heats up, it gets really hard to put this book down. It is not smooth sailing for our guys, though. Crais never lets things get that simple. You know that Cole and Pike will be left standing at the end, although both of them get so badly injured in the process that Pike is actually near death. It's a long story, which you will enjoy tremendously, I believe. I recommend almost all of Crais's books, and right now I can't remember which of them is not so terrific. You can't lose with this one, though. Crais deserves every bit of the success that he has had. Have fun with this.

beast one yet

I started this series at the beginning. This was the best one yet. I wish the narrator from book to book did not change so often.

I love the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series. It was hard to take a break from listening to this story. Very supenseful. I did not care for the ending. Overall though it was a great book.

What about Ron McLarty’s performance did you like?

I liked Ron McLarty's tone of voice. He made the story very exciting an suspenseful.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There a few parts of the book that moved me. The bond and friendship that Elvis and Joe have is very moving. They would do anything for each other.

Best yet

Better English usage. Fewer weak jokes from Cole.
Cole becomes more interesting rather than irritating
Satisfying background on Pike. The word “route” meaning a direction taken is pronounced “root” rather than “rought” meaning overwhelming attack!

Best in the series

This was a thrill ride that kept you guessing without contrived plot twists. It's longer than the usual book in this series, but that's because you get more background detail on Joe Pike.

Joe often appears as a "Deus Ex Machismo" which can make him rather one dimensional. He gets a nice treatment here without slowing down the story and it still feels like an Elvis Cole book.

The performance is not as good as James Daniels (who has the proper amount of snark in his voice for a wise guy like Elvis.) This narrator is more 40's noir which doesn't work as well.

You could jump into this without reading the prior books (like most in this series) and get good feel for the author's style.

Ending's a bit of a dud

Overall the book very entertaining. Cole and Pike keep the action rolling, that's why the ending came as a bit of disappointment. It kind of just whimpered out. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one. The narration is excellent.

Finally a deep look at Joe Pike

I have always enjoyed the Joe Pike/ Elvis Cole series. Joe Pike's mysterious background and personality have always kept my interest. This book gives a deep look into Joe's background. This book was more serious and lacked a lot of Elvis' usual humor, but it was appropriate to the book.

AN EARLY ELVIS COLE/JOE PIKE STORY

Would you listen to L.A. Requiem again? Why?

Yes. It was extremely well-written and performed. The characters were fully-developed.

What did you like best about this story?

Joe Pike - he's awesome and dangerous

What does Ron McLarty bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings life to Elivis and Joe to a point you feel you know them

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - and I came close.