Crais Never Disappoints

Here I am on the other side of Robert Crais' latest Elvis Cole novel. And, that's always a bittersweet moment for me. The sweet is that this author never disappoints, and EC is a favorite book character (with a well established history). The author always adds some wonderful L.A. background to this series--and even though I'm a native Angeleno, I'm always amazed at what RC digs up and puts down on a written page. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its Chandler-resque story-line.

The bitter is that this journey is on temporary hold since I've finished this novel (and its series predecessors in my run-up to its release). And isn't it the journey that's the most meaningful aspect of it all? I don't find the completion of a book the prize--it's the immersion one places one's self in between the text and plot. And this one had me with the first sentence--one of the better ones to start in his novels:

Beakmand and Trenchard could smell the fire--it was still a mile away, but a sick desert wind carried the promise of Hell.