Elvis & Joe in Audiobook: The First Rule

With 2010's release of the 13th book (a lucky number for me) in the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel series by Robert Crais, this is the my final review in the arc that examines each novel and the audiobook versions that came out of them. All of this traces back to when television writer/producer Crais turned away from Hollywood more than 20 years ago to do what he always wanted, be a novelist. He originated a quirky but distinctive private detective with the unlikely name of Elvis Cole, and his memorable laconic partner, Joe Pike. That first book's success, The Monkey's Raincoat, brought the P.I. genre something extraordinary byway of the author's writing style and remarkable characterizations. The humor that epitomizes Robert Crais, along with the rich relationships and poignancy of his stories, brought the soon-to-be popular series to the fore of the mystery crime class. While the series works on its third decade with publishers and admirers, Elvis and Joe still continue to earn new fans with each new book release.

The First Rule

Robert Crais' thirteenth novel, The First Rule (print published in January 2010 for the U.S. market and pictured above - in sharp contrast of U.K. release, this cover art reaches back to previously established L.A. cityscape views of earlier books) returns Joe Pike to the forefront with the second book with this fan favorite in the lead. I could attempt my own synopsis of this novel, but I'll highlight the one done by Corey Wilde last November, instead:

"When Frank Meyers, ex-mercenary turned husband-father-businessman-upstanding citizen, is murdered along with his wife and children in a home invasion, Joe Pike takes strong exception. The dead man had been one of Pike's men during his professional soldier days. And Meyer wasn't just another soldier; he was the one man all the other soldiers thought had a real chance at a normal life. And Frank was succeeding - or was he? Pike will do whatever he must to find and bring down the killers, and learn the truth about his friend."

Whereas the author in the previous Joe Pike novel (The Watchman) had the taciturn one immediately trading gunshots this side of the prologue, here our protagonist is confronted with the brutal loss of a friend from his past. Essentially, what Robert Crais sets up from the start is a story of friendships and family, with L.A.'s Serbian mob serving as the counterpoint to Joe Pike. The thieves code, referred to by the novel's title, follows the Russian mobster's principle that nothing is more important than the gang they belong to (and family and children do not matter). Here, they'll be pitted against the one person where friendship means just about everything (including the guiding morality he's crafted). Because of this, Pike is placed again in a role that is preferred by his base of fans - that of the lethal hunter. Still, as he's done many times before, Crais manages to surprise readers with the depth of his two lead characters in this chain of novels. As Corey wrote,

"... as a result, instead of a generic action-thriller with a cardboard superman, the story carries an emotional wallop that resonates long after the last gun is fired."

As has been his inclination in the series, the author brings back and expands on a character seen in previous books (namely The Last Detective and The Watchman), that of Jon Stone. The former-mercenary and current Professional Military Contractor broker brings an added level of passion to these proceedings. Though the reader can spot elements of both Joe and Elvis in his personality, he is an altogether unique persona (and one you want to read more of). As fans have come to expect, he's a marvelous addition to the carefully built character universe by this novelist. However, everything still orbits around Elvis and Joe. It's stated best by Robert Crais himself:

"... I could no more write a Joe Pike novel without Elvis than I could write an Elvis Cole novel without Joe. These guys are more than partners. They are friends. They are two underdogs who have turned themselves into heroes."

Brilliance Audio, no surprise, used the same artwork as that of the U.S. hardcover. What was surprising, however, was their answer to the retirement of their most experienced U.S. audiobook narrator of the series, James Daniels (who now practices law). This time, the publisher sought out the author to read both the audio unabridged and abridged versions for the new release. As I covered previously, Crais has had experience in doing the abridged audiobooks for The Forgotten Man and his standalone novel Hostage, for this publisher. As the author told book tour audiences this year, Brilliance asked him if he'd take over reader duties for this novel. In the past, such a job would have taken him away from his L.A. home/writing routine and required him to travel to the publisher's home base in Michigan. Nevertheless, they wanted him enough for this novel's audio form they brought out a studio crew to Los Angeles for this stint. All in all, he spent 6 days recording both versions. For this novel, author Robert Crais performed his first unabridged reading (8:12 run-time), along with its abridged (4:36) double-duty.

Normally, given my audiobook experience I'm very much against authors reading their own books, with the exception of those reading their non-fiction bio work (Jake Adelstein narrating his Tokyo Vice book being an excellent example of this). Many authors tend to be out of their depth, and lack the vocal, linguistic, and/or acting skills to pull it off (cough... Mark Bowden... cough). So, I was apprehensive when BA announced my favorite author as the The First Rule's narrator prior to its release. I have to admit, though, I was pleasantly surprised when I began reviewing the author's earlier abridged audio work during this series. Plus, his unabridged TFR reading was also his best work in the entire line (IMO). Although, I noted Brilliance sound engineers did not enhance the recording with their hallmark phone modulation touches as they've done with other works (this was likely due to working away from their home studio). Crais is at his best voicing and bringing to life Joe, Elvis, and Jon Stone in the audiobook, but weaker where I'd expect (foreign accents and women character vocalizations). Still, his reading easily involved the listener, and that's all that really matters for audio and series fans. His voice work took nothing away from the story, and added wonderfully to it at key moments. The unabridged sample passage is below (the download link is here):



I really wanted to contrast the passage on the shorter version, but that same portion of the conversation doesn't exist on this abridgement. Take that as you will. Given the recent track record, the UK BBC version (with their narrator William Roberts) probably isn't expected till sometime next year (I will re-visit this when it is released).

Next up: recap & odd 'n ends

The Series:
The Monkey's Raincoat
Stalking the Angel
Lullaby Town
Free Fall
Voodoo River
Sunset Express
Indigo Slam
L.A. Requiem
The Last Detective
The Forgotten Man
The Watchman
Chasing Darkness
The First Rule

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