Elvis Cole's first appearance in The Monkey's Raincoat garnered Robert Crais the prestigious Anthony and Macavity awards as well as nominations for Edgar and Shamus honors. With the next two electrifying entries in this bestselling series, Stalking the Angel and Lullaby Town, the legion of Elvis fans expanded among readers and critics alike. Now in Free Fall Elvis gets caught up in his hottest case yet, a case that tests the limits of the human heart as Elvis uncovers a world of cops gone wrong in L.A.'s most explosive neighborhood. Jennifer Sheridan has a good job, a great future, and an engagement ring from the man she loves, a member of an elite LAPD plainclothes unit operating in the war zone known as South Central Los Angeles. But her great future is suddenly in jeopardy - and it's her cop fiance who's the problem. Jennifer is certain that Mark Thurman is in some kind of trouble, and she wants Elvis Cole to find out what it is. Elvis never could say no to a woman in love, so he takes on the case only to find that some jobs are easier than others: Before Elvis even has a chance to leave his office, Thurman himself drops by to discourage Elvis from proceeding with the investigation. Jennifer's suspicion that he's in trouble is off track, he says; there's no trouble, there's just another woman - it may not be pretty, but it's not criminal, either. Elvis's investigation seems to bear out Thurman's claim. Then he discovers the very thorough, nearly undetectable search someone has made of his office. Someone with a lot of practice at careful inspections. Someone like a cop. Suddenly the case turns deadly as Elvis and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike plummet into a world of racist cops,South Central street gangs, and conspiracies of silence. But Jennifer Sheridan won't give up on her man so easily, and the case kicks over into white-hot overdrive as Elvis and Joe find themselves framed for a crime they didn't commit, and L.A.'s deadliest street gang targets Mark a

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author invites you into a conversation with his two most popular characters—one well-liked and the other, not so much.In this short piece, Robert Crais brings us into the world of quirky and likable Los Angeles PI Elvis Cole and his friend Joe Pike, a survivor and an enigmatic man of few words. The discussion revolves around the choices they've made, the obstacles they've overcome, the things that drive them to be who they are, and the hope that keeps them persevering through the darkness. It's a fresh look at this "superb series" (Kirkus Reviews), and a fascinating visit with its "whip-smart" author (Booklist), who has also written for such television classics as Cagney and Lacey and Hill Street Blues."Cole and Pike make a terrific pair." —Seattle Times

From Publishers WeeklyAfter earning a law degree, James Daniels quit recording audiobooks, but returned to read Crais's newest Elivis Cole and Joe Pike mystery (his previous Crais recordings include The Forgotten Man, Hostage, The Last Detective, Lullaby Town and The Watchman). It's a welcome return and Daniel's no-nonsense reading elevates one of Crais's lesser efforts and turns it into an enjoyable listening experience. Slipping back into these characters, Daniels easily distinguishes Cole's wise-guy banter from Pike's steely resolution, and he gives this outing's enigmatic villain, Lionel Byrd, just the right note of weirdness. A fire unearths evidence that someone Cole helped prove innocent of murdering a prostitute six years ago may actually have been guilty—and may have killed many other women. Cole and Pike dodge bullets as they dig around to find out the truth. A Simon & Schuster hardcover (Reviews, May 19). (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineElvis Cole has been around for more than 20 years, and he has aged like fine wine. Chasing Darkness contains the classic crime elements that have made Crais’s series so popular, but the novel seems, as a few critics commented, more like a straightforward crime thriller this time around. Material Witness felt that the novel was perhaps less psychologically intense than previous installments, but nonetheless still as compelling in its exploration of crime and backroom politics. A tight, plausible plot and a wholly unexpected ending kept critics turning the pages. In sum, “[t]he Cole books are first-rate entertainment. If you don’t know them, this one is a good starting point” (Washington Post).Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Three high school students, bullied at school because of their strange abilities, are sucked through a portal to a sister planet called Cathora. Here they find they are not normal children but belong to a group of entities known as the Mytar. A creature, known only as Zelnoff, has invaded this planet and plans to attack Earth. There ensues many struggles and battles as they try to defeat Zelnoff.Severe weather patterns - storms, floods and strong winds - are sweeping across planet Earth. Against this backdrop, three high school students, known and tormented for their strange abilities, fight their own battles against school bullies. The discovery of a strange key by their leader Chris Reynolds plunges all three through a portal into a sister world, Cathora, in another dimension. In this world their behaviours, that labelled them as misfits on Earth, turn out to be the seeds of extraordinary powers.They soon meet Batarr, the Guardian of the portal; he tells them they are not normal children, but are part of a group of six entities called Mytar who are periodically seeded throughout the dimensions to fight planetary invasions across these portals. Cathora has been invaded by an alien army, led by a creature known only as Zelnoff. Zelnoff’s next target is Earth. The Mytar alone have the power to stop him if the other Mytar on Earth can be found. There ensues many struggles and battles as Chris, Susie and Joe seek to evade Zelnoff’s forces long enough for their powers to develop so they can detect the remaining Mytar back on Earth.

From Publishers Weekly"Efficiency and focus are the keys to success," says L.A. PI Elvis Cole in the fifth (after Free Fall) and best to date of this outstanding series. Although Cole's comment is a little facetious, it's an accurate commentary on his approach here. Popular 36-year-old TV star and adoptee Jodi Taylor hires Cole to identify her birth parents and uncover her medical background. His investigation takes him to Ville Platte, La., where he encounters a lovely attorney, an ancient snapping turtle and Jimmy Ray Rebenack, auto mechanic and part-time investigator who has already uncovered some facts about Jodi that he may turn to his own advantage. Cole's attention to Rebenack worries Milt Rossier, a local crime lord involved in assorted illegal activities, but Cole cares only about his own investigation?until one of Rossier's thugs murders an old man for protecting a small child. Finally, Cole calls on Joe Pike, his silent and deadly partner, to help put a stop to Rossier's exploitive pursuits and expose the old crime that threatens Jodi Taylor's career. Cole has never been wittier, more passionate or more violently committed to his clients. Crais makes not a single misstep here. Author tour. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalOn a trip to Louisiana in order to locate the biological parents of a popular television actress, private eye Elvis Cole runs into more than he bargained for, including a cast of memorable characters. From the author of Lullaby Town (Bantam, 1992).Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. SUMMARY:Robert Crais has established Elvis Cole, his wisecracking private eye with a tough exterior but a soft heart, in the consciousness of mystery readers and reviewers everywhere. In Voodoo River, Elvis Cole returns in his most exciting adventure yet. Hired to uncover the past of Jodi Taylor, an actress in a hit television series, Elvis leaves his native Los Angeles to journey to deepest Louisiana to search for Jodi's biological parents. Soon he discovers the real reason he's been sent there - but not before run-ins with an amazing cast of characters, including a crazed, Raid-spraying housewife; a Cajun thug who looks like he's been built out of spare parts; and a menacing, hundred-year-old river turtle named Luther.

From Publishers WeeklyCrais's latest L.A.-based crime novel featuring super-sleuth Elvis Cole blends high-powered action, a commanding cast and a touch of dark humor to excellent dramatic effect. One morning at four, Cole gets a call from the LAPD informing him that a murdered John Doe has claimed, with his dying breath, to be Cole's father, a man Cole has never met. Cole immediately gets to work gathering evidence on the dead man - Herbert Faustina, aka George Reinnike - while cramping the style of the assigned detective, Jeff Pardy. Though Cole finds Reinnike's motel room key at the crime scene, the puzzle pieces are tough to put together, even with the unfailing help of partner Joe Pike and feisty ex-Bomb Squad techie Carol Starkey, who's so smitten with Cole that she can't think of him without smiling. Days of smart sleuthing work take the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Detective" from a Venice Beach escort service to the California desert, then a hospital in San Diego, where doubts about Reinnike's true heritage begin to dissipate. Meanwhile, a delusional psychopath named Frederick Conrad, who is convinced that his partner in crime was killed by Cole, stalks and schemes to even the score. There's lots to digest, but this character-driven series continues to be strong in plot, action and pacing, and Crais (The Last Detective) boasts a distinctive knack for a sucker-punch element of surprise. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineThe 10th Elvis Cole novel earns well above average praise from most critics. In the series’ latest, Crais develops one of his most complex characters yet by expanding on the detective’s painful childhood. But The Forgotten Man does have flaws, especially in comparison to the earlier, and stronger, Cole novels. “All the elements are present to make another thrilling Crais mystery,” writes the Chicago Sun-Times, “but the spark ... is missing.” In other words, longtime fans will appreciate this quick-paced and gritty mystery thriller, but newcomers should stick to previous Cole installments.Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

An unknown task force. The Coalition shattered. Haven destroyed?The Haven Protectorate continues to chip away at the Coalition's holdings through guile and subterfuge...and supplying resistance movements. Cole doesn't want an all-out war. Beta Magellan isn't ready.But when a group of unknown ships attacks the far side of the Coalition, Cole must shift priorities.Who are the newcomers? Will Cole lead the Haven Protectorate to victory?

Lady Abigail Moran and her partner Simon Thorne are, not to put too fine a point upon it, thieves. Well-born, well-mannered, well-dressed, well at home in 1880s London, but thieves all the same. How else can they keep Simon in waistcoats? Their latest caper involves pearls, a squealing beauty, and the most amazing magician of all time. Really. One has but to ask him.[Co-authored with Amy, Kevin, and Dana Rushton]You know how there are a zillion Christmas movies, books, and TV specials with titles like “The Christmas” plus something else? It occurred to the authors that the formulas used in these stories could probably be applied – or shattered – using just about any noun in a title like that. So we came up with a new tradition.The rules are simple:1. Open a Christmas book and point to a random spot on a random page.2. Scan along the text until you come to a noun. 3. Write that story.Check back each year to get the latest stories!

From Publishers WeeklyThe public's readiness to believe the worst of its police forces is an undercurrent in the latest case (after Voodoo River) for Southern California PI Elvis Cole. Beginning with the discovery of a corpse off Mulholland Drive in suburban L.A., the plot uncovers high-level venality, advances the romance of the ever-engaging Cole with Louisiana lawyer Lucy Chenier and reveals some of the past of Joe Pike, Cole's enigmatic, seriously strange sidekick. Soon after the body of Susan Martin is found in a garbage bag, Detective Angela Rossi discovers evidence that implicates the victim's husband, wealthy mover and shaker Teddy Martin. Unfortunately, Rossi is under a cloud, having been accused of falsifying evidence in a previous case. Martin's attorney, Jonathan Green, considered one of the country's top five criminal defense attorneys, hires Cole after arriving at his office with a video and sound crew, to investigate Rossi. Though Cole's investigation clears Rossi, Green's subsequent announcement that Cole has proven her guilt, puts the PI at odds with the LAPD, forces him to examine Green's motives in the case and, finally, puts him on a course to correct the series of wrongs in the case that have prompted Lucy to observe: "The law is not about justice." $150,000 ad/promo; author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From BooklistIf Spenser and Hawk are the forefathers of the double-tough-guy mysteries, then Crais' Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are among their most notable offspring. Here Elvis is hired by high-profile attorney Jonathan Green to investigate the death of Susan Martin, wife of megamillionaire Teddy Green. The defense is basing its case on the Mark Fuhrman^-like theory that evidence was planted at the scene by Detective Angela Rossi, a fallen star in the LAPD who could use a celebrity conviction as her ticket back to the fast track. Elvis and Joe are pleased when their efforts show Rossi worked by the book, but attorney Green puts his own spin on the data. When the people Elvis contacted begin dying, he senses something is terribly wrong. This hip, funny, and thought-provoking novel will delight Crais' growing legion of fans, and the fist-shaking, high-fiving conclu sion offers at least the hope of ultimate justice when our system fails. Wes Lukowsky

Elvis Cole is back... With his acclaimed bestsellers,Hostage(aNew York TimesNotable Book) andDemolition Angel, Robert Crais drew raves for his unstoppable pacing, edgy characterizations, and cinematic prose. Now, inThe Last Detective, Crais returns to his signature character, Los Angeles private investigator Elvis Cole, in a masterful page-turner that probes the meaning of family and the burdens of the past. Elvis Cole's relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier is strained. When she moved from Louisiana to join Elvis in Los Angeles, she never dreamed that violence would so easily touch her life -- but then the unthinkable happens. While Lucy is away on business and her ten-year-old son, Ben, is staying with Elvis, Ben disappears without a trace. Desperate to believe that the boy has run away, evidence soon mounts to suggest a much darker scenario. Joining forces with his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, Elvis frantically searches for Ben with the help of LAPD Detective Carol Starkey, as Lucy's wealthy, oil-industry ex-husband attempts to wrest control of the investigation. Amid the maelstrom of personal conflicts, Elvis and Joe are forced to consider a more troubling lead -- one indicating that Ben's disappearance is connected to a terrible, long-held secret from Elvis Cole's past. Venturing deep inside a complex psyche, Crais explores Elvis's need for family - the military that embraced him during a troubled adolescence, his rock-solid partnership with Pike, and his floundering relationship with Lucy - as they race the clock in their search for Ben. The Last Detectiveis Robert Crais' richest, most intense tale of suspense yet.

SUMMARY:It is fire season, and the hills of Los Angeles are burning. Fire Department personnel rush to evacuate the inhabitants, and find the days-old corpse of a middle-aged recluse who apparently committed suicide. Clutched in his lap is a photo album containing photographs of seven young women who have been murdered, each photograph was taken only moments after the women were killed. One murder per year for seven years, their bodies found in different parts of the city. LAPD homicide detectives had never connected the seven murders. But now with the discovery of the "death album" these seven murders have been linked, and the news for Elvis Cole is bad... Only one suspect had been charged in any of those cases, that being for the murder of victim #4. LAPD and the LA County District Attorney had a recorded confession by the suspect and believed him to be the murderer. But, with evidence supplied by Elvis Cole, in the end he walked free. That suspect was the suicide now discovered in the fire, Elliot Martin. Did Cole's action three years ago free a killer to commit more murders? Did Elvis cost three young women their lives?

Amazon.com ReviewReaders who complain that there's too much wisecracking and cute icon worship in Robert Crais's books about Los Angeles private eye Elvis Cole will be glad to find these traits downplayed (but not totally disappeared) in this story about Cole's search for a missing printer whose specialty is funny money. The book is centered by the presence of the printer's three children--especially the motherly 15-year-old Teri and the obnoxious 12-year-old Charles--who hire Elvis from the phone book. Cole, hoping to become the stepfather of the son of his own lady love, gets sucked in by the children's combination of need and family unity, and soon finds himself in the middle of a shooting war between Russian gangsters, Vietnamese patriots, and ambiguous Federal agents. Previous Elvis outings in paperback: Sunset Express, Free Fall, Lullaby Town, The Monkey's Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Voodoo River. From Library JournalHaving made it big with his last Elvis Cole mystery (Sunset Express, Hyperion, 1996), Crais here puts Cole on the track of a missing father who seems to have criminal connections.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Amazon.com ReviewMore than 10 years ago, I was shocked to learn that some puerile piece of fluff had won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original, when it was so obvious to me and virtually everyone else in the Western Hemisphere that the award should have gone to The Monkey's Raincoat, the book that introduced Elvis Cole, private eye, and is to this day one of the funniest books I've ever read. The terrific Elvis Cole series has grown through the years, each book better than the last, but nothing prepared me for the quantum leap (yes, it's a cliché, but it belongs here) that Crais has made with L.A. Requiem. It's not as funny as the other books in the series, but it's a beautifully plotted detective story, rich with police procedure, and it will keep even the most sophisticated reader at sea right until the end. And that's what elevates this book to the level of literature. This one is more about Joe Pike, Elvis's silent sidekick, than it is about Elvis. We learn, through Pike's own eyes, how his childhood made him the way he is today. It's also about a friendship so strong that it threatens Elvis's relationship with his beloved Lucy. It is a tender but dark book--a serial killer book--but it doesn't attempt to outgross the other serial killer books on the shelf. It is funny at times and chilling at other times, making it one of the rare books that can't help but linger in the memory long after it's been read and put away. --Otto PenzlerFrom Publishers WeeklyIn his eighth book about wise-cracking Los Angeles private detective Elvis Cole, Crais has expanded his narrative reach and broadened his characters' horizons to produce a mature work that deserves to move him up a notch or twoAinto Parker or Connelly country. He's done this by focusing on Joe Pike, Cole's tough and hitherto totally enigmatic partner. It's Pike who breaks in on Cole's reunion with Lucy Chenier, his lawyer/broadcaster lover who has just moved from New Orleans, to ask for Elvis's help in tracking down the missing daughter of a rich and powerful Hispanic businessman. When the girl turns up murdered in Griffith Park, it's Pike who gives a nerdy medical examiner valuable assistance; and when it turns out that the girl's death is linked to several other murders, it's Pike who is charged with killing the chief suspect. Through flashbacks to Joe's past life as an abused child, a highly motivated teenage soldier and an L.A. cop fighting to keep a corrupt partner from destroying his family, we learn more about Pike than we did in the seven previous Cole books. This new focus also allows Crais to keep Elvis's often annoying throwaway lines to a minimumAalthough more pruning could have been done with no loss of flavor. The book's scope is wide enough to include many other memorable characters, especially a rough-edged, vulnerable police officer named Samantha Dolan, plus a choice of plausible villains. There may be one too many metaphoric descriptions attempting to link aspects of the L.A. landscape with the moods and deeds of its inhabitants, but overall Crais seems to have successfully stretched himself the way another Southern California writerARoss MacdonaldAalways tried to do, to write a mystery novel with a solid literary base. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are joined by Suspect heroes LAPD K-9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Maggie, in the new heart-stopping thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Robert Crais. Loyalty, commitment, and the fight for justice have always driven Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. If they make a promise, they keep it. Even if it could get them killed.             When Elvis Cole is secretly hired to find a grief-stricken mother, he's led to an ordinary house on a rainy night in Echo Park.  Only the house isn't ordinary, and the people hiding inside are a desperate fugitive and a murderous criminal with his own dangerous secrets.             As helicopters swirl overhead, Scott and Maggie track the fugitive to this same house, coming face-to-face with Mr. Rollins, a killer who leaves behind a brutally murdered body and enough explosives to destroy the neighborhood.  Scott is now the only person who can identify him, but Mr. Rollins has a rule:  Never leave a witness alive.      For all of them, the night is only beginning.      Sworn to secrecy by his client, Elvis finds himself targeted by the police even as Mr. Rollins targets Maggie and Scott.  As Mr. Rollins closes in for the kill, Elvis and Joe join forces with Scott and Maggie to follow a trail of lies where no one is who they claim -- and the very woman they promised to save might get them all killed. **

retailAvailable for the first time as an ebook!Life in the California sun suits Elvis Cole--until the day a fifteen-year-old girl and her two younger siblings walk into his office. Then everything changes.Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night. What he finds is a sordid tale of high crimes and illicit drugs. As clues to a man's secret life emerge from the shadows, Elvis knows he's not just up against ruthless mobsters and some very angry Feds. He's facing a storm of desperation and conspiracy--bearing down on three children whose only crime was their survival...

From Publishers WeeklyUndoubtedly prompted by the success of recent Crais bestsellers (Demolition Angel; Hostage), his audio publishers have gone back to the second book in his increasingly popular Elvis Cole series, originally published in 1989, for a lively and colorful outing that manages to capture much of the author's early innocence and freshness. Stuart brings the quirky Cole to life quickly, combining his strengths (tenacity, incorruptibility, frequent flashes of humor) with his oddities (his love of the Disney artifacts that litter his office) to make a credible whole person. Other characters emerge with equal vocal skill: the enigmatic Joe Pike, Cole's muscular sidekick; a glowering Los Angeles property developer, his alcohol-impaired wife and their fragile adolescent daughter, who winds up being kidnapped by Japanese gangsters. Cole, hired to find a rare Japanese manuscript, discovers that the teenager's fate is very important to him personally forging a bond between the detective and children in peril that has become a hallmark of the series. For those who have been fans of Elvis since book one, The Monkey's Raincoat, it's good to have his early adventures around to listen to. For more recent Crais converts, this could prove an eye-opening revelation of how Cole got to be who he is. Based on the Bantam mass market. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalHard-nosed private detective Elvis Cole returns ( The Monkey's Raincoat ) to do battle for a teenaged girl kidnapped as part of a scheme involving the theft of a priceless Japanese manuscript outlining samurai behavior. While Cole's wry sarcasm and attempts at "cute" often fall flat, his humanity and integrity carry him through an apparently convoluted but mostly transparent plot. Los Angeles settings, Japanese heavies, wild action, and businesslike prose, however, make this better than many.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus ReviewsLullaby Town is Chelam, Connecticut, where L.A. shamus Elvis Cole (The Monkey's Raincoat, 1987--not reviewed) goes in search of Karen Shipley, divorced ten years earlier by boyish filmmaker Peter Alan Nelsen, who's since developed deep pockets (courtesy of a string of action hits beginning with Chainsaw) and a conscience of sorts. Just when it looks like Elvis has found Karen and her son, Toby, all too easily, Karen turns out to be laundering money for the Mafia, and the story takes off like a two-stage rocket. It'll take all of Elvis's wise-guy savvy to pry Karen loose from those other wise-guys without condemning her to the witness-protection program or the East River. Elvis is as sharp as a West Coast Spenser, but without Spenser's nasty/noble attitudinizing--and this story is pure pleasure from the very first page. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.From the PublisherHollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep -- until it turns out to be a nightmare. For when Cole finds Nelson's wife in a small Conneticut town, she's nothing like what he expects. The lady has some unwanted -- and very nasty -- mob connections, which means Elvis could be opening the East Coast branch of his P.I. office . . .at the bottom of the Hudson River.

When Ellen Lang's husband disappears with their son, she hires Elvis Cole to track him down. A quiet and seemingly submissive wife, Ellen can't even write a check without him. All she wants is to get him and her son back - no questions asked.The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. He soon learns that Mort Lang is a down-on-his-luck talent agent who associates with a schlocky movie producer, and the last place he was spotted was at a party thrown by a famous and very well-connected ex-Matador. But no one has seen him since - including his B-movie girlfriend.At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest - and no kid in sight - Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on. It's up to Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike to find the connection between sleazy Hollywood players and an ex-Matador."Far and away the most satisfying private eye novel in years. Grab this one - it's a winner!" - Lawrence Block"Is Bob Crais good? Put it this way: if they're taking you out to put you against the firing squad wall, and you want to enjoy your last moments on earth, pass on the last cigarette and ask for an Elvis Cole novel." - Harlan Ellison"Robert B. Parker has some competition on his hands....Elvis Cole is an appealing character and Crais' style is fresh and funny." - Sue GraftonTaking the mystery community by storm, this Elvis Cole novel was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards and won both the Anthony and Macavity for Best Novel of the Year. Crais, a VP at Paramount, was previously head script writer for Quincy, Hill Street Blues, and Cagney and Lacey.

A richly imagined novel of the Old West, as spare and vivid as a high plains sunset, from one of the world's most talented performers. It was a long time ago, now, and there were many gunfights to follow, but I remember as well as I remember anything the first time I saw Virgil Cole shoot. Time slowed down for him. Always steady, and never fast... When it comes to writing, Robert B. Parker knows no boundaries. From the iconic Spenser detective series and the novels featuring Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone, to the groundbreaking historical novel Double Play, Parker's imagination has taken readers from Boston to Brooklyn and back again. In Appaloosa, fans are taken on another trip, to the untamed territories of the West during the 1800s. When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has so little regard for the law that he has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and one of his deputies for dead. Cole and Hitch, itinerant lawmen, are used to cleaning up after opportunistic thieves, but in Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary-one who raises the stakes by playing not with the rules, but with emotions. This is Robert B. Parker at his storytelling best.

Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch return in the gritty new installment of the New York Times–bestselling series.   Appaloosa, the hometown of Territorial Marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, continues to prosper, but with prosperity comes a slew of new trouble: carpetbaggers, gamblers, migrants, peddlers, drifters, thieves, and whores, all boiling in a cauldron of excess and greed. And there’s a new menace in town: a wealthy, handsome easterner—and the owner of Appaloosa’s new casino—Boston Bill Black.             Boston Bill is flashy and bigger than life. He’s a prankster and a notorious womanizer, and with eight notches on the handle of his Colt, he’s rumored quick on the draw. When he finds himself wanted for a series of murders, he quickly vanishes. Cole and Hitch locate and arrest him, but Boston Bill escapes once again. Another murder sets the duo on his trail, eventually taking them back to Appaloosa—where one woman in particular may, or may not, prove to be the apple of Boston Bill’s eye. From the Hardcover edition. **Review Praise for Robert B. Parker’s The Bridge “An extraordinarily entertaining novel.” —Booklist “Fans of the late Robert B. Parker’s best-selling novels about territorial marshals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch will be delighted to discover a new adventure written by famed author Robert Knott.” —Cowboys & Indians Magazine “Rapid-fire dialogue and quick-paced action . . . a must read.” —Historical Novels Review “For fans of the late Parker, this book is a refreshing reunion with these cowboy characters who choose their words and situations most carefully . . . much to enjoy.” —Deseret News About the Author Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring Police Chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.  Robert Knott is an actor, writer, and producer, as well as the author of the New York Times bestsellers Robert B. Parker’s The Bridge, Robert B. Parker’s Bull River, and Robert B. Parker’s Ironhorse. His extensive list of stage, television, and film credits include the feature film Appaloosa, based on the Robert B. Parker novel, which he adapted and produced with actor and producer Ed Harris. 

The New York Times '"bestselling author's richly imagined work of historical fiction: a powerful tale of the Old West from the acknowledged master of crime fiction . FB2Library.Elements.CiteItem After the bloody confrontation in Appaloosa, Everett Hitch heads into the afternoon sun and ends up in Resolution, an Old West town so new the dust has yet to settle. It's the kind of town that doesn't have much in the way of commerce, except for a handful of saloons and some houses of ill repute. Hitch takes a job as lookout at Amos Wolfson's Blackfoot Saloon and quickly establishes his position as protector of the ladies who work the backrooms - as well as a man unafraid to stand up to the enforcer sent down from the O'Malley copper mine. Though Hitch makes short work of hired gun Koy Wickman, tensions continue to mount, so that even the self-assured Hitch is relieved by the arrival in town of his friend Virgil Cole. When greedy mine owner Eamon O'Malley threatens the loose coalition of local ranchers and starts buying up Resolution's few businesses, Hitch and Cole find themselves in the middle of a makeshift war between O'Malley's men and the ranchers. In a place where law and order don't exist, Hitch and Cole must make their own, guided by their sense of duty, honor, and friendship.

“Clever detective work and considerable shooting. It reads lightning fast...Suspenseful.”—*Booklist* Itinerant lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are back in the saddle with guns blazing in this gritty, intense addition to the New York Times–bestselling series. After hunting down the notorious desperado Alejandro Vasquez, Territorial Marshal Virgil Cole and Deputy Everett Hitch return him to San Cristóbal to stand trial. No sooner do they remand him into custody than a major bank robbery occurs and the lawmen find themselves tasked with another job: investigating the robbery of the Comstock Bank, recovering the loot, and bringing the criminals to justice. But when their primary suspect is found severely beaten outside a high-class brothel and turns out to be using a false identity to escape a torrid past, it is Alejandro who becomes the key to their investigation. Cole and Hitch are soon on the trail of the money, two calculating brothers, and the daughter of St. Louis’s most prominent millionaire in a Cain and Abel story that brings revenge to a whole new level.**

New York Times -bestselling author Robert B. Parker takes aim at the Old West with this brilliantly crafted follow-up to Resolution and Appaloosa , again featuring guns-for-hire Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. When we last saw Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, they had just put things to right in the rough-and-tumble Old West town of Resolution. It's now a year later, and Virgil has only one thing on his mind: Allie French, the woman who stole his heart from their days in Appaloosa. Even though Allie ran off with another man, Virgil is determined to find her, his deputy and partner Everett Hitch at his side. Making their way across New Mexico and Texas, the pair finally discover Allie in a small-town brothel. Her spirit crushed, Allie joins Everett and Virgil as they head north to start over in Brimstone. But things are not the same between Virgil and Allie; too much has happened, and Virgil can't face what Allie did to survive the year they were apart. Vowing to change, Allie thinks she has found redemption through the local church and its sanctimonious leader, Brother Percival. Given their reputations as guns for hire, Everett and Virgil are able to secure positions as the town's deputies. But Brother Percival stirs up trouble at the local saloons, and as the violence escalates into murder, the two struggle to keep the peace. As sharp and clear as the air over the high desert, Brimstone proves once again that Robert B. Parker is 'a force of nature' ( The Boston Globe ).