Free Fall

Free Fall by Robert Crais

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A woman named Jennifer Sheridan hires Elvis Cole to watch her fiancee and find out what sort of trouble he's in. Only he's in a lot more trouble than Jennifer or Elvis Cole bargained for...

Robert Crais took me for another ride on this one. I thought I had a pretty good handle on things but then Crais jerked the rug out from under me. Cole and Pike take on gang members and possibly dirty cops and wind up on the run. Crais takes on controversial issues like police brutality, cover-ups, dirty cops, and life in South Central LA and manage to weave a very engaging tale. Ray Depente is introduced and much suffering supporting cast member Lou Poitras plays a role. Cole and Pike are Cole and Pike, like always. Tension builds and builds until the violence-gasm at the end.

As I've said before, I almost dismissed Elvis Cole as a Spenser ripoff when I first read The Monkey's Raincoat but now I'm solidly behind him. He's like Spenser but without the Susan Silverman baggage and much discussed code of ethics. Joe Pike's no Hawk but you can't have everything. Free Fall is a quality crime/mystery story and a good way to spend a snowy Sunday.



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