Review by Steve Brewer
Elvis Cole, the wise-cracking knight errant in Robert Crais' series
of private eye novels, returns to Los Angeles in rare form in "Sunset
Express."
In a plot clearly influenced by the O.J. Simpson trial, Cole is hired
by
the media-loving defense team in a high-profile murder case. His mission:
Prove that an L.A. cop named Angela Rossi planted the bloody knife
that's
the main evidence in the case.
The first time Cole meets Rossi, she saps him with a blackjack. Despite
that
irritating introduction, Cole begins to see that Rossi's a good cop
who's
desperate to clear her name. It helps that Cole's enigmatic partner,
Joe Pike,
knows Rossi well.
(The mere thought of Pike maybe getting romantic with anyone, even a
tough
cop, is enough to make a Crais fan swoon.)
Before long, Cole and Pike are where they usually end up in Crais'
series
-- in a shootout with the bad guys that resolves most of the issues
raised in
the investigation.
Crais gives Cole a deepening romantic involvement with Lucy Chenier,
whom
Cole met in his previous outing, "Voodoo River." And, he seems to pay
special
attention to the minor characters, led by Louise Earle, a dignified
woman who
deserves a better son than the criminal with whom she got saddled.
Altogether, "Sunset Express" is fast, free-wheeling fun.