false 1689469 0743281640 9780743281645 670 154 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1689469.Chasing_Darkness 8944 Robert Crais 9577 934 5 1 false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 06:54:59 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 03:08:41 -0700 2008
Lionel had been accused of murdering one of the women, Yvonne Bennett, in the book a few years earlier. Elvis Cole found evidence that set him free. Now the Los Angeles police department is saying that Elvis got two more women killed by helping to set Lionel free in the first place - the two women murdered after Yvonne.

Elvis is SURE that the evidence he found three years ago was legitimate, and something hinky is going on. When more oddities start popping up, Elvis sets out to prove what actually happened once and for all.

Crais is back in true form with Chasing Darkness. The best statement I ever heard made about Robert Crais was, "Crais on a bad day is better than most writers on their best days." Let me assure you that Chasing Darkness WASN'T a bad day!

From page one, Crais starts building up a theme of corruption in reality. There are evils destroying the world around Elvis. First the fires are burning his city. Then he receives news that his exterminator has found termites at his house, corrupting the foundation. A ransacking break-in even results in Elvis' Mickey Mouse phone being broken. Crais has to glue him back together, but you can still see the cracks...the damage. And the corruption continues to build up to the ultimate level of law enforcement and the government.

As is the case with any Crais novel, the plot constantly feeds you twists and turns. It is pointless to try to predict the ending to a Crais novel because he'll get you. You are down to the last twenty pages or so and you know he's leading you down the final path...the one to the answers, and you know he's fed you enough information to figure out the "who done it" and then IT TWISTS AGAIN! GOTCHA!!

Crais is a master of the character. Have you ever noticed the theme with my reading preferences? One must have great characters for me to really connect. Crais' characters always manage to take up residence inside my head for days, sometimes weeks, after I've finished reading one of his books. They are so real for me that they become a part of my world in a sense. No matter how many of Crais' books I read, I never tire of hearing about Joe Pike. And something as simple as "[Pike's:] machine picked up with a beep. Pike doesn't have an outgoing message. You just get the beep" says oceans about Joe. He didn't play a very big role in this novel, but when he is present, he fills the room.

Crais never needs a lot of words to build a character. John Chen in all his paranoia, returns in this novel and Crais describes him: "Chen was tall and skinny, and watching him get out of the wagon was like watching a question mark unfold. He studied the surrounding buildings as if he were checking for spies, then hurried to my car." Holy Cow! Who doesn't conjure up a vivid image from a description like that?

I found Crais allusions to The Wizard of Oz very fitting for this theme. They played right into the idea of reality and what one sees and believes. He's another author who doesn't waste a word when he's writing. It all works toward the theme of the book. Is it any wonder I had to finish this book in one day?

Chasing Darkness is another stellar performance from Robert Crais. ]]>