The Forgotten Man: A Novel (Robert Crais)

Not a great Cole novel. The book introduces a offshoot of the main theme early on but because it isn't clearly explained at that point I had no idea of exactly what the author's point was. It dragged along and none of the characters caught my interest. A poor lovestruck LAPD detective with a junior high crush on Elvis is just pitiful. I put this book down several months ago then read several other books then a Christmas present book and finally got around to finishing this baby. I think that says the book is no page turner. I've been reading Elvis Cole stories for a long time and this is way below average.

Elvis Cole has come to mean a wise cracking, smart aleck, with the exciting drama thrown in on the side. But Crais has taken the series and begun to allow it to deteriorate with formulaic plotlines, no complexity and has skipped the long-term character development that anchored the series. No longer does the reader laugh out loud and look forward to the next antic. This is a new and more serious Elvis - of course he is still portrayed as pining away for Lucy, and rightly so - and that would be okay if the storyline wasn't so trivial and contrived. Elvis is immersed in the murder of a man that on his dying breath explained that he wanted to see his son, Elvis Cole. This puts Elvis into a series of flashbacks where the reader does learn a little more about the younger Elvis. Again, this could have been rewarding for the reader, but instead it is written with cardboard characterizations and a sketchy plotline. Carol Starkey is again introduced and there are attempts to integrat... Read more

This was my first Robert Crais book and I can understand why he has such a following. This book grabs you from the start. The protagonist, Elvis, is slowly revealed through wonderful flashbacks as he tries to discover the identity of a murder victim who claimed, with his dying breath, that Elvis was his son. Since Elvis never knew his father, this is possible and the situation builds reader curiosity. The dialogue throughout is great. It is real and tangible. Crais knows how to set up a scene. Reading the book is like watching a movie in your mind! Each chapter brings the reader a bit closer to the identity of the murder victim. Even as the murder man's identity is revealed, the plot moves to finding the murderer and the motive. A fascinating ride of a book. Jump on, you'll be pleased you did. Crais is every bit as good as Lee Child and Elvis might even be a bit more believable than Jack Reacher.

I'm currently reading Robert Crais's "Elvis Cole" books in order, and have very much enjoyed the series as a whole. THE FORGOTTEN MAN is the tenth entry in the series, and deals with a murdered man who may or may not be Cole's long-lost father. It's an enjoyable story, but not one of Crais's best efforts. Crais is trying to juggle a lot of different subplots in THE FORGOTTEN MAN, and I think his plotting loses some of its sharpness here. In particular, I could have done without the silly romantic subplot between Cole and Carol Starkey, who harbors a romantic obsession with Cole for no discernable reason. Crais has never been good at writing romance, and all the love triangle stuff in this book is largely unconvincing. The murder plot was decently written, but was a bit too convoluted to hold my interest. Crais constantly changes points of view in this novel, which disrupts the story's momentum. The novel's final twist is quite a surprise, but isn't the least bit believable.... Read more

"THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS WITH MURDER. IT WOULD HAUNT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE AND THE COPS WHO INVESTIGATED THE CASE AND THE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OF THE VICTIMS AND THE LITTLE GIRL MOST OF ALL. THE MURDER WOULD CHANGE HER. SHE WOULD BECOME SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHO SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN. SHE WOULD GROW INTO SOMEONE ELSE." ---------------------------------------------------------- Whether you're an existing Robert Crais fan, or if this is your first book in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series, you're in for a literary treat. As a great fan of Crais, I am always amazed how he so seamlessly mixes action and humor, with what actually amounts to silky emotional prose, in the middle of bullets, fists, and wit, and it almost seems effortless. The story starts off with a flashback to the scene of a brutal and massively bloody crime scene. A Mother, Father, and son are found beaten brutally to death. In the midst of this bloody carnage are petite little foot prints through the pools of blood th... Read more