I moved to Los Angeles about two weeks ago. Long story mercifully short is that the whole enterprise is a happy, but sad event. It depends on the day, but so far more happy than sad.
One of the many happy parts is that my relocation brings me to a city with infinitely more opportunity to reinvigorate my love of Crime Fiction. To that end I went to
Diesel Bookstore in tony Brentwood for a signing of one of the best and brightest that Crime Fiction has to offer,
Mr. Robert Crais.
Mr. Crais has been one of my favorites dating all the way back to
INDIGO SLAM or
VOODOO RIVER. Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are two of the most dependable characters in Crime Fiction. Stand-up guys whose honesty and loyalty for each other and those they have sworn to protect are markers for the real world.
SUSPECT shifts away from Elvis and Joe to Scott and Maggie. Scott the PTSD Cop who recently lost his partner and Maggie his PTSD Police Dog recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Scott and Maggie are damaged souls looking for safe harbor in a storm that continues to war inside their head. Mr Crais spoke about the genesis of the book at the signing. A life long dog owner he has not owned a dog in well over a decade because of overwhelmingly strong feelings of disloyalty to his Akita that died in his arms.
I am going cry. My wife leaned over at some point during Mr. Crais's reading and whispered "You are going to be a mess." I'm oddly attracted to cats for their strange aloofness, but I love dogs for their all in devotion and love. SUSPECT will undoubtedly leave me a mess, but I am without a doubt in the sure hands of a talented author. I know this because cliche and manipulation never have and never will be a part of a Robert Crais novel. That is why he is one of the best.
