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Summary and Reviews of The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais

The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais

The Forgotten Man

by Robert Crais
  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Feb 15, 2005, 352 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2006, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

A stunning, edge-of-your-seat suspense novel that leads Detective Elvis Cole to the very thing he's always searched for— the dark secrets of his own life and the father he never knew—as well as a brutal killer determined to stop him.

In his major New York Times bestseller, The Last Detective, Robert Crais returned to his signature characters, private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike. Now Crais delivers a stunning, edge-of-your-seat suspense novel that leads Elvis to the very thing he's always searched for— the dark secrets of his own life—as well as a brutal killer determined to stop him.

Los Angeles, 3:58 a.m.: Elvis Cole receives the phone call he's been waiting for since childhood. Responding to a gunshot, the LAPD has found an injured man in an alleyway. He has told the officer on the scene that he is looking for his son, Elvis Cole. Minutes later, the man is dead.

Haunted throughout his life by a lack of knowledge about his father, Elvis turns to the one person who can help him navigate the minefield of his past— his longtime partner and confidant, Joe Pike. Together with hard-edged LAPD detective, Carol Starkey, they launch a feverish search for the dead man's identity—even as Elvis struggles between wanting to believe he's found his father at last and allowing his suspicions to hold him back. With each long-buried clue they unearth, a frightening picture begins to emerge about who the dead man might have been and the terrible secret he's been guarding.

At the same time, Elvis has no way of knowing he has awakened a sleeping monster. The further he goes in his investigation, the closer he draws to a merciless killer who is violently connected to the unidentified man's past. This psychopath believes Cole is hunting him, and he goes on the attack to find Elvis before Elvis can find him.

Summoning all the powerful elements that have made Robert Crais one of the preeminent crime writers today, The Forgotten Man is a spectacular tour-de-force of suspense and intrigue.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist - Wes Lukowsky
Very few thrillers leave readers with teary vision, pondering such profundities as acceptance and forgiveness. This is one of the few. A deeply moving, heartfelt mystery.

Kirkus Reviews
A potent mix of sound detection, black humor, cut-and-run action, sensitive-male flapdoodle, and half a dozen first-class surprises. Welcome back, Elvis.

Publishers Weekly
...blends high-powered action, a commanding cast and a touch of dark humor to excellent dramatic effect.....Crais boasts a distinctive knack for a sucker-punch element of surprise.

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Beyond the Book



Before Crais published his first standalone thriller, Demolition Angel, in 2000, followed by Hostage in 2001, he wrote a series of eight books featuring Elvis Cole, a 'sensitive and wisecracking collector of Disneyana' and his 'heavy-artillery partner, Joe Pike', set in the seamy streets of Los Angeles. In 2003 he returned to the series with The Last Detective. The Forgotten Man is the 10th in the series.

  • The Monkey's Raincoat (1987)
  • Stalking the Angel (1989)
  • Lullaby Town (1992)
  • Free Fall (1993)
  • Voodoo River (1995)
  • Sunset Express (1996)
  • Indigo Slam (1997)
  • L. A. Requiem (1999)
  • The Last Detective (2003)
  • The Forgotten Man (2004)...

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Read-Alikes

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