Originally published in 1997, Indigo Slam is one of the better Elvis Cole novels. The self-proclaimed worlds greatest detective (dont tell Bruce Wayne!) is hired by three children, the oldest being 15, to find their father, a job that Cole thinks will be very simple. However, as it turns out, the father is a skilled counterfeiter on the run from the Russian mafia. Cole is as wisecracking as ever; the scenes where Joe Pike, a taciturn former soldier, is sent to babysit the three kids are amusing.
There are multiple subplots: Pike is hoping to have his girlfriend Lucy move to LA with him, but her ex complicates things; some Vietnamese expatriates also are searching for the kids father; corrupt federal agents want to know where he is since another agent was killed trying to get the family into the Witness Protection Program. The US Treasury would also like it if he stopped counterfeiting money.
The climax is held at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, which alone guarantees that Disney will never buy the film rights. I love Crais Cole and Pike novels. The characters are realistic, especially the kids: the 15 year old who is the familys de facto mother; the 9 year old who acts out after his father disappears; the federal agents who want the father without the LAPD interfering, and the LAPD who dont like Coles investigation.
A good mystery does not need to involve serial killers or graphic violence, and Crais proves this in every Elvis Cole novel he writes. He has a good detective-noir style thats reminiscent of Mickey Spillane or Dashiell Hammett.
all the books in this series are entertaining, some more than others
Love all of Robert Crais's books!
