THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT

With smooth efficiency, David Stuart reads this abridgment of Robert Crais's first novel, the Anthony and Macavity Award-winning mystery that introduced Private Investigator Elvis Cole. Stuart reads with a syncopated hesitation that confers a Hollywood sullenness but misses the "noir" edge of Crais's writing. Elvis Cole--the sensitive and wisecracking collector of Disneyana--and his heavy-artillery partner, Joe Pike, traipse through the seamier streets of Los Angeles, infiltrate high-society Hollywood, and cross the line with the Latino drug trade in search of an errant husband and a missing boy. The adventure and the characters of this novel are exciting and totally satisfying. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]