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The Wanted (An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel) Hardcover – December 26, 2017
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Investigator Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike take on the deadliest case of their lives in the new masterpiece of suspense from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Robert Crais.
It seemed like a simple case—before the bodies started piling up...
When single-mother Devon Connor hires Elvis Cole, it’s because her troubled teenage son Tyson is flashing cash and she’s afraid he’s dealing drugs. But the truth is devastatingly different. With two others, he’s been responsible for a string of high-end burglaries, a crime spree that takes a deadly turn when one of them is murdered and Tyson and his girlfriend disappear.
They stole the wrong thing from the wrong man, and, determined to get it back, he has hired two men who are smart and brutal and the best at what they do.
To even the odds, Cole brings in his friend Joe Pike, but even the two of them together may be overmatched. The police don’t want them anywhere near the investigation, the teenagers refuse to be found, and the hired killers are leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Pretty soon, they’ll find out everything they need to know to track the kids down—and then nothing that Elvis or Joe can do may make any difference. It might even get them killed.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherG.P. Putnam's Sons
- Publication dateDecember 26, 2017
- Dimensions6.38 x 1.31 x 9.31 inches
- ISBN-100399161503
- ISBN-13978-0399161506
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Gripping...The Wanted brings private detective Elvis Cole back in his full glory, so if you’re a fan you’ll rejoice, while new readers can celebrate a welcome literary gift from a master of the craft.”—The Huffington Post
“[A]nother page-turner by one of the most reliable storytellers in modern crime fiction.”—Associated Press
“Expertly crafted.”—Seattle Times
“Crais's trademark humor and thoroughly accurate, genuine depictions of human interactions make this one of his best yet... [He] delivers another highly and deeply satisfying page-turner.”—Library Journal
"Crais, who has a Grandmaster Award from the Mystery Writers of America, always delivers riveting crime fiction while somehow offering something unique in every novel. Here it's the surprisingly interesting, Tarantino-like conversations between Harvey and Stemms as they plan their next deadly steps. More fantastic reading from a perennial A-lister who belongs on every crime fan's TBR list.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Among West Coast mystery writers, none is more reliable than Crais, who is in excellent form here....In his 21st book, Los Angeles ace Crais extends his streak of sharp, enjoyable thrillers.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The empathic Elvis takes center stage, with just enough hard-boiled Pike to season the mayhem...expertly crafted.”—Publishers Weekly
“Crais is one of the best crime writers in the business, and this thrilling novel will not only be wanted by thriller aficionados, but cherished as well. He has another guaranteed bestseller on his hands.”—Suspense Magazine
“[Crais is] an excellent maker of suspense plots and thriller scenes, and gives full value on that score, but his real interest is in character, including mostly people who also seem grim and dark.”—Sullivan County Democrat
“[An] outstanding crime-thriller...the tone is clearly dark, bordering on noir, to spectacular results. The Wanted is a book you definitely want to find under your Christmas tree. A relentless and riveting read that is everything great crime fiction is supposed to be.”—Providence Journal
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1
Elvis Cole
James Tyson Connor walked out of his home on a chill fall morning, climbed into a twelve-year-old Volvo, and left for school an hour late. Tyson was a seventeen-year-old junior at an alternative school in the San Fernando Valley. He was thin, nervous, and cursed with soft features and gentle eyes that made him look like a freshman. Nothing about him suggested that Tyson was one of the most wanted felons in Los Angeles.
Tyson and his mother lived in a modest, one-story ranch house not far from his school. I was a block away, waiting for Tyson to leave. His mother had warned me he would be late. Tyson suffered from anxiety issues, and hated going to school. Two prior schools had expelled him for absenteeism and failing grades, so his mother enrolled him at the alternative school to keep him from dropping out. This was a decision she regretted.
His mother called as Tyson drove away.
“Mr. Cole? Are you here?”
“I’ve been here almost two hours, Ms. Connor. The sunrise was lovely.”
“He’s gone. You can come in now.”
Tyson’s mother worked as an office manager for a law firm in Encino. She appeared neat, trim, and ready for work when she opened the door, but carried herself with so much tension she might have been wrapped with duct tape.
I walked up the drive, and offered my hand.
“Elvis Cole.”
“Devon Connor. Thanks so much for coming, Mr. Cole. I’m sorry he took so long.”
I stepped into her living room, and watched her lock the door. The house smelled of pancakes and fish, and something I didn’t place. A glowing aquarium bubbled beside a couch.
“The new school doesn’t mind, him being so late?”
“With what they charge, they should send a limo.”
She stopped herself, and closed her eyes.
“Sorry. I sound like a bitch.”
“He’s your son. You’re worried.”
“Beyond worried. I moved mountains to get him into this school, and now I feel like I’ve fed him to animals.”
Devon had found money and valuables in Tyson’s room. She believed her son had gotten involved with drug dealers and gangsters, and wanted me to find out what he was doing. I wasn’t sure I wanted the job.
I tried to sound reassuring.
“It probably isn’t as bad as you think, Ms. Connor. These things usually aren’t.”
She studied me like I was stupid, and abruptly turned away.
“Follow me. I’ll show you how bad.”
Tyson’s bedroom was small, and looked like a typical middle-class, teenage boy’s bedroom. A dresser sat opposite a walk-in closet, an unmade bed filled the corner, and his nightstand bristled with soda cans, chip bags, and crumbs. Special Forces operators with glowing green eyes watched us from a recruitment poster above the bed. A desk beneath his window was crowded with a desktop computer, a laptop, three monitors, and an impressive tangle of game controllers.
I said, “He must be a serious gamer.”
“He can’t sit still in school, but he can sit in front of these things for hours.”
She went to the desk, opened the middle side drawer, and took something from the back of it.
“This is how bad it is.”
She held out a watch with a bright white face, three dials, and three knobs on the rim. The distinctive Rolex crown was obvious.
“A Rolex?”
“A Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, made with eighteen-carat white gold. A watch like this sells for forty thousand dollars, new. Even used, they sell for more than twenty. He came home wearing it. I said, this is a Rolex, where’d you get a watch like this?”
Small nicks marred the rim and crystal, but the watch appeared otherwise perfect.
“What did he say?”
She rolled her eyes, and looked disgusted.
“A flea market, can you imagine? He says it’s a knockoff, but I don’t believe it. Does this look like a knockoff to you?”
She pushed the watch closer, so I took it. The body felt heavy and substantial. The hands showed the correct time, and the second hand swept the face with silent precision, but I wasn’t an expert.
“Could it be a gift, and he doesn’t want you to know?”
“Who would give him a gift like this?”
“His father? A grandparent?”
She frowned again, and gave me the ‘you’re stupid’ eyes.
“His father left before Tyson was born, and everyone else is dead. My son should not have this watch. He shouldn’t have anything this expensive, and we have to stop him before he gets himself killed or arrested.”
We.
I tried to tone down the drama.
“Maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves. If the watch is real, then he shouldn’t have it, but this is the kind of thing a kid might lift if he saw it at a friend’s house. You don’t need a detective if Tyson has sticky fingers.”
The reasonable detective offered a reasonable explanation, but she seemed disappointed.
“There’s so much more than the watch.”
She went to the closet, and reached inside.
“It started with shirts. He didn’t even bother to hide them, like with the watch.”
I said, “Shirts.”
She came out with a sleek black sport coat trimmed with velvet lapels.
“New shirts. Then new shoes turned up, and another new shirt, and this jacket, all from Barneys in Beverly Hills. We can’t afford Barneys.”
Her phone chirped with an incoming text. She checked the message, and slipped the phone back into her pocket.
“Sorry. The school. I text when he leaves, they text when he arrives. It’s how we keep track.”
Alternative.
I fingered the jacket. The fabric felt soft and creamy, like very fine wool. Expensive.
I glanced up, and found her watching me. Waiting.
“Did the clothes come from the same flea market?”
“No, this time a friend’s father runs the wardrobe department at a studio. They get so many free clothes, Tyson can have whatever he wants.”
I didn’t say anything. Devon went on without my prompting.
“I called Barneys. This jacket? Tyson bought it. The salesman remembered because Tyson paid cash. Three thousand dollars, and Tyson paid cash.”
She put the jacket back in the closet, and went to his bed.
“After I found out about Barneys, I searched his room.”
She slid a plastic storage container from under the bed. The container was filled with keyboards, Game Boy and Xbox gear, and action figures. She moved a keyboard, took out a box, and opened it. The box contained a thick roll of cash wrapped by a blue rubber band.
“Four thousand, two hundred dollars. I counted. The first time, he had twenty-three hundred dollars. I found over seven thousand dollars here once. The amount changes.”
I sat back and stared at her. Devon was describing an income stream.
“Did you ask him about the money?”
“If I ask, he’ll lie, just like he lied about the clothes and the watch. I want to know what he’s doing and who he’s doing it with before I confront him.”
“I can ask him.”
“If we ask, he’ll know I snoop, and he’ll still lie. Don’t detectives follow people? You could follow him and see what he does.”
“Following someone is expensive. Asking is cheaper.”
Her mouth pinched, and she glanced away. Worried.
“We should discuss your fee. I have a good job, but I’m not wealthy.”
“Okay. What would you like to know?”
“How much would it cost to follow him?”
“Two cars minimum, one op per car, ready to go twenty-four/seven. Call it three thousand a day.”
“Oh.”
She wet her lips, and her eyes lost focus. She was trying to figure out how to come up with the money, and all her options were bad. I had met a hundred parents like Devon, and seen the same fearful confusion in their eyes. Like people who didn’t know how to swim, watching their children drown.
I changed the subject.
“How long has this been going on?”
“Since the beginning of school.”
“And whatever he’s doing, you believe he’s doing it with students from school.”
Her eyes snapped into hard focus.
“Tyson’s never been in trouble. Tyson’s a sweetheart! He stayed home all the time, he never went out, he was afraid of everything, but then he started changing. He met a girl.”
“Ah.”
“I was thrilled. Tyson doesn’t meet girls. Tyson’s afraid of girls.”
“Have you met her?”
“He wouldn’t tell me her name. He made friends with a boy named Alec. They go to the mall. I ask questions, but he’s evasive and vague, or makes up more lies. Tyson was never like this. He never used to go to the mall, and now he’s never home.”
Tyson sounded like any other teenage boy, except for the parts about money and watches.
“He met Alec at school?”
“I think so, but I checked the roster.”
She took a slim red booklet from Tyson’s desk. The cover was emblazoned with a soaring bird and the name of the school. Cal-Matrix Alternative Education. Where students soar.
“I didn’t find anyone named Alec or Alexander.”
We weren’t exactly drowning in clues.
I jiggled the watch. An authentic Rolex had serial and model numbers cut into the head behind the bracelet, or on the inner rim below the crystal. High-end fakes often had numbers, too, but fake numbers didn’t appear in the manufacturer’s records.
“Tell you what. I have a friend who knows watches. She can tell us if the watch is real. She might even be able to tell us who owns it.”
“You can’t take it. Tyson might notice.”
I told her about the numbers.
“I’ll take off the bracelet, and copy the numbers. The watch can stay.”
“You won’t have to follow him?”
“We’ll start small to keep the costs down, and see what develops. Sound good?”
Her face brightened, and split with a smile.
“Perfect.”
I thought about the money and the watch she’d found, and wondered if Tyson had hidden anything else.
“You searched his room, but what about his car?”
“Only twice. When the car’s home, he’s home.”
“If you have a spare key, I’d like it. I’ll check his car after I call in the watch.”
She started away for the key, then hesitated.
“I saw on your website, The Elvis Cole Detective Agency. The website says your work is confidential.”
“That’s right.”
“Meaning, when we find out what Tyson’s doing, you won’t tell the police?”
“It depends.”
“The website doesn’t say anything about depends.”
“If I find a human head in his trunk, I might feel the urge to report it.”
She smiled again, and turned away.
“No human heads, Mr. Cole. Not yet.”
I didn’t like the way she said ‘yet.’
Devon gave me the key and watched me copy the numbers. When the bracelet was back on the watch, she put the watch in the drawer, and we left the house together.
Devon Connor drove away first. She had a long drive in bad traffic ahead, and was already late for work. Alternative schools were expensive, and so were detectives.
I started my car, but I didn’t leave. I pictured the skinny kid with gentle eyes who looked like a freshman. I pictured him sneaking cash into his room, and hiding it under his bed. There were many ways he could have gotten the cash, but none of the ways were good.
Devon’s pleasant, middle-class street was peaceful. No one was trying to murder her, or Tyson, or me, but this was about to change.
2
Sherri Toyoda and her family owned a watch shop in Santa Monica. The Toyodas sold moderately priced timepieces almost anyone could afford, but their restoration of antique and vintage collectibles had made them legends. Photographs of Sherri’s parents with dignitaries, politicians, and movie stars covered the walls. Three U.S. presidents, eleven senators, and four Supreme Court justices were among their clients.
I checked the numbers from the watch, and called her.
“Guess who?”
“Yesterday’s bad news?”
Sherri and I used to date.
“I need help with a Rolex.”
“I’ll help if I can, but we’re not an authorized dealer.”
“I’m not shopping. This is a specific Cosmograph Daytona.”
“Sweet! If you can afford a Cosmo, I might date you again.”
Everyone thinks they’re a riot.
“I need to know if it’s genuine.”
“Bring it in. I can tell if it’s real in five seconds.”
“I don’t have the watch. I have the serial and model numbers.”
“Do you have the chronometer certification that came with it?”
“If I knew what a chronometer certification was, the answer would be no. All I have are the numbers.”
She was silent for a moment.
“Okay, listen. I can check your numbers with a friend at the corporate office. If your numbers match his numbers, the watch is authentic.”
“Great.”
“Not so great if it’s stolen. He’ll want to know how I have the numbers, and why I’m asking. Is it?”
“Could be. How would he know?”
“Dude. You buy a watch like this, you’re walking around with twenty or thirty thousand dollars on your wrist. Guess what?”
“They get stolen.”
“Or lost, so the company keeps a list of AWOL watches for their clients. If you lose your watch, you give them the numbers. If your watch turns up, they know you’re the rightful owner, and give you a shout.”
“Meaning, you could find out who owns it?”
“Not necessarily. People sell watches. They give them as gifts. The company doesn’t know.”
“Oh.”
“Are you trying to find the owner?”
“Maybe.”
She thought some more.
“I still might be able to help. Stores activate the warranty when someone buys a watch like this. The original buyer might be in the warranty files. Want me to check?”
“You’re the best, Sherri. Thanks.”
I read off the numbers, and lowered my phone, but I still didn’t leave. Devon had searched Tyson’s room, but she was his mom, and almost certainly missed something. I was a trained professional, and knew where to look. Or maybe I’d get lucky.
I turned off my car, and walked up Devon’s drive for the second time that morning. The side gate squealed, I passed Tyson’s window, and let myself in through the kitchen.
The Connor residence held three bedrooms and two baths. Tyson probably wouldn’t hide something in his mother’s bedroom or bath, so I skipped them, and started in Tyson’s bathroom.
Green streaks of toothpaste highlighted the sink, and the counter was forested with deodorant, mouthwash, zit cream, and all the usual bathroom items. A frazzled toothbrush and disposable razor stood sentry in a plastic X-Men cup. Tyson’s medications were lined up beneath the mirror. The scripts bore Tyson’s name, and were written for medicines commonly used to treat depression, anxiety, and attention deficit disorder. I found nothing out of the ordinary in the cabinets, behind the towels, or in the toilet tank.
The third bedroom was set up as an office, but Devon used it as a catch-all room. Mirrored sliders filled a wall opposite a desk, a file cabinet, and a bookcase jammed with law books, paperback thrillers, and titles like The Unhappy Child, Coping with Fear, and The Single Mother’s Rule Book. Cardboard boxes of Christmas decorations were stacked on a treadmill between the desk and a window, and the desk was heavy with bills, unread magazines, and a file devoted to Tyson’s school. The file contained promotional brochures, articles, and another copy of the roster. I took a brochure and the roster, and moved on to Tyson’s room.
Product details
- Publisher : G.P. Putnam's Sons; 1st Edition (December 26, 2017)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0399161503
- ISBN-13 : 978-0399161506
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.38 x 1.31 x 9.31 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,001,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,894 in Kidnapping Thrillers
- #7,653 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books)
- #42,806 in Suspense Thrillers
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Robert Crais is the author of the bestselling Cole & Pike novels. A native of Louisiana, Crais moved to Hollywood in the late 70s where he began a successful career in television, writing scripts for such major series as Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice and Hill Street Blues. In the mid 80s, following his success with the TV buddy genre, Crais created a series of crime novels based around the characters Cole & Pike. In addition, Crais has also written several bestselling standalone thrillers. Robert Crais lives in LA with his wife and family.
Here are the Elvis Cole novels in series order:
The Monkey's Raincoat
Stalking the Angel
Lullaby Town
Free Fall
Voodoo River
Sunset Express
Indigo Slam
L. A. Requiem
The Last Detective
The Forgotten Man
The Watchman
Chasing Darkness
Stand-alone novels:
Demolition Angel
Hostage
The Two Minute Rule
The First Rule
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Actually, her son is a part-time burglar, hitting high-end homes in the platinum triangle and suddenly finding himself with tens of thousands of dollars in cash and goods--enough, perhaps, to make him less geeky and more popular, particularly with his two partners, one of whom (Amber) is particularly attractive.
Unfortunately, the young man (‘Tyson’) has stolen something of immense but not immediately apparent value from an individual with a dark secret and the financial means to suppress it. He has hired two tough guys to find the juvenile burglars, secure the lost item and then dispatch them with extreme prejudice. Elvis is caught in the middle and the local cops are threatening to arrest him as an obstructor, an accessory, etc. etc. unless he plays ball with them. Elvis being Elvis he is able to keep a lot of people at bay and a lot of balls in the air. When it comes to the bad guys he is not alone. He has Joe Pike.
The result is a novel that begins a bit slowly and strangely (given the situation) that then accelerates very nicely and ends in a very satisfying crescendo. In the process we see a lot of the City of the Angels, which Crais knows very, very well, meet some interesting people, perhaps even find a future romantic relationship for Elvis and watch a clever cat-and-mice game involving the cops, the Cole, the bad guys and an overweight geek/techie who calls himself ‘The Carl’.
All of Crais’s novels are cleverly wrought. He is a mainstay in the world of crime fiction. This is one of his very best.
Five stars; highly recommended.
There's a comfort reading Crais because he makes even the most despicable villain have a human weaknesses. His characters always stay true to themselves.
The Wanted was an excellent quick read. I gave it 4 stars only because of the book's length. It needed one more chapter in closing out the plot. To me the ending felt rushed and conflicted with the pace of the rest of the story.
But what a great story! The Wanted is a wonderful weekend read. It's good to see Elvis and Joe together again. You will enjoy this book. Guaranteed!
In “The Wanted”, Cole is hired by a distraught mother to find where her teenage son, Tyson, is getting all the money and bling he is flashing. Soon, Elvis is neck deep in drama as he discovers that Tyson and two other teens have been burglarizing high profile homes and fencing much of the loot that they don’t keep. Unfortunately, they have stolen something very valuable that a very wealthy man wants back at any cost and he hires two highly experienced killers to get it back.
Bodies begin to pile up, including one of the teenagers as the other two go into hiding. Elvis and Joe are caught in a race against the clock to find the two teens who don’t want to be found, cut a deal with investigating detectives, solve the mystery of the missing computer, and, by the way, keep from getting killed. As usual, Crais mixes fully fleshed characters and a credible plot with violence, humanity and a little humor to capture the reader’s interest and buy-in. “The Wanted” and the entire Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series is highly recommended
Top reviews from other countries
Elvis and pike book for a while, but it was great to be back. Simple predictable story but fast moving and thoroughly enjoyable. The 2 henchmen are reminiscent of
Vincent and Jules from Pulp Fiction with some crazy dialogue. It was fun and I look forward to the next episode.