Indigo Slam

An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel, Book 7

By: Robert Crais

Narrated by: David Stuart

Life in the California sun suits Elvis Cole - until the day a fifteen-year-old girl and her two younger siblings walk into his office. Then everything changes.

Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night. What he finds is a sordid tale of high crimes and illicit drugs. As clues to a man's secret life emerge from the shadows, Elvis knows he's not just up against ruthless mobsters and some very angry Feds. He's facing a storm of desperation and conspiracy - bearing down on three children whose only crime was their survival...

©2006 Robert Crais (P)2006 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Recommend Elvis and Joe to anyone who likes Spenser and Hawk or Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell."--Booklist

"David Stuart demonstrates considerable skill at fashioning character voices that are evocative but not overdone. He succeeds in capturing both Cole's easygoing nature and the tension of action scenes."--AudioFile

Narrator has probably never spent much time in L.A

Where does Indigo Slam rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I usually listen to books that are fifteen hours or more. I enjoy the Elvis Cole books so I 8 hours is ok. It is not a great book but it is entertaining and I listed to it in only two days which is pretty fast for me.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Joe Pike. He is a man of few words.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was good but anyone who can't pronounce Sepulveda or La Cienega hasn't been around L.A. He pronounced it Sepul Veda it is Sa pal va da. Any way it gave me a good laugh.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A few times the scenes with children and their father made me emotional.

Any additional comments?

I hope he keeps writing more Elvis Cole novels. Reminds me of potato chips: not great food but I can't leave them alone.

good

I got this audio book recently and listened again to the this Elvis Cole book. I have listen/read all Robert Crais' books. I really enjoyed it the second time around.

Entertaining

There isn't much special about this series. The protagonist is a fairly usual sort of P.I. in Los Angeles. His sidekick is a rather cartoonish tough guy who is mostly off screen. The plots are mostly plausible, with occasional excursions into the unlikely. The action scenes are action-y. And there is reasonable character development.

But this series is fun to read. I like Cole and Pike and I want to see them succeed. I like their clients and despise the villains.

If you're looking for a deep investigation of the human condition, this isn't it. But if you're looking for something without that much emotional baggage, I'd recommend the series.

A note about the narrator: he's generally quite good at evoking the character of Elvis Cole. But he really needs to do some serious research on how to pronounce the names of major streets in L.A. One would expect anyone who grew up watching Hollywood products to be able to pronounce Sepulveda and La Cienega at least close to correctly.

I have all the Elvis Cole books

Robert Crais is a genius mystery writer. if you don't like these books then you don't have good taste. You don't have to listen to them in order to understand the characters (which you will fall in love with I promise you ) but it does give you better insight to listen in order. but they're also great stand alone works. Crais makes the people in these stories seem real and there is always a twist at the end. the books aren't over sexed or have to much violence and they aren't bland or run out to long to make you loose interest. there is some foul language but that's something that can be over looked and I personally think it adds realism to the stories anyhow. I'm running out of room for praise however so I'll cut it off there

The mispronunciations drove me crazy!

If you are going to have a story that takes place in LA, you should make sure the reader knows how to pronounce the names of streets and other local landmarks correctly. Sepulveda, La Cienega, Gelson's and other mispronunciations were throughout the story. And really, mispronouncing Oregon! Come on. I thought the story was great and I love snarky Elvis Cole but I won't listen to a book with this narrator again.

Much better narration

David Stuart seemed like a completely different narration compared to Sunset Express. It was much better. Love this book.

I love the series.

I love the series. But Mr. Crais needs to do some research on the Glock pistol. He has mentioned it twice in this series and both times he has made major mistakes about it.

Not What It Appears

Another entertaining story from Master Crais. Narrator David is great, Next best to James Daniels in this series. When kids become adults way too soon is a moral lesson. I have repurchased this on down load and so much better than cassette. Great re listen. This story is best listen on 1.2 speed
Were my comments of help?

Indigo slam

Great book… Elvis and Pike never let you down… author always does a great job

Quintessential Los Angeles Based Detective Novel

Except for the cringe-worthy mispronunciation of key L.A. street names, the narration is good. Books in the Elvis Cole-Joe Pike series are peppered with local place names, which is part of the atmospheric appeal of the books. Stuart should learn how to pronounce street names, which are part of the appeal of these books.

Robert Crais’ honed his craft writing screenplays for Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and other crime dramas. His writing craft is on the par with Michael Connelly, another author whose novels are set in Los Angeles. The story is told from the perspective of PI Elvis Cole, whose wise-cracking dialog and humorous commentary on Southern California social trends provide comic relief from the otherwise dark themes.