He currently lives in Santa Monica with his wife, two cats, and many thousands of books. Parker, and John Steinbeck.Ĭrais is now published in 62 countries and has become a bestseller around the world.

He credits his writing influences as Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Initially, Crais intended The Monkey’s Raincoat to be a standalone, but he soon realized he had the perfect vessel in Elvis Cole to comment on his life and times.

Crais has also won the Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Barry Award, and more for various books he has written.

His debut novel, The Monkey’s Raincoat won the Anthony and Macavity awards, in addition to receiving nominees for others, including the Edgar. His first several attempts were unsuccessful, but in 1985, following the death of his father, he was inspired to create the character of Elvis Cole.Ĭrais has since won multiple awards. In the mid-1980s he left his job as a contract writer and television producer to pursue his dream of becoming an author. From then on, his lifelong love of writing, Los Angeles, and crime fiction literature was cemented. It began when he was fifteen and purchased a second-hand copy of The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler. However, Crais is most proud of his work on the 4-hour NBC mini-series Cross of Fire.ĭespite that success, his dream was always to write a novel. He worked as a scriptwriter in Hollywood writing for popular television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice. He grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in Louisiana to a blue-collar family of oil refinery workers and police officers before moving to Los Angeles in 1976. Robert Crais has carved a name for himself within the genre of detective fiction thrillers. All of his books take place in Los Angeles and are suspenseful, gripping stories. In addition to his Elvis Cole origins, Crais has expanded that series to feature more of Cole’s supporting sidekick Joe Pike, written a spin-off series, and also written standalones. If you enjoy mystery crime thrillers with a literary twist, you’ll enjoy reading the Robert Crais books in order. Cole is described as a wise-cracking Vietnam vet determined to never grow up, who quotes Jiminy Cricket, and carries a. Elvis Cole is the protagonist that propelled Robert Crais onto the bookshelves of readers all over the world.

Hostage by Robert Crais