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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > July > 20 > Entry
the Bob Crais craze
California wildfires can burn out of control quickly. “Chasing Darkness,” the new novel by Robert Crais, begins while a fire is burning in Laurel Canyon. LAPD cops are telling residents to evacuate.
They make a chilling discovery: a dead man with a photo album in his lap. It contains photos of murder victims. This man was once a suspect in a murder case, and the woman this man was accused of killing is pictured in the album.
This causes problems for Elvis Cole. Elvis was the private detective who once proved this man, Lionel Byrd was innocent. Finding Byrd with the incriminating photo album contradicts that proof. The LAPD declares this serial killer’s case is closed.
Elvis is suspicious. He cannot believe that he freed a killer to go on killing. Elvis and his sidekick, Joe Pike, set out to prove that Byrd could not have possibly killed the women pictured in the photo album.
Fans of this series waited three years for this book. Crais has been busy with other projects. His last book, 2007’s “The Watchmen,” was his first stand alone novel featuring Cole’s sidekick, Joe Pike, as the main character. That book was huge for Crais. He told me that “my career is classic in one way … every book since the beginning has sold better than the one before it.”
“Chasing Darkness” is brilliantly plotted. Every clue gets turned inside out. I asked Crais how he goes about writing a story that twists and turns so much that his readers are hard pressed to figure out whodunnit.
He said, “I wanted this to be a book where nothing and no one was who they seemed to be. By the time we got to the end of the book I wanted everything to be upside down from where the reader thought things were at the beginning.
“Readers love to figure out ahead of the writer who did it. Then they love to throw it up in your face,” he said. “‘Ah, I guessed it! I saw it coming a mile away!’ It’s part of the fun of reading this kind of novel — unraveling the mystery.
“So I set as a task for myself in this book. I knew it would be a plot heavy book because there were so many illusions and so many lies within lies — that was what I wanted to do here. So when I was writing the book I was very conscious of that. I was very conscious that you, the reader, you’re going to be trying to figure out who really did it. And therefore, I took extra care in trying to set up red herrings and misleading misdirections.”
He certainly fooled me.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: booms and busts
Comments
By victor mickunas
July 21, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Pete, Bob Crais has written Hollywood screenplays. I have interviewed him a dozen times. He always insists that Elvis Cole will never appear on the big screen. Crais prefers it that way. Elvis will remain a figment of our imaginations.By prose
July 21, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
Seems like I’m always trying to catch up with Robert Crais. My wife turned me on to him in the mid-nineties with Sunset Express. I had been chiding her about this character she kept referring to as Elvis. But, the way she devoured Crais’ books finally enticed me. Once started I was hooked. After “Sunset” it was back to Free Fall and Voodoo River. Like most things it worked so well I quit doing them, and reading him. Finally, I picked up The Last Detective and there I was again, in the clutches of Cole, Joe Pike and Laura Chenier. Now, I’m jonesing for this latest in the series and I still haven’t read Hostage. Whenever, I’m reading these artfully crafted tales my mind drifts to thoughts of who would play the characters if produced in a movie. C’mon you’ve also probably thought about who would make the ideal Laura or Elvis, and especially Joe. Strangely, my actors and actress choices change each time. I suppose that’s just another way Crais seems to play tricks with my mind. These fertile intrigues never fail to surprise or satisfy. This time I intend to catch up and then read this latest thriller knowing all the while I’ll never catch on to the elusive perpetrator(s) until the end. Any writer this good and this prolific should look much older.By beastmomma
July 21, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this
This sounds like something which would make me pee in my pants— SEVERAL times!By Lea
July 21, 2008 7:52 AM | Link to this
Thanks for the heads up - I have loved all of Crais’ novels and usually get them as soon as they’re out. Missed this one though due to all the Stephenie Meyer hooha. :-) I can’t wait to get to the bookstore tonight!