BOOK REVIEW - The Monkey’s Raincoat

The Monkey’s Raincoat

Robert Crais

Orion Books, 237pp.

I am late to the game in discovering Robert Crais. “The Monkey’s Raincoat” was first published forty years ago, and since then Crais has written two dozen novels and won numerous awards for that. As a veteran screenwriter, he has contributed to popular series such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice, and L.A. Law.

“The Monkey’s Raincoat”, an intriguing title Crais attributes to a famous haiku by Matsuo Basho, is a hard-driving crime thriller starring detectives Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Less a mystery solver than an underdog against overwhelming bad guy odds. Cole is the smart-mouthed detective who gets the girls and gets the crap beaten out of him at regular intervals. Pike is the quiet Rambo-type who can kill you in a heartbeat or the blink of an eye; he’s that versatile.

It is set in Los Angeles, and my first impression was that the dated references were part of a retro feel Crais was going for, until I noticed the publishing date; then it all made sense. Cole’s repartee invokes the spirit of Marlowe, so it’s all good.

The plot is the usual trope: a mousey wife whose cheating husband is mixed up in something she is only just finding out about; her nine-year-old son gets kidnapped by the drug lord who wants his coke back, yesterday; and poor Cole fending off killer goons right and left. Crais slowly cranks up the action to a big payoff and sets the stage for many more books to come. It is a fun and fast read if you’re into the classic noir detective shit like I am.