I enjoyed the premise of three children hiring a P.I. to find their missing father, and they turn out to be in the witness protection program (the reader knows this from the beginning, so not a spoiler) and mayhem ensues. Fairly typical plot, featuring gangsters and lots of shooting and chasing. Not exactly my usual cup of tea, but enjoyable from an 'it is what it is' perspective. Better written than most of this ilk. Plus I met Robert Crais at a conference last year and he couldn't have been nicer. Did you know he is vegan? ( )

I almost took off one star from my rating because it was too short, but that wouldn't be fair. But it went by way too quickly, and I'm worried I'll run out of them.

It was a typical Elvis Cole story, with some help from Joe Pike, my favorite sidekick with his humorous monologues and friendly banter. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you. But he was good at keeping the kids in line - they (along with most people) are scared to death of him.

In this book, they butted heads with Russian gangsters out for revenge, SE Asians out to drive out the communists from their country, and local counterfeiters. All in a day's work for the world's greatest detective. ( )

I've read everything in this series and really liked them all...so when needing a book for a challenge I revisited them. Elvis and Joe are perfect investing partners and perfectly good friends. What should be a simple missing person case spirals out of control bringing in the Russian mafia with the Feds close on their heels. Staying alive is a struggle...saving three kids looks beyond even Cole's and the world's toughest guy, Joe Pike's abilities. Robert Crais's skill as a story teller plus two wonderful characters combine to make this a good, if not great. Elvis Cole entry. This one was written 25 years ago and it hasn't lost anything over the years. ( )

The writing is so much more distinctive than Connelly. More fun and much richer. ( )

The Elvis Cole series is almost always good. More humanity than usual from both Elvis and Joe Pike. Russian mob/Vietnamese nationalist, dying counterfeiter printer dad and an interesting trio of children. The good wins again. ( )