Once again, I've been reading too much to post on the vintage crime blog. Since the last installment, I am now caught up on all of the trade paperbacks of The Walking Dead thanks to a really great sale that my local comic book store Ultimate Comics had.
I also re-read The Confusion by Neal Stephenson, which was SO MUCH BETTER the second time around. It is shocking to think about how much research Neal Stephenson must do for each of his novels.
And then there is LA Requiem. This is the best Elvis Cole novel I've read yet, and most likely the best book I have read in a year. It is a great novel because it has a great story, and also contains the Joe Pike origin story. If you don't know, Joe Pike is Elvis Cole's partner. He never says much (I would still like to see Joe Pike meet Jack Reacher by the way), but this tells the story of Joe as a kid and his motivation for becoming who he is.
Honestly, the story is excellent, but it is nearly irrelevant. The character development that happens in this novel trumps any story that Robert Crais could tell. I am seriously pumped up about Joe Pike! Yes, I know he has his own novel, but I am reading all of the Crais in the order it came out. I'm currently reading The Last Detective, and it is an excellent Elvis Cole novel too!
