by Robert Crais
Part of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, book 10
First published 2006
Elvis Cole answers his phone at 3:58 AM in Los Angeles. The LAPD has found a wounded man in an alley who claims to be searching for his son, Elvis Cole. By the time Cole arrives, the stranger is dead. Cole has wondered about his father his entire life. Now he faces a choice between hope and doubt. He turns to his partner Joe Pike and LAPD detective Carol Starkey for help identifying the dead man. Their investigation uncovers buried secrets and a dangerous truth about the stranger's past. Each clue they find paints a darker picture of who this man was and what he was hiding. Cole doesn't realize his search has awakened something deadly. A killer from the dead man's past believes Cole is hunting him. This psychopath decides to strike first, turning the investigation into a race for survival.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller, detective, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Los Angeles
368 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ballantine Books