Robert Crais is a renowned contemporary American novelist and screenwriter. He has produced a number of novels in the mystery/thriller genre. His notable literary works include the novel series based on the phenomenal character of Elvis Cole.
Born on June 20, 1953, in Independence, Louisiana, Robert Crais was adopted and raised by a blue-collar family. Growing up he opted for majors in mechanical engineering from the Louisiana State University. At the age of fifteen he bought a secondhand copy of Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister. The book stimulated his love for reading crime fiction, Los Angles and writing. After his stint as an amateur film-maker and fiction writer, he relocated to Hollywood, Los Angles in 1976. His previous hard work as a struggling writer paid off as he was quickly offered a script writing job. Some of the major television shows he wrote scripts for include Miami Vice, Hill Street Blues and Cagney & Lacey. In addition to that, he worked for several established TV networks, writing pilots and Movies-of-the-Week.
One of the milestones in Crais’ scriptwriting career is Cross of Fire, a four-hour NBC miniseries which was highly praised by the New York Times. He was also nominated for the prestigious Emmy award for his contribution to Hill Street Blues television show. Despite having a successful career, Crais did not feel content with the collaborative writing trend introduced in the Hollywood around mid 1980’s. Eventually, he gave up on lucrative position as a writer and handed in his resignation. The decision offered him the luxury to follow his dream freely, thus he experimented with novel writing. His first attempt as a novelist failed to garner positive response. However, his father’s sudden demise influenced him to create the character of Elvis Cole in a stand-alone novel, which later became a successful series.
Robert Crais made a surprising comeback with his novel The Monkey’s Raincoat, published in 1987. The novel features the character of Elvis Cole, who is inspired by certain autobiographical elements. Elvis Cole is shown to be a private investigator and an ex-Ranger with a strong sense of justice. The plot reveals Cole and his sidekick Joe Pike’s involvement in a missing person case and their unveiling of the mystery behind it. The book was highly commended by the critics and had Crais won Anthony and Macavity Awards and the Edgar award nomination. Moreover, the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association listed The Monkey’s Raincoat in the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century.
With every book published in the Elvis Cole series Crais’ popularity skyrocketed. L. A. Requiem is one of his masterpieces that altered the detective novel writing altogether. He successfully conceptualized a unique structure for his novels which involved the first-person narration blurring between the present events and flashbacks from the past. Furthermore, it included multiple storyline all merging in one in the end from multifarious viewpoints. L. A. Requiem earned him rave reviews from critics and fans. It topped the New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists. The book was followed by a stand-alone novel, Demolition Angel (2000), which introduced another famous character, Carol Starkey. Subsequently, Starkey was featured in the Elvis Cole series as a lead.
So far Robert Crais has penned 19 novels out of which 15 belong to Cole/Pike series. His key works include Hostage (2001), The Watchman (2007), The First Rule (2010) and Taken (2012). The major literary influences on his works are known to be John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and Dashiell Hammett.
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