Robert Crais swears, "It still always surprises me when I find a real human being who's read one of my books." Never mind that his detective fiction has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. "Deep inside, I'm still 14 years old in Baton Rouge, La."
He adds, "You can't tell me L.A. isn't magic."
Crais, a lean, boyish 46, is sitting before book-filled shelves in the living room of his home high in Sherman Oaks. He's talking about "Demolition Angel," his new thriller just out from Doubleday that doesn't even mention his popular detective, Elvis Cole.
For this book, he created Carol Starkey, a chain-smoking, boozing LAPD detective fighting to get back her job on the bomb squad three years after almost being blown to bits. She is cynical and sarcastic. Edgy and tough-minded and profane. And, somehow, you can't help but like her. She is tough as nails on the outside. On the inside, says Crais, she's falling apart, "two heartbeats away from exploding herself."
A starred Publishers Weekly review described Starkey as "one of the most complex heroines to grace a thriller since Clarice Starling locked eyes with Hannibal Lecter."
"Demolition Angel" was sold to Columbia TriStar before it was even finished and is destined to be a motion picture produced by Laurence Mark ("As Good as It Gets," "Jerry Maguire").
Starkey's creator, who may or may not have a say in casting her, says, "Ashley Judd would be terrific. Sandra Bullock would be terrific."
It's all a long way from there--Baton Rouge--to here, from rejection slips to bestsellerdom.
It was 1976 when Crais, having "hung around for five years" at Louisiana State University studying mechanical engineering, quit school and followed his dream to Los Angeles. Eight months after landing, he sold his first TV script, to "Baretta."
To pay the rent, he "lugged mail crates up three flights of stairs all day long." He also cleaned dog runs.
He had no contacts in show business, knew zilch about scriptwriting. So he'd buy used scripts for $2.50 apiece, study them and actually measure their length. And he watched lots of TV. His second break came when Jack Klugman hired him as story editor on "Quincy, M.E.," a gig that lasted 18 months.
He was beginning to believe in the magic that lures hopefuls to Los Angeles. As he says, "Nobody goes to Bogalusa, La., because they have a dream."
