Robert Crais

The following reviews are scheduled: Jonathan Kirsch reviews "The Book of Getting Even," a novel by Benjamin Taylor. Donna Rifkind reviews "Chasing Darkness: An Elvis Cole Novel" by Robert Crais. Tim Rutten reviews "Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America" by Miles Harvey. Steve Ryfle reviews "In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era" by Richard Iton. Gordon Marino reviews "American Son: My Story" by Oscar De La Hoya with Steve Springer.

Robert Crais is 20 years into an acclaimed career built around a fictional private detective named Elvis Cole. Elvis is easy to like, friendly and wisecracking. His only bad qualities are a corny sense of humor and a fondness for loud shirts. The Cole books have become bestsellers, earning their author a reputation as heir to the great California detective writer Ross Macdonald. But lurking at Elvis' side for 10 books has been a laconic, deadly sidekick named Joe Pike.

JUST as Charlie Rich and Buck Owens once emulated Elvis Presley, mystery authors of the last 30 years pay homage to Robert B. Parker's redoubtable Spenser and his urban samurai, Hawk. Spenser and Hawk still cast long shadows across our pulp landscape. In fact, no self-respecting fictional private investigator works without a larger-than-life, extralegal sidekick. For his diverting Spenser clone, Myron Bolitar, author Harlan Coben has cleverly recast Hawk as a lethal WASP named Wynn.

ROBERT CRAIS kick-starts his new novel with two commando-clad meth heads, high on crystal and paint fumes -- not just any paint, but Krylon Royal Blue Metallic, "a warrior's color" -- spraying bullets in a bank on L.A.'s Westside. The tweakers have bagged $16 million in 12 earlier bank heists. This time, hyped as well on equal parts power and greed, the huffers break the cardinal rule of bank robbers : Never linger more than two minutes; even if you haven't gotten the cash, just walk away.

Breaking news: Robert B. Parker is back in full form. Spenser, Susan and Hawk have recovered wits and wit. Wisecracks snap, pop, crackle all the way. Flippancy flips as bullets fly. Even Pearl, the Wonder Dog, reappears as Pearl II and turns out as meddling, affectionate and endearing as her predecessor.

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.