From Publishers Weekly
Fifth installment in Crais's Elvis Cole series, in which the wisecracking private eye journeys from Los Angeles to Louisiana to trace a client's past. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
On a trip to Louisiana in order to locate the biological parents of a popular television actress, private eye Elvis Cole runs into more than he bargained for, including a cast of memorable characters. From the author of Lullaby Town (Bantam, 1992).Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Perhaps it's the abridgment; VOODOO RIVER comes across as a novel with an inexplicable title, and gaps in plot and character development. Robert Crais's book tells of L.A. Private Investigator Elvis Cole's search for the biological parents of television star Jodie Taylor. The plot jumps around, as does Cole, who travels from L.A. to Louisiana and finds himself in the middle of a ring of illegal alien smugglers. The story then defies any logic when Cole and partner Joe Pike take on the smugglers, just because they want to. Patrick G. Lawlor keeps the story moving, but he seems confounded by the book's meandering. Lawlor is best during scenes with Taylor's mother and the town sheriff. Unfortunately, like the listener, he still has to read the other scenes. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Los Angeles private eye Elvis Cole is hired by television star Jodi Taylor to find Taylor's birth parents. Soon after Cole arrives in Louisiana's bayou country to begin his inquiries, a local investigator is killed. With the help of his loose-cannon partner Joe Pike, Cole discovers that Jodi's natural father was a young black man who was killed by Jodi's maternal grandfather. The crime was buried for 30 years until the murdered investigator uncovered it and tried to blackmail Jodi about it. He was killed because his freelance activities threatened a lucrative illegal-alien smuggling operation. Cole and Pike decide to take down these purveyors of human misery . . . just because. Cole, in his fifth appearance, is in fine form. He's as tough, witty, and clever as ever, and his partner Pike exudes danger like no one in suspense fiction this side of Spenser's Hawk. The series has been nominated for Edgars and has won Anthonys. This installment is every bit as good as its predecessors. Wes Lukowsky

ANNOTATION

Elvis Cole returns in his most exciting adventure yet. Hired to uncover the past of Jodi Taylor, an actress on a hit TV series, Elvis travels to Louisiana to search for Jodi's biological parents. Soon he discovers the real reason that he's been sent there--but not before he has run-ins with a crazed housewife, a Cajun thug and a 100-pound river turtle named Luther.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Robert Crais has established Elvis Cole, his wisecracking private eye with a tough exterior but a soft heart, in the consciousness of mystery readers and reviewers everywhere. In Voodoo River, Elvis Cole returns in his most exciting adventure yet. Hired to uncover the past of Jodi Taylor, an actress in a hit television series, Elvis leaves his native Los Angeles to journey to deepest Louisiana to search for Jodi's biological parents. Soon he discovers the real reason he's been sent there - but not before run-ins with an amazing cast of characters, including a crazed, Raid-spraying housewife; a Cajun thug who looks like he's been built out of spare parts; and a menacing, hundred-year-old river turtle named Luther.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Fifth installment in Crais's Elvis Cole series, in which the wisecracking private eye journeys from Los Angeles to Louisiana to trace a client's past. (Apr.)

AudioFile

Perhaps it's the abridgment; Voodoo River comes across as a novel with an inexplicable title, and gaps in plot and character development. Robert Crais's book tells of L.A. Private Investigator Elvis Cole's search for the biological parents of television star Jodie Taylor. The plot jumps around, as does Cole, who travels from L.A. to Louisiana and finds himself in the middle of a ring of illegal alien smugglers. The story then defies any logic when Cole and partner Joe Pike take on the smugglers, just because they want to. Patrick G. Lawlor keeps the story moving, but he seems confounded by the book's meandering. Lawlor is best during scenes with Taylor's mother and the town sheriff. Unfortunately, like the listener, he still has to read the other scenes. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

John B. Clutterbuck

"What a terrific book. Robert Crais...should be mentioned in the same breath as Robert B. Parker, Tony Hillerman, Sue Grafton, and James Lee Burke." -- Houston Chronicle

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING