When a wealthy entrepreneur is accused of murder in Los Angeles, wisecracking private eye Elvis Cole is hired to prove that the evidence was corrupted and becomes suspicious about the defense attorney's motivations.

Prominent restaurateur Teddy Martin is facing charges in his wife's brutal murder. But he's not going down without spending a bundle of cash on his defense. So his hotshot attorney hires P.I. Elvis Cole to find proof that Detective Angela Rossi tampered with the evidence.

Detective Rossi needs a way back to the fast track after falling hard during an internal investigation five years ago. But Cole needs to know if she's desperate enough to falsify the case against Martin in order to secure her own position.

As Cole and his partner Joe Pike work their way through a tangle of witnesses and an even greater tangle of media, they begin to suspect that it's not the police who are behind the setup.

The sixth book in the Elvis Cole series, Sunset Express is marked by Robert Crais's dark humor and edge-of-your-seat suspense.

Listening Length

8 hours and 33 minutes
Author

Robert Crais
Narrator

David Stuart
Audible release date

May 20, 2008
Language

English
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
ASIN

B0019ZWM60
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible narration with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you buy the Kindle book.

Your audiobook is waiting!

Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.

Learn more about membership

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

List Price: $21.28

You Save: $0.29 (1%)

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

People who viewed this also viewed

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

People who bought this also bought

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

No Plan B: A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child
36,299
in War & Military Fiction

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Desert Star
Michael Connelly
36,046
in Mystery Action Fiction

Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Suspect
Robert Crais
4,005
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Demolition Angel
Robert Crais
4
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Hostage: A Novel
Robert Crais
1,505
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Related to this topic

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Silent Joe
T. Jefferson Parker
356
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Tonight I Said Goodbye
Michael Koryta
369
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel
Jonathan Kellerman
2,162
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Dead Irish: Dismas Hardy, Book 1
John Lescroart
1,263
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Harry Starke Series: Books 1-3: The Harry Starke Series Boxed Set
Blair Howard
2,595
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 33 minutes
Author	Robert Crais
Narrator	David Stuart
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 20, 2008
Publisher	Brilliance Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0019ZWM60
Best Sellers Rank	#69,798 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #5,463 in Suspense (Audible Books & Originals) #6,093 in Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) #18,726 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

3,131 global ratings

5 star		65%
4 star		27%
3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jason Swink

Amazingly good, like all the Crais books!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2023

Verified Purchase

This story has that perfect blend of action, mystery, humor, and romance that Robert Crais brings to all his stories. I’ve read most of his books twice and it won’t be long before I start round 3.

Helpful

S. Kinnevy

good except for the girlfriend

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

I’ve always liked him but read the books out of order, so I was surprised how sappy and unreal Elvis and Lucy’s relationship was. Every time she called him Studley I wanted to scream, it was so annoying. But still, I like this writer so…

Helpful

Dan-O

I asked what I should read if I enjoyed Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

On an internet discussion board, I asked what I should read if I enjoyed Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books. Among numerous other selections, many people suggested Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels. I bought "The Monkey's Raincoat" and started to read it. It didn't immediately grab me, so I put it down and moved on to other books. I was then referred to the Elvis Cole novels again, elsewhere, so I picked up the book again. This time, I got far enough to get a feel for Crais' writing and I realized how good of a writer he really is.

First, Crais' sense of humor, as displayed through his protagonist, Elvis Cole, is evident throughout his novels. Cole's self-deprecating, cynical (but not too much so) inner dialogue is crisp, timely and often quite funny. Repeatedly throughout Cole's first-person narration, he'll share spoken dialogue with another character and immediately, in his internal dialogue, berate himself for how he thinks his words sounded. He critiques his own interactions with other characters in the book as he goes along and this self-deprecation gives you a very clear picture of Cole's character.

Crais' novels aren't just about how funny Cole is though. They are whodunnits, sometimes suspenseful, sometimes thought-provoking. They are filled with action and mystery.

Because I came to Crais' novels due to a request for what I should read if I liked Harry Bosch, I should clarify that Crais' novels are, in some ways, starkly different from Connelly's. Connelly's novels tend to leave little room for humor, and paint Bosch as a tortured soul, whose raison d'être is solving homicides. Elvis Cole on the other hand has a much lighter, more carefree, humorous outlook on life. Crais' Elvis Cole novels really only share surface-level details with Connelly's Harry Bosch novels: They're both set mostly in Los Angeles and they both involve crime-solving (Bosch, specifically homicide, whereas Cole is a private eye and some of his cases don't involve homicide investigations, though some do). The other, more important (to me at least) detail that the novels share is that they're all very well written. There is a slew of awful books out there these days thanks to ebook publishing making the market fair game for anyone with enough time to hammer out enough letters on a keyboard to "write" a "novel". Crais' and Connelly are from that dying age where an author's work had to pass muster for a publishing house to pick it up and distribute it to the masses. Their works passed that muster, and with flying colors.

Crais is not just a great storyteller, but also an exceptional writer.

PS - sorry I didn't go into specifics of this novel, though I will say if you start with Monkey's Raincoat and find that you like Crais' writing as much as I do, you'll find yourself loving this novel soon enough.

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rick Shaq Goldstein

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "DON'T TRY TO PLANT EVIDENCE WITH ELVIS AND PIKE AROUND!"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 4, 2008

Verified Purchase

If you see a "MICKEY MOUSE PHONE" on the desk and little figures of "JIMINY CRICKET" on the cabinet and a "PINOCCHIO CLOCK" on the wall with eyes that move SIDE-TO-SIDE, you are most likely in the office of "master" Los Angeles detective Elvis Cole. While in Elvis's office if you see a man who stands about six foot one, with short hair, sinewy muscles, and bright red arrows tattooed on the outside of each deltoid pointing forward, which are a statement of his being, that man is Elvis's partner Joe Pike. If you have the courage to have a conversation with Joe, you'll know you've done well if you receive as much as a miniscule facial tic in return. You are forewarned not to waste your time trying to determine the weather or the time of day by the fact of whether Joe is wearing sunglasses or not. Day or night, winter, summer, or fall, Joe is wearing them and the author hasn't introduced a character yet that would dare question Joe regarding the practicality of his sunglasses in the current time and place.

This particular episode in the ongoing "ELVIS COLE" series by author Robert Crais revolves around the murder of famed restaurant owner Teddy Martin's wife. Teddy's restaurant is the type of place where everyone famous in Los Angeles eats at to be seen, as much as for what they eat. People who are "nobodies" want to eat there to be near "somebody's". Jonathan Green a renowned lawyer known coast to coast for his long list of victories in court as well as for his TV appearances is hired to defend Teddy. Jonathan then hires Elvis to do some professional sleuthing. Before you know it a cop is being framed, people who are known by one name are really someone else, rewards are offered, dupes are framed by scumbags, witnesses are changing their stories faster than your local gas station can raise their gas prices. What makes this story so enjoyable is the quick-witted humor interspersed amongst the skullduggery. Any crime story that can freely sprinkle comments regarding "MOE HOWARD", "FRED MUNSTER", "RALPH CRAMDEN", along with a character who calls his beer a "BREWSCALERO", and also say; "she shook her head, and her lips went WUBBA-WUBBA-WUBBA like a cartoon character", has to be rated above your average crime fiction. And don't forget about "MICKEY MOUSE", "JIMINY CRICKET", and "PINOCCHIO"!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

richard326

good

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

I did not like this book as well as I did his other works. To much time spent on relationships rather than the story line. I still enjoyed, but give me more Pike and less romance.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

Marvelous Mystery!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

What an incredible story with many interesting twists! Kept me so interested that I finished this book in record time! Taking care of some chores before starting the next book, "Indigo Slam", Book 7 of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Series as once started I may be unable to put it down also! Enjoy!!

Helpful

casyle

best ending ever!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

I love Elvis Cole and Joe Pike…super heroes, World’s Greatest detectives! And Robert Crais writes the best bad guys too.

Helpful

Openplzdds

Elvis is in the house!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

Cole the snark goes after Green the shark! Film at eleven! Spin it as a really fun read. Stayed up late to finish it!

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Jim Bowen

Somewhat formulaic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Back in the day, I read all of Dennis Lehane’s Kenzie and Genaro series. That saw a couple of gritty Boston private investigators solve crime, with a side of snarky humour. This book tries to mine the same vein in Los Angeles, with a smidge less humour.

In this book, the wife of a famous (Hard Rock style) restauranteur goes missing. His lawyer throws mud around, in the hope that the jury pool will get so contaminated they’ll buy what he’s selling. Elvis Cole initially helps him (those bills don’t pay themselves), but he grows a conscience and saves the day.

It’s a decent enough read but if you’ve read a lot of crime novels before, you might find it a little formulaic.

George Kelly

Sunset Express Derailed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

Sunset Express is basically a variation of the notorious OJ Simpson case: a celebrity restauranteur, Teddy Martins, is accused of killing his wife. But his million-dollar-an-hour lawyers soon unearth claims from a couple crooks and an ex-cop that maybe one of the detectives planted evidence, which is when Elvis Cole (The World's Greatest Detective--HIS words, not mine), is called onto the case as a sort of independent body to investigate.

Aside from a slightly long and, ultimately unnecessary, prologue, the plot hooked me early on. However, about halfway through (and that's generous--a little earlier than that) the plot becomes obvious and loses its drive. Maybe Crais left around too many red herrings, or maybe I'm good at spotting these things ahead of time, but I soon lost interest; the suspense was killed by the predictability of it all. And as the novel neared its conclusion, the story kind of petered out anyway. On top of that, the actual ending in which Elvis Cole confronts one of the bad guys and vows to ruin his life seemed tacked on, as if the publisher wasn't happy that the book had been left with no definitive resolution.

Overall, it's a quick-moving, albeit average, slice of fluff. I'd recommend it if you can find a cheap bargain bucket copy, or if you've read other Crais novels before.

Otherwise, go straight to L. A. Requiem and don't look back.

One person found this helpful

Mr. P. F. Harrison

The plot of this book is intelligently constructed and the author has a real talent for ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

The plot of this book is intelligently constructed and the author has a real talent for bringing his characters alive, often simply with a well-judged sentence. I have to say, however, that I found something rather toe-curling about the relationship between the private eye main character, his love interest and her rather icky son. I get the impression American audiences are hooked on sentimentality and families, which they seem to regard with religious awe, and the author has felt obliged to provide these elements in equal proportion to the thriller plot: they're rather like the literary equivalent of the artificial flavourings manufacturers put in food. I won't buy another.

2 people found this helpful

Good story - poor audio quality...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

My first encounter with Cole and Pike. Good story, characters, plot and pace. But the Kindle wih audio version I had, really frustrated me. The sound recording was awful. There really is no excuse for this kind of muffled and sometimes varying volume in a professional
audio book we're paying extra for. I constantly struggled with listening and immersing myself in the story, because David Stuart's narration and the flawed recording technique or both, gave the impression that the narrator had a slight lisp or mild speech defect. I don't intend any disrespect but has anyone else had this problem with this particular book? I think I'd like to read/hear some more Crais books but I will be hoping to find a narration/recording that doesn't distract me from the book...

Gavin

Just Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

I recently started looking through my Robert Craig collection and found I had missed this one. The Cole and Pike books are just great reads with clever Marlowesque dialogue and great plots. If you have not read these, and you like PI investigative thrillers, you are in for a treat.

See all reviews

Sunset Express: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel, Book 6 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Read & Listen

Enjoy a free trial on us $0.00$0.00

Buy with 1-Click $20.99$20.99

People who viewed this also viewed

People who bought this also bought

Related to this topic

Product details

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Enjoy a free trial on us

$0.00

Buy with 1-Click

$20.99