Robert Crais

Robert Crais (pronounced Template:IPAc-en; born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. His writing is influenced by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Parker and John Steinbeck. Crais has won numerous awards for his crime novels.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lee Child has cited him in interviews as one of his favourite American crime writers. The novels of Robert Crais have been published in 62 countries and are bestsellers around the world. Robert Crais received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award in 2006 and was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2014.

Biography

Born in Independence, Louisiana, he was adopted and raised as an only child.<ref name=worldbio>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He attended Louisiana State University and studied mechanical engineering.<ref name=worldbio />

Crais moved to Hollywood in 1976, where he found work as a screenwriter for the television series Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey and Miami Vice, and was nominated for an Emmy award.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following the death of his father in 1985, Crais published the novel The Monkey's Raincoat, which won the 1988 Anthony Award for "Best Paperback Original" and the 1988 Mystery Readers International Macavity Award for "Best First Novel".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

In 2006 Crais was awarded the Ross Macdonald Literary Award<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in 2010 the Private Eye Writers of America's (PWA) Lifetime Achievement Award The Eye.<ref name="shamus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014 Crais received the Mystery Writers of America's (MWA) Grand Master Award.<ref name="2014gm+raven">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Crais novels include Demolition Angel, Hostage, Suspect, and The Two-Minute Rule. Most of Crais' books feature the characters Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, with The Watchman (2007), The First Rule (2010) and The Sentry (2011) centering on Joe Pike. Taken is a 2012 detective novel by Robert Crais. It is the fifteenth in a series of linked novels centering on the character Elvis Cole. The 2005 film Hostage was an adaptation of one of his books.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2020 his novel Suspect (2013) was named Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade in the Barry Awards.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Bibliography

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels

Nr	Year	Title	Award	Result
1	1987	The Monkey's Raincoat	Anthony Award – Best Paperback Original 1988	Template:Won<ref name="anthony">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Macavity Award – Best First Novel 1988	Template:Won<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Edgar Award – Best Paperback Original 1988	Template:Nom<ref name="edgar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Shamus Award – Best Original P.I. Paperback 1988	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
2	1989	Stalking the Angel
3	1992	Lullaby Town	Anthony Award – Best Novel 1993	Template:Nom<ref name="anthony"/>
			Shamus Award – Best P.I. Hardcover 1993	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
4	1993	Free Fall	Edgar Award – Best Novel 1994	Template:Nom<ref name="edgar"/>
5	1995	Voodoo River	Dilys Award	Template:Nom<ref name="dilys">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	1996	Sunset Express	Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1997	Template:Won<ref name="shamus"/>
			Publishers Weekly	Template:Sho
7	1997	Indigo Slam	Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1998	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
8	1999	L.A. Requiem	Dilys Award	Template:Won<ref name="dilys"/>
			Edgar Award – Best Novel 2000	Template:Nom<ref name="edgar"/>
			Anthony Award – Best Novel 2000	Template:Nom<ref name="anthony"/>
			Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2000	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
9	2003	The Last Detective	Audie Award	Template:Sho
10	2005	The Forgotten Man	Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2006	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
11	2007	The Watchman	Barry Award – Best Thriller 2008	Template:Won
			Mystery Ink's Gumshoe Award – Best Thriller 2008	Template:Won
			Anthony Award – Best Novel 2008	Template:Nom<ref name="anthony"/>
			International Thriller Writers Awards – Best Novel 2008	Template:Nom
12	2008	Chasing Darkness	Southern California Independent Booksellers Association – Best Mystery Award	Template:Nom
13	2010	The First Rule	Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2011	Template:Nom<ref name="shamus"/>
14	2011	The Sentry
15	2012	Taken	Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2013	Template:Won<ref name="shamus"/>
			Left Coast Crime – The Watson (mystery novel with the best sidekick) 2013	Template:Nom<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
16	2015	The Promise
17	2017	The Wanted
18	2019	A Dangerous Man
19	2022	Racing the Light
20	2025	The Big Empty

Other novels

Year	Title	Publisher	Award	Result
2000	Demolition Angel	Doubleday	Mary Higgins Clark Award 2001	Template:Nom<ref name="edgar"/>
			Dilys Award	Template:Nom<ref name="dilys"/>
2001	Hostage	Doubleday	New York Times Book Review	Template:Won
2006	The Two-Minute Rule	Simon & Schuster	London Evening Standard	Template:Won
			Otto Penzler, The New York Sun	Template:Sho
			Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel	Template:Sho
			January Magazine	Template:Sho
			Audie Award	Template:Sho
2013	Suspect

External links

• Template:Official website
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• Interview with Robert Crais, A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour TV Series, Episode #158 (1995)