Robert Crais#Overview
{{short description|American author of detective fiction|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Robert Crais
| image = Robert Crais.jpg
| caption = Crais in 2008
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|6|20}}
| birth_place = Independence, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Novelist, screenwriter
| alma_mater = Louisiana State University
| genre = Fiction, crime fiction, thrillers
| movement =
| net worth =
| pseudonym = Elvis Cole, Jerry Gret Samouche
| website = {{URL|robertcrais.com}}
|signature =
}}
Robert Crais (pronounced {{IPAc-en|k|r|eɪ|s}}; 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertcrais.com/awards.htm|title=Robert Crais: Awards and Recognitions|website=www.robertcrais.com}} 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.{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of World Biography|url=http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Co-Lh/Crais-Robert.html|access-date=24 February 2013}} He attended Louisiana State University and studied mechanical engineering.
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.{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1982/writing-drama |title=34th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners |website=Television Academy: Emmys |access-date=June 28, 2014}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.mysteryreaders.org/macavity.html |title=Macavity Awards |publisher=Mysteryreaders.org |access-date=2012-03-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bouchercon.info/history.html |title=History of Bouchercon |publisher=Bouchercon.info |access-date=2012-03-14}} 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{{cite web|url=http://www.sbbookfestival.org/aaaawards/awards.html |title=Santa Barbara Book and Author Festival - Awards |publisher=sbbookfestival.org |access-date=January 25, 2014}} and in 2010 the Private Eye Writers of America's (PWA) Lifetime Achievement Award The Eye.{{cite web|url=http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv72.html |title=Shamus Award |publisher=thrillingdetective.com |access-date=January 24, 2014}} In 2014 Crais received the Mystery Writers of America's (MWA) Grand Master Award.{{cite web|url=http://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2014-grand-master-and-raven-awards/ |title=MWA Announces 2014 Grand Master and Raven Awards |publisher=mysterywriters.org |access-date=January 25, 2014}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.robertcrais.com/faq.htm#8 |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=RobertCrais.com |access-date=2012-06-02}}
In 2020 his novel Suspect (2013) was named Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade in the Barry Awards.{{cite web |title=Barry Awards (Crime Fiction) – 2020 |url=https://nightstandbookreviews.com/barry-awards-crime-fiction-2020/ |website=Nightstand Book Reviews |access-date=12 May 2021}}
Bibliography
=Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||
| Nr
! Year ! Title ! Award ! Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="4"| 1 | rowspan="4"| 1987 | rowspan="4"| The Monkey's Raincoat | Anthony Award – Best Paperback Original 1988 | {{won}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html |title=Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Award Nominees and Winners |publisher=Bouchercon.info |access-date=January 24, 2014}} |
| Macavity Award – Best First Novel 1988 | {{won}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mysteryreaders.org/macavity.html |title=Macavity Awards |publisher=Mysteryreaders.org |access-date=January 24, 2014}} | |||
| Edgar Award – Best Paperback Original 1988 | {{nom}}{{cite web|url=http://theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php |title=Edgar Award Database |publisher=TheEdgars.com |access-date=January 24, 2014}} | |||
| Shamus Award – Best Original P.I. Paperback 1988 | {{nom}} | |||
| 2 | 1989 | Stalking the Angel | ||
| rowspan="2"| 3 | rowspan="2"| 1992 | rowspan="2"| Lullaby Town | Anthony Award – Best Novel 1993 | {{nom}} |
| Shamus Award – Best P.I. Hardcover 1993 | {{nom}} | |||
| 4 | 1993 | Free Fall | Edgar Award – Best Novel 1994 | {{nom}} |
| 5 | 1995 | Voodoo River | Dilys Award | {{nom}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mysterybooksellers.com/the-dilys-award/ |title=The Dilys Award |publisher=mysterybooksellers.com |access-date=January 25, 2014}} |
| rowspan="2"| 6 | rowspan="2"| 1996 | rowspan="2"| Sunset Express | Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1997 | {{won}} |
| Publishers Weekly | {{sho|Best Books of 1996 selection}} | |||
| 7 | 1997 | Indigo Slam | Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1998 | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="4"| 8 | rowspan="4"| 1999 | rowspan="4"| L.A. Requiem | Dilys Award | {{won}} |
| Edgar Award – Best Novel 2000 | {{nom}} | |||
| Anthony Award – Best Novel 2000 | {{nom}} | |||
| Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2000 | {{nom}} | |||
| 9 | 2003 | The Last Detective | Audie Award | {{sho|Finalist}} |
| 10 | 2005 | The Forgotten Man | Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2006 | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="4"| 11 | rowspan="4"| 2007 | rowspan="4"| The Watchman | Barry Award – Best Thriller 2008 | {{won}} |
| Mystery Ink's Gumshoe Award – Best Thriller 2008 | {{won}} | |||
| Anthony Award – Best Novel 2008 | {{nom}} | |||
| International Thriller Writers Awards – Best Novel 2008 | {{nom}} | |||
| 12 | 2008 | Chasing Darkness | Southern California Independent Booksellers Association – Best Mystery Award | {{nom}} |
| 13 | 2010 | The First Rule | Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2011 | {{nom}} |
| 14 | 2011 | The Sentry | ||
| rowspan="2"| 15 | rowspan="2"| 2012 | rowspan="2"| Taken | Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2013 | {{won}} |
| Left Coast Crime – The Watson (mystery novel with the best sidekick) 2013 | {{nom}}{{cite web|url=http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2013/awards.htm |title=2013 Left Coast Crime Awards |publisher=leftcoastcrime.org |access-date=January 25, 2014}} | |||
| 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=
| class="wikitable sortable" | ||||
| Year
! Title ! Publisher ! Award ! Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="2"| 2000 | rowspan="2"| Demolition Angel | rowspan="2"| Doubleday | Mary Higgins Clark Award 2001 | {{nom}} |
| Dilys Award | {{nom}} | |||
| 2001 | Hostage | Doubleday | New York Times Book Review | {{won|Notable Book}} |
| rowspan="5"| 2006 | rowspan="5"| The Two-Minute Rule | rowspan="5"| Simon & Schuster | London Evening Standard | {{won|Best Crime Novel of the Year}} |
| Otto Penzler, The New York Sun | {{sho|Top Ten Best Crime Novels of the Year}} | |||
| Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel | {{sho|Top Ten Best Crime Novels of the Year}} | |||
| January Magazine | {{sho|Best Books of 2006}} | |||
| Audie Award | {{sho|Finalist}} | |||
| 2013 | Suspect |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.robertcrais.com}}
- {{IMDb name|0186101}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc2oER2-kOY Interview with Robert Crais], A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour TV Series, Episode #158 (1995)
{{Robert Crais}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crais, Robert}}
Category:American mystery writers
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:Novelists from Louisiana
Category:People from Independence, Louisiana
Category:Novelists from Los Angeles
Category:Anthony Award winners
Category:Macavity Award winners
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:American male novelists
Category:American thriller writers