For the record, this is the third in a series featuring private investigator Roland Ford. I've not read the other two and so was a bit apprehensive at tackling this one, but I needn't have worried - nor should other readers. It stands alone just fine.That bit of information out of the way, I found it to be just fine in just about every other way as well; interesting, likable characters, intriguing story (not exactly a thrill a minute, but enjoyable and easy to follow) and a satisfying ending. What that means to me is that I don't intend to miss any others in the series; what it means to other readers is that I think you'll enjoy it as well.
Kick-off here is a visit by Penelope Rideout, who wants to hire Roland to find her much younger sister Daley. Roland, you see, is a former G.I. and sheriff's deputy turned private eye practicing in Encinitis, California. Daley, Penelope explains, has run away - apparently with a much older boyfriend. When Roland checks up on the boyfriend, he sees two suspicious - and incongruous - events: First, the young girl leaves the building with two bruiser-type guys, apparently willingly; and second, the boyfriend's dead body inside his home. Is it possible, Roland wonders, that the girl is an accomplice to a murder?
Clues - and information from Penelope that she previously withheld - lead Roland and his cadre of friends to the charismatic pastor of a cash-rich evangelical megachurch and clandestine activities of a very privately held security firm. Roland isn't sure whether to believe Penelope or the pastor or, for that matter, whether Daley's life really is in danger, but he vows to find her come heck or high water. Finally, everything comes together with a bang (actually, several of them, both literal and figurative) and all's right with the world until the next adventure.
All in all, an entertaining read - and a new series to which I'm now looking forward. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.
The Last Good Guy by T. Jefferson Parker (G.P. Putnam's Sons, August 2019); 352 pp.
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