THE BIG EMPTY

5 stars out of 5

Over the years, I've come to love the investigative team of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike; Elvis is charismatic, while all Joe needs to do is stand there and everybody knows what he's thinking. This latest adventure - the 20th - had me glued to my Kindle from start to finish.

It begins as Traci Beller, she of The Baker Next Door fame and fortune, asks (through her humorless promoter Kevin) Elvis to find her long-lost father, Tommy. A decade ago, he apparently abandoned his family and hasn't been seen since, and both police and private investigators turned up nothing. The owner of an HVAC company, his last known location was Rancha, a small town near Los Angeles.

Always a sucker for a pretty woman in distress - and knowing he's pretty darned good at finding people - Elvis decides to give it a try and sets off for Rancha, mostly to look for anyone who might remember Tommy or anything that might provide a clue as to what happened to him. Early on, though, his questioning of local folks - especially former convict Sadie Givens and her daughter, Anya - puts him in the crosshairs of some nasty guys who clearly want him to cease and desist - or else.

That experience, in turn, leads to his calling his partner Joe for help, and it's a good thing he did; Joe is particularly skilled at dealing with nasty guys (and no doubt gals as well), and as the investigation progresses, those skills definitely will be put to the test. Clues - and fists and shots - are coming strong and fast, and only one thing is for certain: Traci's father isn't even close to the man she remembers.

Other than that, all I can say is it's a fight to the finish that I'm glad I got to read - and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for making that possible by way of a pre-release copy.

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam's Sons, January 2025); 384 pp.

RACING THE LIGHT

4 stars out of 5

It's been a while since I last connected with private investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, and the reunion via this book - the 19th in the series - was a very enjoyable one. They're both in fine form, although Elvis is still trying to recover from his amicable split from girlfriend Lucy Chenier and her son Ben. Then an obviously wealthy elderly woman, Adele Schumacher, visits their Hollywood office (preceded by a couple of burly bodyguards) to ask his help in finding her son, Joshua, who's gone missing. Josh, it seems, is also known as Josh Shoe - a popular but controversial podcaster who, with his partner, is a bit hung up on the UFO scene.

Adele's reasons for her son's disappearance  lean toward mostly unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, which Elvis mostly disregards, but when Josh's father Corbin calls to approve of Elvis's hiring, he decides to take the case. A bit of detecting leads Elvis to Josh's podcast partner and a woman who's made a name for herself in the adult film business - who, surprise, has gone missing as well. In the midst of all this come Lucy and Ben, putting Elvis on edge wondering if her visit is positive or negative. 

Of course, when the going turns tough, Elvis turns to Joe and a couple of other characters from previous books (for the record, though, this book stands on its own just fine). There's a bunch of technology "stuff," some mild but welcome yuck-yucks and plenty of action that, if not handled properly by the two heroes, could spell the end of this series. All told, it's another fun adventure I wish I'd had the free time to read without putting it down. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Well done!

Racing the Light by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam's Sons, November 2022); 368 pp.

THE WANTED

5 stars out of 5

Private eye Elvis Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, make a great team - reminiscent of the late Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Hawk. Together, they can take on the world. But when they bump up against a trio of teens who specialize in upscale burglaries, they may have met their match.

For much of the first half of this book, Elvis takes solo center stage. He's hired by Devon Connor, whose son Tyson has been deviating wildly from his usual sweet self. It seems he's acquired some cash, expensive clothes and other high-end items, and his mother wants to find out if he's into the illicit drug business. As it turns out, it's worse; he and a couple of friends have been getting their jollies (and plenty of flashy trinkets) by invading the homes of the very wealthy, taking what they like and reselling what they don't want to keep.

With the cooperation of Tyson's mother, Elvis works out a deal through which Tyson will turn himself in with minimal consequences - but the deal goes south when Tyson goes missing. Around the same time, one of the teenage cohorts ends up dead - and while at first blush it looks to be a case of road rage gone horribly wrong, the bullets in the body tell a much different story.

Now, Elvis knows that Tyson and the third teen, an exceptionally maniculative girl, are sure to be the next targets of two highly accomplished hit men who apparently have been hired by one of the burglary victims. He calls in his partner Joe to help find the kids, but for a time the trail doesn't lead much of anywhere except to more dead bodies. When they finally start to close in on the teens, so, too, do the hit men. Who will get to them first results in a not-so-merry chase that kept me turning pages all the way to the end.

All in all, another excellent installment in this series - one of my favorites. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

The Wanted by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam's Sons, December 2017); 336 pp.

THE PROMISE

5 stars out of 5

The Elvis Cole Detective Agency is owned by Cole and partner Joe Pike (the secretive Pike doesn't want his name on the door). Cole, though, is the one who's hired to find a missing mother who has never recovered from the death of her son by a suicide bomber. The trail first leads to a seemingly run-of-the-mill house, but the inside tells a different story. As Cole knocks on the door, he hears helicopters and police car sirens - and a man inside runs out. Among the police ranks is LAPD officer Scott James and his dog Maggie, a military-trained German Shepherd who was seriously injured trying to protect her human handler during a tour of Afghanistan.

Those who read another of the author's books, Suspect, will remember James and Maggie (for the record, I loved that one too, giving it 5 stars as well). Here, in trying to catch the fugitive from the house, James gets a too-close look at a man thought to have murdered another man found inside the house. A large batch of explosives is found inside as well,  and evidence suggests that the missing mother may be somehow involved. A theory develops that the woman may be attempting to trade stolen explosives for the name of the person who killed her son.

Since Cole was at the scene (also trying to chase down the runaway killer), he finds himself a suspect - at the very least, some officers believe, he knows more than he's telling the police. James, however, leans heavily toward Cole's innocence, as (of course) does Pike, who's been called in by his agency partner to put his special talents into play. The story quickly becomes more complex, to the point that it's hard to tell the good guys and gals from the bad.

Except, that is, for James and Maggie. Just like in Suspect, I read several chapters holding my Kindle with one hand while biting the nails on the other as both handler and pooch are targeted by the runaway killer who's intent on making sure James isn't around to identify him.

All the main characters get a good workout here - as does Cole and Pike's friend Jon, a special ops mercenary, who's also invited to join the search and seizure party. But IMHO, it was Maggie who stole the show; I won't be surprised if she and her human partner get a book all their own before long (hint, hint). Will I read it? You betcha!

The Promise: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnams Sons, November 2016); 408 pp.