I was inordinately
pleased to learn I had been approved to receive an advance copy of the new
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike thriller via NetGalley. Publicists for popular authors
like Robert Crais can pick and choose who will be allowed an early look and I did
not expect to be one of the selected. However, I lost no time in downloading a
copy in case someone decided to reverse the decision, and I tucked the PDF file
away for my Christmas reading treat.
I am happy to
report that The Big Empty (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2025) is every bit as
good as its 19 predecessors. Elvis Cole is at loose ends when Traci Beller’s
assistant calls. Traci is a trendy influencer on social media, known for her
cooking videos and her bubbly persona. She is on the brink of going mainstream
but she can’t forget her father, who disappeared 10 years previously when she
was 13, and it is disrupting her focus. The police decided at the time that
Beller abandoned his family. Traci simply cannot believe it. She hired a
private investigator to look for him five years ago without success and now she
wants Cole to look again.
Cole is
reluctant to take on what seems to be a futile task, though he agrees to review
the file from the last search. The reports are thorough if not downright
exhaustive. A quick check shows no sign of Beller or the van he was driving in
the intervening five years. Cole talks to a few of the witnesses in case an
additional detail or two surfaces and surface they do. Following the threads of
fragmented new information results in a group of thugs threatening Cole and he
calls in Joe Pike for back-up. The data leads to startling revelations which
force Cole to decide how much to tell and to whom and what to hold back, if
anything.
A surprising
story in many ways with a nuanced examination of the impact criminals have on
those who love them. And how sometimes we simply have no good options among the
choices facing us; the best we can do is pick what seems to be the least bad
and hope. A running secondary theme is just how hard poor people work to stay
alive with no clear way of improving their situations. The single mothers here
struggle desperately to provide for their children and feel themselves going
under anyway.
I wish I
could say that Traci’s greedy and opportunistic business manager is not
credible but unfortunately I’ve worked with people a lot like him. He’s all too
real. Cole and Pike remain two of the most likable, reliable, and conscientious
investigators around. And I was happy to see that Cat is still delivering purrs
and head bonks. Recommended.
To be released on 14 January 2025. Starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.
·
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (January 14, 2025)
·
Language: English
·
Hardcover: 384 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0525535764
·
ISBN-13: 978-0525535768
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gADk4p
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It
projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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