Review: The Big Empty: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais

 

The Big Empty: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais is one of those books that slaps you upside your head. A very good read, but it is a tale full of pain, heartbreak, and rage, that changed so many lives then and now.

 

For Private Investigator Elvis Cole, the case starts when Tracie Beller hires him. Her mom, her uncle Phil, and her various other advisors wish her not to do it. But, her dad, Tommy Beller, disappeared ten years ago. Everybody believes he just walked away from his family. Tracie never believed that.

 

All these years later, she is a social media phenomenon as she bakes her way to stardom and riches. She has millions of followers and there are investors considering becoming part of her rapidly growing brand. While all of that does matter to her, what is far more important is finding out what happed to her father. She has the money to hire a private detective and she wants Elvis Cole.

 

He agrees to look into things. That means heading out of Los Angeles to the nearby community of Rancha where Mr. Beller was last seen working as he serviced various clients. He and Uncle Phil owned and ran a heating and air company. He was out there, in a company van, doing service calls when he vanished. So too did the repair van. The clients of that day are important, especially the last clients he saw which were Sadie Given and her daughter, Anya.

 

His presence and activities bring him to the attention of others who are determined to stop him, one way or another. As if anything short of being murdered would stop “The World’s Greatest Detective” and his running buddy, Joe Pike.

 

I am reminded yet again that we all need a Joe Pike in our lives.

 

I am also reminded that Robert Crais can seriously write. The Big Empty: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel is a complex multi layered read that hits you hard in the guts and then smacks you right between the eyes. The details of what happened and why are horrific and can’t be shared without blowing up the read. There is a reason why the jacket copy is so sparse and worded the way it is on the book.

 

Strongly Recommended.

 

 

Make sure you read Aubrey’s review from early January.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3XHlTb6 

 

 

My reading copy came from the White Rock Hills Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025