Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – RACING THE LIGHT BY ROBERT CRAIS

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – RACING THE LIGHT BY ROBERT CRAIS

Review: Racing the Light by Robert Crais

Racing the Light by Robert Crais opens with private investigator Elvis Cole in his office on the western edge of Hollywood. It is hot and clear when Ms. Adele Schumacher and her entourage arrive. The entourage arrives first, and after checking out the office, back out so that Ms. Schumacher can talk with Mr. Cole.  Things started off a bit weird so it was a sign for Cole that things would get weirder.

 

Ms. Schumacher has good reason to be believe her son, Joshua Alberta Schumacher, has been kidnapped. She has not received a ransom demand. She firmly believes that he has kidnapped to silence him. Her 26-year-old son is an investigative journalist with his own podcast. She believes that he is being held at a secret government facility. Not surprisingly, her case has gone nowhere with the police as he is an adult and she does not have any real proof of anything.

 

While she may believe in government conspiracies, her fear is very real, and she clearly needs help. Cole agrees to poke around for her so that she knows somebody is listening and looking. He does not expect there is an issue and Joshua probably is fine. He also questions the motives of the people involved in Ms. Schumacher life.

 

It does not take Elvis Cole long to realize that something seriously really is going on. Joshua is very much missing, has odd neighbors, and the folks in Ms. Schumacher life are not at all what they seem. If that was not enough, government spooks from our side and others seem to be involved. Things get murkier and more violent as Cole and Pike work the case.

 

A complicated and fast paced read, Racing the Light, is the latest installment in this long running series. It is also a mighty good read. 

 

 

Make sure you check out Don Crouch’s perspective at https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2022/11/don-crouch-reviews-racing-light-by.html

 

My reading copy came from the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Don Crouch Reviews: Racing The Light by Robert Crais

 
Please welcome Don Crouch to the blog today with his first of what I hope will be many more reviews.

 

       Racing The Light by Robert Crais

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Robert Crais is BACK!

Now, you can take this a couple of ways, and they’d both be accurate. Our last encounter with both Crais and his fictional counterparts Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, was 2019’s A Dangerous Man.. And there are folks out there who would claim that the last few Cole/Pike entries were perhaps showing some creakiness.

To both, one empirical, one subjective, I say, THE DUDE IS BACK.

Racing The Light is fast paced with high stakes and the razor-sharp plot and dialogue you expect from someone who is, at this point in the game, just plain better than almost anybody at the art of Crime Fiction storytelling.

Elvis is hired by Adele Schumacher to find her son, semi-notorious podcaster Josh Shoe. Seems Josh is out a bit over his skis on a story, and Mom is worried for his safety.

Motherly instincts matter, folks.

Elvis starts to dig, and soon enough is finding a matrix of Chinese spies, porn people, corrupt political weasels…and maybe aliens!

But wait, there’s more! Racing The Light also features the return of Lucy Chenier! She is visiting with her son Ben, who we know, as he checks out a film program at UCLA. Their conversations are deep in the heart of this story, with BIG stakes for the future, and it’s great to have them both back in the mix. Soon enough, however, fists, and more than a few bullets start flying, and we’re plunged into a consequential adventure that talks about what really is truth in this new communication model we live in.

Crais wants us to get re-acquainted with Elvis here, so Pike is, along with Jon Scott, on board for support and assistance. This REALLY is an Elvis Cole novel, and it’s one of the reasons Racing The Light hits so hard. It’s in the upper tier of Crais’ entire oeuvre, and is one of the best crime books of 2022!

Don Crouch ©2022