By my count, Robert Crais has written twenty-four novels including "The Big Empty"; twenty of them featuring Elvis Cole and/or Joe Pike. I think I've read every one and one thing I can say about Crais is that he never disappoints.

"The Big Empty" features both his private eyes--I think Pike is a PI, but maybe not. Just inscrutable. A young woman known on social media as "the baker next door" hires Cole to find out what happened to the father who vanished without a trace ten years ago. Traci Beller is juggling a lot as she has people around her demanding that she do more and more, more baking, more appearances, open stores, write books. But finding an answer to something that has haunted her since childhood. Cole asks her if she wants to know no matter what the answer is. She says yes.

This launches him on journey into brutality, violence, cruelty, surprising villains and even more surprising heroes. The action is non-stop, and your apprehension for the characters will grow with every chapter. I love the relationship between Cole and Pike, Pike who rarely speaks and Cole who can't shut up. They have each other's backs and fill in the attributes the other lacks.

Nothing in this thriller is what you expect, which is what makes it such a satisfying wild ride. What a treat. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Big Empty
by Robert Crais
Pub Date: Jan 14, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my h0nest opinion.
Another Elvis Cole mystery that delivers a punch in the gut. Great mystery, great tension, great characters, and an ultimate emotional delivery - something very difficult to do in a detective novel but something Robert Crais excels. It starts out as missing person book and develops into so much more.
Great read and Crais is spot on. once again with his Cole and Pike plot line and intriguing characters.
The story just flows, and you ride right along.
Great read. I hghly recommend.

The latest in the successful and entertaining Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series. You know certain things when you pick up one of these books: Elvis will be cracking wise, Joe Pike will be tough as nails, the two will succeed in righting wrongs and bringing the bad guys to justice, or their version of it. And there will be plenty of suspense and action.

This time out, Elvis takes a case from a woman whose father disappeared ten years ago when she was young. She wants to know what happened to him. Elvis and Joe, of course, do eventually find that out but the answer is shocking and not where the client had ever anticipated going.

The mood of this one is a bit darker than normal for Elvis and Joe, but there is a resolution. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Traci Beller has believed that her father abandoned his family when she was only thirteen, but could he still be alive? Now a hugely popular social media influencer, Traci hires PI Elvis Cole to take a new look at the facts of his disappearance that stymied another PI ten years ago. And as Elvis contacts some of the last people to see him alive, he quickly learns that some of them don’t want him found, and the lines blur between victim and predator.

I love the Elvis/Joe series and this 20th book keeps you guessing till the end. Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book with PI Elvis Cole, but it won’t be my last! It was fast-paced and lots of action! Just what I want out of my thrillers! I loved Elvis Cole and sidekick too. Even though I guessed one part of plot it was still an exciting read!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC to read and review!

Release Date: January 14, 2025 but a Robert Crais book jumps the line to be read immediately!
Number 20 in the beloved Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series. Elvis, the World’s Greatest Detective – he says so, so it must be true – is hired by social media sensation Traci Beller to find out what happened to her father who disappeared ten years ago without a trace. As Elvis revisits the investigation, and although no one apparently knows anything, someone seems to want him to stop asking questions. After Elvis ends up on the wrong side of a confrontation, Joe steps in and together they uncover more than they wanted to know.
Crais is the master at combining suspense with emotion and humor. The combo of Cole and Pike are intelligent, witty and ruthless while being vulnerable simultaneously. And while this could easily be read as a standalone, both Elvis and Joe have grown and matured and I loved watching them evolve from the beginning of the series. As always, Crais has given us a book both entertaining and suspenseful with a mystery that will shock you.

“The Big Empty” by Robert Crais is number 20 in the always fun to read Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series. This time the worlds greatest detective and the enforcer team up to find the father of a successful social media star who’s dad disappeared 10 years ago when she was 13. She never believed he abandoned his family and the police have never come forward with any leads.
This book as with many others in this series delivers a gripping and emotional mystery which will keep you guessing till the very end. A must read for fans of this author!

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

One of the more entertaining running series around, I have been reading these for over 30 years, and they have the kind of solid running consistency you want. This particular book had an interesting twisty story with engaging side characters, and delivered the dopamine hit of characters I have been following for so long.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy. I always love an Elvis Cole/Joe Pike adventure. This was no exception. Like all the others, it's a twisty-turny, exciting, sometimes funny story. I've been reading these stories since I was in college and Elvis and Joe are almost like family. They're comfort reading to me. So maybe I'm biased. But if you're a fan, you'll still be a fan.

Anytime a new Robert Crais novel appears, I jump for joy. I love reading about Joe Pike and Elvis Cole. They are two of my favorite investigators. The Big Empty is the story of a search for a man who disappeared ten years ago. That's no problem for our dynamic duo...is it? Finding that answer will be quite interesting.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Number 20 in Crais’ Elvis Cole series. I’m always excited when one of these pops up and this was one of his best — a taut thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, but not so tense that I had to stop reading. Elvis is hired to find the father of influencer sensation Traci Beller — the “Baker Next Door.” She was thirteen when her father disappeared ten years earlier, but she never believed that he had abandoned his family. She wants to know what happend.

The plot keeps surprising — Crais disregards the time honored plot twist in favor of simply turning things upside down and inside out instead. It’s a wild ride, all told in Cole’s trademark first-person, confidential, and just slightly snarky tone. I love his character — he’s deceptively easy-going, utterly competent, and brings an unusual emotional intelligence and engagement to people and situations involved. I like Joe Pike as well, and if I had to complain about one aspect of this book it’s that Joe seems to be drifting into a different type of character (and one I’m not sure I like as much). Time will tell on that one!

Read in one sitting (luckily well before bedtime).

There aren't many duos in crime fiction better than Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. The World's Greatest Detective and The Enforcer (and more) team up once again in a tale with twists, strong characterization, and dare I say it, loads of heart. A social media darling reaches out to Cole to delve into the decade-long disappearance of her father, and what Cole uncovers will forever shape a number of lives. I was breathless as we catapulted to the conclusion. This is highly recommended!

Elvis Cole, World’s Greatest Detective, returns in this thrilling California mystery. Cole is searching for a man missing for ten years and what he uncovers puts many people’s lives on the line. With the help of the mysterious Joe Pike, the plot races to a satisfying conclusion. Elvis is one of my favorite characters and this series shows no signs of slowing down.

Elvis and Joe are back! Elvis takes on a case about a man missing for ten years. His daughter is now famous and wants to know what happened all those years ago. He does not expect to find much after all this time, but in usual fashion finds a thread that slowly unravels the mystery. The reader follows in undercovering clues step by step. Tensions arise the more Elvis pokes into the disappearance and the more dangerous it becomes for all those involved. Joe steps in to help after Elvis is sent a brutal message to leave it alone. What they find is more than the empty results they expected and the familiar characters are called into play. The case takes an emotional toll and the ending is complicated as what they discover is truly awful. While the ending is not as expected, it leaves you ready for the next case for Elvis and Joe.

On the 10th anniversary of Traci Beller's fathers disappearance, she implores Elvis Cole to investigate what happened to him. Five years prior, a thorough investigation was conducted by competent investigators and no information came to light. Her father was declared dead, but she wants some type of proof as to what happened to him. Is he dead or did he leave on his own?
Traci is a famous influencer and her handlers are not happy with this investigation and keep interfering.

Elvis, of course, starts to find some interesting clues and that leads to a serious attack on him and Joe Pike is called in to assist. I will not give away any spoilers, but things take a very dark turn.

Every Elvis and Pike novel is fantastic and this one is very tense and a great thriller. This book was hard to put down for any length of time. Robert Crais never fails to deliver a good read.

I would like to thank G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for this ARC.

I had been wanting to read a Cole and Pike novel but had yet had the opportunity to do so. My genre preference is mystery and whether it is a police procedural, a detective story or crime fiction, I like my mysteries to come with a touch of humor, memorable characters, and clever references. I found all of that and more in The Big Empty and it will not be the last mystery thriller by Robert Crais that I will read.
Traci Beller was thirteen when her father, Tommy Belller, disappeared in the town of Rancha near Los Angeles. The tenth year anniversary of his disappearance is approaching and Traci hires Private Investigator Elvis Cole to find hm. Traci, now a popular and successful online baker of muffins, never believed her father abandoned his family and wants it proved. Despite knowing that the detectives that Traci’s mother had hired could not find the father, Cole takes on the cold case.
As the story evolves, Cole finds himself being followed and attacked by various criminals and ask Joe Pike, friend and part owner of their investigative business, to help him out. An ex-con and her daughter become leads in finding the missing man. Following Beller’s trails, Cole uncovers horrific clues about who Beller was and how it linked to his disappearance. Who is to be believed? Who are the real victims?
Cole, a Vietnam vet and Pike, an ex-Marine, know each other well and thus work well together. Cole has a good heart and is his inner dialogue is humorous and insightful. His dialogue is sarcastic and wise-cracking yet his compassion always shines through. The plot is fast paced, suspenseful and there is a surprising conclusion to a good plot.
I would like to thank G.P. Putnam and NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of The Big Empty in exchange for an honest review. You have a new fan of Cole and Pike.

The Big Empty is Robert Crais at the top of his game, and this reader devoured it in one sitting.

A young woman asks Elvis Cole to look into the cold case disappearance of her father. Although others had tried and failed to find out what happened to him, Elvis agrees to take the case, with little hope of success. The truth, however, might be more than the daughter wants to hear.

Highly recommended. #TheBigEmpty #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthorSeries

This is a workman-like entry in a very long-run series, but the same issue raises its head all the time with long running series like this: when has the central character passed his sell-by date? If Elvis Cole hasn't, he's getting really, really close.

I know a lot of people love this series. To be honest, I don't love it, but I do like it. The problem is that it's beginning to feel dated and out of style. Elvis is feeling more and more like a character who's stuck in the nineties. That wouldn't be a problem if the book were set in the 90's, but it's not. It's set in contemporary times. And the characters really don't feel contemporary any longer at all.

Hey, Robert Crais, maybe it's not you, maybe it's me.

Robert Crais delivers another gripping and emotionally charged mystery in The Big Empty, the latest installment in the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series. This heartbreaking yet brilliant novel tackles tough topics with finesse, as Elvis refuses to give up on his client's missing father case, even when faced with sinister forces determined to stop him. Crais's masterful storytelling keeps readers guessing until the very end, delivering a satisfying and well-executed reveal. The book is a testament to the author's skill in creating compelling characters and weaving intricate plotlines that keep readers on the edge of their seats. While the ending may not be the happiest, it is a poignant reminder of the complexities of life and the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity. The Big Empty is a must-read for fans of the series and anyone who appreciates a well-crafted detective novel with heart.

Elvis and Joe, man. Is there anything they can't do?? This book was heartbreaking and hard, but Elvis refuses to give up looking for his client's father, even when shadows are popping out of the woodwork to stop him. Amazing, as always, but also....such a tough topic. Brilliantly done.