Robert Crais bounces back from earlier ho-hum Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels. In The Big Empty we again see the wise-cracking Elvis who ultimately relies on the steady hand of Joe Pike. Before all that though, Elvis plunges into a mystery of a father who disappeared ten years ago and now his 20-something daughter, currently a big-rime online influencer, wants to find out what happened. Elvis starts by re-tacing the last places the father was seen and discovers some people are reluctant to talk to him which gets his "something's wrong" radar quivering. Crais doesn't let readers in on what really is going on until Elvis discovers the truth allowing us to be right there in the big reveal. Plenty of violence laces the pages and there is no shortage of gruesome murders. Some characters are cardboard cut-outs but that is forgiven due to the novel's brisk pace. Thankfully, IMO, Lucy and Ben have very limited roles in this book and the focus on solving crimes, not gushing long-distance love.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

The author never fails to entertain me with his books, this one being no exception. Elvis is asked to look into a 10 year old missing persons case, and of course things get complicated. And violent. And then more complicated. Joe Pike is brought in for support, and the Elvis' cat makes a couple of appearances. Let the good times roll!

Elvis Cole is back for the 20th installment of the series what features him and Joe Pike. I've been reading Robert Crais since the late 80's with The Monkey's Raincoat and this is the best one to date. This story begins with a prominent TV baker who wants Elvis to reopen the young’ woman’s search for her missing father. His case is ten years old, the cops and another PI firm couldn’t turn up any answers to his mysterious disappearance and Elvis doesn’t hold much hope for solving it either.
Soon he gets a line on a ex con and her daughter who might know something and a former classmate that adds a few new threads to the puzzle.
Before he knows it, Elvis is being hunted by thugs and damned near gets killed trying to get to the truth.

Another epic Elvis Cole story. This one entails great detecting (self professed greatest at work), some major dust ups and a tough ending. A lot packed into this one (and lots of Joe spike too). Can't get enough of these.

Having read and enjoyed most, if not all, of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels, I can most assuredly state that The Big Empty is one of the absolute best! The plot is a simple one wherein Elvis is hired to find the father, who has been missing for almost 10 years, of a minor celebrity known as “the muffin girl.” Along the way, there are several murders, we meet an assortment of interesting characters and we are treated to a totally unanticipated conclusion. The writing is superb and descriptive — “……a green SUV that looked like a loaf of moldy bread.”
I highly recommend this book to all devotees of this genre and thank NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the opportunity to read and review this novel prior to publication.

Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, face a cryptic case and a terrifying, unpredictable killer in this twisty, satisfying thriller!! Great book!! This book has a bit of everything! It had suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, a fantastic who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my kindle! I highly recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

A very good mystery/detective novel. Elvis Cole is asked to reopen a missing persons case by a young woman whose missing father has been declared dead. BUT, reopening the case leads Elvis Cole and partner Joe Pike into an enormous morass of deaths, both present and past.

This is riveting for mystery fans. I enjoyed it, despite all the gore.

I recommend this to fellow mystery lovers. Thank you Netgalley for this arresting novel.