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Friday, June 16, 2023

Book Review: Racing the Light by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike #19)

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Elvis, Joe, and a mostly interesting story
Cons: Many annoying characters, predictable at times
The Bottom Line:
Finding missing man
Another uneven book
Fans will want to read



Elvis Cole is in a Race to Find a Missing Man

It has been several years since we got a new Elvis Cole and Joe Pike book from Robert Crais.  Once Racing the Light did come out, it took me a while to get it from my library.  I’d forgotten some of my struggles with the series in that time.  Unfortunately, I remember them as I was reading this book.

Adele Schumacher arrives in PI Elvis Cole’s office one day insisting that he find her missing son, Josh.  Her son is in his twenties, and Elvis doesn’t seem to think that it’s any big deal that he has been gone for a few days.  Adele seems to be a little out there, spouting some conspiracy theories during their meeting.  But Elvis figures he will look into it for a day before making up his mind.

When Elvis starts to learn about Josh, his opinions don’t really improve.  Josh is the host of a podcast devoted to aliens and other subjects like that, insisting that he is uncovering the truth.  But Elvis soon uncovers something that makes it obvious Josh might be in danger.  Who are the men watching his bungalow?  Can Elvis find him before it is too late?

As always, the story is compelling with plenty going on to keep us engaged.  It’s a good thing it is fast paced since that doesn’t give us much time to think about how predictable some of the things are.  Even with the fast pace, I guessed a few of the developments before they happened.  Still, I was engaged enough to want to see exactly what was going on and how it was going to be resolved.

I do like Elvis and Joe.  While Elvis gets some development here, Joe is his usual strong, silent self.  Honestly, he is still a very simple character – fun but not that well developed.  The new characters we meet here aren’t much better developed.

I also was reminded how annoying some of Mr. Crais’s characters can be.  He seems to delight in creating immature characters who make the dumbest mistakes possible and then builds a plot around that.  I found several of the characters grating here, in fact, and wanted to smack them.

Luke Daniels’s narration doesn’t help.   Yes, this is one of the series I read via audiobook, and I’d also forgotten that I have a love/hate relationship with this particular narrator.  He can be good when he wants to be.  However, much of the time, he seems to create cartoony voices for the characters that grate.  And when a character is whiney, he really gets into that, too, making me more annoyed with the character.  He does a good job with some of the series regulars, which is a good thing, but he kills some of the sarcasm in Elvis’s narration as well.

Speaking of which, the book is told from Elvis’s first person point of view as well as the third person points of view of some of the other characters.  These switches are always at a chapter break and always clearly labeled, so I never had a problem following.

As you might expect, this book is filled with more language and violence than I normally read.  Honestly, I feel like it went overboard at times.

On the other hand, there is an interesting sub-plot that will make fans of the series take notice.

I know this sounds pretty negative, and this series isn’t one of my favorites.  I feel like I need to keep up with it as a mystery reader in Southern California, so I do.  It’s not that Racing the Light is bad, but it’s not that great either.

Here are the rest of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Mysteries.

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