Chasing Darkness

Chasing Darkness (2008) Robert Crais

This story switches back to Elvis, who seems to be recovered from almost dying.

And his cat is still old and a jerk who doesn’t like anyone except Cole and Pike.

He was sitting by his dish where he waits for breakfast, only this time he brought his own. The hindquarters of a tree rat were on the floor by his feet.

The cat blinked at me. Proud. Like I should fall to and dig in.

He said, “Mmrh.”

“Good job, m’man. Yum.”

I cleaned it up with paper towels, then gave him a can of tuna. He growled when I threw away the legs, but the tuna helped him get over it.

It’s nice how the cat doesn’t age any more than Elvis and Joe do. :)

Oh, right. The mystery.

A body is discovered during a wildfire evacuation. A man shot through the head, with a photo book of murdered women in front of him. The man had been accused of the murder of one of the women, but an investigation by Cole had gotten him off, showing the man was somewhere else at the time, but now it looks like the man had been a murderer, and continued his spree after being released.

This story was also a maze of twisty passages all alike, but I liked it for that.

Also, no mention of Vietnam–just that Cole had gone to war.

I had seen similar shrines when I returned from the war and sought out the parents of friends who had died.

Cole also spends more time with Starkey, who is still in love with him, but won’t say anything. Pike knows, but being Pike he won’t say anything either, so Cole is oblivious while Starkey is miserable about the whole thing.

“See the drugstore ahead on the right? Pull over and give me twenty bucks.”

Starkey returned a few minutes later with a two-pound box of chocolates and a fresh pack of cigarettes.

And again, one of the things I especially like about Cole is that he not only feels fear, but admits it. (Pike just doesn’t feel fear.)

I pushed through the hedges into the neighbors’ yard and saw Pike’s Jeep in the street. I probably should have walked, but I ran as hard as I could without looking back and without caring who saw me.

I jammed into Pike’s Jeep with the box in my lap, and Pike gunned away, the door snapping shut so hard it hammered my elbow.

Pike said, “Close.”

My eyes burned as I laughed. It was a stupid laugh, like a barking dog. I couldn’t stop until Pike gripped my arm.

I do like this series–even if Elvis Cole has stopped in time. (I wonder if that’s why things couldn’t work out with Lucy–a child can’t forever remain unaging in a book. It’s weird.)
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Simon & Schuster

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