Racing the Light by Robert Crais 2022

Crais is one of my favorite mystery writers with three characters who have stood the test of time.  Elvis Cole is ‘the world’s greatest detective’.  He drives a Corvette, lives in a cool house overlooking LA, and can be tough when he needs to be.  Joe Pike is the laconic, ex-Marine who is the muscle in the team but also is empathic and senstive when he’s not beating someone up.  Jon Stone is a mercenary soldier deep into tech and spying.

In this, his 23rd book about these guys, Crais weaves a dense plot involving the NSA, Area 51, a porn star, two amateur investigative reporters, a couple of Chinese criminals, and a bunch of crooked politicians.  Oh, I forgot the paranoid schizophrenic who lives in Griffith Park and witnesses some of the bad guys dumping the body of one of the good guys.

It’s a complex but very fast-moving tale which is accompanied by one of Cole’s long time love interests.  Anytime I breeze through 350 pages in two days, it’s a fine read.  You’ll like this one