Big Empty

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2026 

Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike face a cryptic case and a terrifyingly unpredictable killer in this twisty, edge-of-your-seat thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais.
 
‘Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are right up there with Harry Bosch and Reacher as must reads for me. Robert Crais has mastered the fine art of storytelling’ James Patterson
‘Robert Crais has crafted another masterpiece, delivering a gripping page-turner and a profound exploration of hidden evils; an edge-of-your-seat reading experience that will stay with you long after the final page’ Ryan Steck
‘Hands down the best book I’ve read this year. Simply incredible … it’s intricately plotted, full of Crais’s trademark wit, and packed with characters that leap off the page. Simply sensational’ M. W. Craven


Traci Beller was only thirteen when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. Now a super-popular influencer with millions of followers, she finally has the money to hire a new detective to uncover the truth. And that detective is Elvis Cole.

Taking on a ten-years-cold missing person case is almost always a losing game, though Elvis quickly picks up a lead in Rancha when he learns that an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter Anya might have a line on the missing man. But when he finds himself shadowed by a deadly gang of vicious criminals, the case flips on its head. Victims become predators, predators become prey, and when everyone is a victim, will it be possible to save them all?

Calling on the help of his ex-Marine friend, Joe Pike, Elvis follows Tommy Beller's trail into the twisted, nightmarish depths of a monstrous evil, even as what he finds tests his loyalty to his clients, and to himself. But the truth must come out, no matter the cost.

Elvis must face The Big Empty and see justice done.


PRAISE FOR ROBERT CRAIS: 

'Robert Crais is my favourite crime writer.' M. W. Craven
‘The smoothest writing and best storytelling you'll ever read’ David Baldacci
‘A modern master of crime fiction’ Gregg Hurwitz
‘Robert Crais – and Joe Pike – will have you by the throat’ Independent 
'Just keeps getting better and better' Evening Standard
‘Robert Crais is hands-down the World’s Greatest Crime Fiction Writer’ Huffington Post
‘Expertly delivers his customary modern-day riff on the 1940s hardboiled idiom’ Guardian
‘Cleverly plotted, stylishly written’ Washington Post
‘One of the most reliable storytellers in modern crime fiction’ Daily Mail