Duane Covert – The Promise
By Duane Covert, Photography By Savannah Dean
Sometimes, it’s fun to read a book just for the pleasure of a good yarn. For me, that’s often a mystery novel.
The Promise (2015) is the latest in a series by Robert Crais, an award-winning mystery writer. Crais is a Louisiana native who caught the filmmaking bug, moved to Tinseltown to seek fame and fortune, and found it. He became a scriptwriter for a number of TV shows, began writing novels, and found success with his novel The Monkey’s Raincoat and its hero, Elvis Cole. Yes, Elvis.
Crais is now the author of 20 books, 16 of them in the Elvis Cole series. Cole runs a one-man private detective agency, supported by his silent partner, Joe Pike. Cole has a quirky sense of humor, favors aloha shirts, and has unshakeable ethics. A former Marine, Pike is the epitome of the strong, silent type. You would want to hang out with these guys.
In The Promise, Cole gets hired for an investigation that isn’t what it seems. Cole is searching for a chemical engineer whose “normal” life is disrupted by a tragic event, which may have set her spinning off into a strange direction. Cole runs afoul of very bad guys, local police, the FBI, and Department of Homeland Security in his diligent pursuit of the missing engineer.
K-9 Maggie, reprised from a previous novel, makes key contributions. Typical of Crais’ work, there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you flipping the pages. Also typical of this writer, The Promise weaves a sound plot. The new characters are well developed, but – oops! – Not always who they seem. Beyond this, you’ll have to see for yourself; it is a mystery, after all.
If you are a fan of the Crais series, you’ll want to read this one, because, well, it’s
Elvis Cole. If you have never read one of Crais’ series, my advice would be to not start with this one. The primary characters are well known to previous readers, but are not thoroughly developed in this novel. The first book in the series is The Monkey’s Raincoat. You can also start with Free Fall or Voodoo River and work your way to this one. The characters are worth it.
About Duane Covert
Duane Covert served for 28+ years, in the Navy. During five of those years, he was lucky enough to command both a Navy ship and NSWC Panama City, with all sorts of interesting jobs in the other 23 years. Duane became a reader in self-defense, because his wife, Michelle, is a voracious reader. He enjoys all sorts of books but always has a good mystery around. Duane enjoys golf, trash-talking on the golf course, car talk, and he’s learning to play the ukulele. The Coverts have lived in Bay County for more than 15 years.