ARC Review: The Last Good Guy by T. Jefferson Parker

The Last Good Guy
Author: T. Jefferson Parker
Series: Roland Ford (Book 3)
Publication: G.P. Putnam's Sons (August 13, 2019)

Description: In this electrifying new thriller from three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, Private Investigator Roland Ford hunts for a missing teenager and uncovers a dark conspiracy in his most personal case yet.

When hired by a beautiful and enigmatic woman to find her missing younger sister, private investigator Roland Ford immediately senses that the case is not what it seems. He is soon swept up in a web of lies and secrets as he searches for the teenager, and even his new client cannot be trusted. His investigation leads him to a secretive charter school, skinhead thugs, a cadre of American Nazis hidden in a desert compound, an arch-conservative celebrity evangelist--and, finally, to the girl herself. The Last Good Guy is Ford's most challenging case to date, one that will leave him questioning everything he thought he knew about decency, honesty, and the battle between good and evil...if it doesn't kill him first.

My Thoughts: This thriller starts out like a 1940s, black and white movie with a client walking into the detective's office and then it quickly becomes very contemporary. Penelope Rideoout wants Roland Ford to find her missing fourteen-year-old sister Daley. Daley has entered that rebellious age and resents the control her older sister has over her life.

Roland takes the case and begins by investigating Penelope only to discover that she has been lying to him about her life. His investigation does lead to where Daley was and he finds the body of her much older boyfriend there. Neighbors saw her leave with a couple of guys from a SNR Security. Trying to find information on the company is almost impossible despite the latest technology.

As Ford tries to track down Daley and learn more about the security company, he follows a SNR car to an isolated date farm in the California desert. He is beaten by six helmeted men riding ATVs and needs rescue himself from one of his irregulars. The beating just makes him more determined to find Daley and learn what is going on at that date farm.

When he goes back to his client he hears yet another story. This time Penelope tells him that Daley is actually her daughter. When Penelope was fourteen she was groomed, drugged, and raped by a travelling preacher and found herself with his child. Currently the preacher has hit the big time and built an arena church near where Penelope lives. Not knowing what to believe about his enigmatic client, Ford begins investigating the church and Pastor Reggie Atlas.

It quickly becomes clear that there is a connection between SNR Security and Atlas that goes beyond hiring them to do security for his church. All of a sudden, Ford is looking into white supremacists and other groups that want to eliminate the "mud men" and bring racial purity back to supremacy. And he still doesn't know where Daley is or if his client's latest story is true.

This was an engaging story with a main character who is both mysterious and intriguing. It is the third book in the Roland Ford series and stands alone well. I would like to know more about Roland's backstory though.

Favorite Quote:

"Isn't my word good enough?"

"You've given me a lot of words, Penelope. Some are more truthful than others."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.