Four Years Gone (book 8)
A Carlos McCrary, Private Investigator, Mystery Thriller

For fans of Jack Reacher, Elvis Cole, Matt Kile, and Spenser comes a new mystery thriller…
Four Years Gone cover for book page

Carlos McCrary’s morning in his South Florida beachside condo turns topsy-turvy when Crazy Aunt Carrie calls. Her daughter Emily—McCrary’s cousin—appeared last night in a vision. “Mom, I’m here. Come find me. I need you.”

Four year ago, when Emily disappeared, McCrary (then a new police detective) couldn’t find her and the failure still haunts him. Carrie persuades him to drop everything and fly to Austin, Texas. His aunt has nothing new beyond her vision, but, hell, family is family.

The wrong bodies surface

Finding his cousin’s body would finally give Aunt Carrie and Uncle Frank closure. But other bodies turn up in the backwoods of the Texas Hill Country. Before he knows it, the young detective is enmeshed in a decade-old cauldron of kidnapping, rape, and serial killings. As McCrary untangles the web of deception, the killer sets his sights on McCrary.

This mystery thriller will draw you in and refuse to let go. Don’t start reading it in the evening if you want a full night’s sleep.

Quotes from Four Years Gone:

We had come hunting another grave. On one level, I hoped we found one. On another level, I hoped we wouldn’t. Something about the dirt platform seemed ominous. If this were a horror movie, this is where the spooky music would play.
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“Nobody doesn’t like bagels…”
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If the world were really as dangerous as the news media paint it, no one could afford insurance.
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Every town in Texas claims they have the best barbecue. And they are all telling the truth.
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My idea of fine art is a new Star Wars movie.
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Sandy paraded into the room like a fashion model on a runway, dressed in an outfit appropriate for an audition for Floozy of the Week on reality TV.
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I believe that race doesn’t—or shouldn’t—matter. What am I? White or Latino? I am both, and a Medical Examiner could classify my body either way. It might even depend on whether the ME knew my name was Carlos. If I met this mixed-race victim socially alongside white parents or Latino parents, I would classify her white or Latino. If I met her beside black parents, I would call her African-American.
See what I mean? Race is as confused as it is irrelevant.
If we must have a blank space for race, why can’t we fill it with “human”?
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“I never met a meal I didn’t like. I love all food without bias or favoritism.”
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I tilted my glass. It was empty. I hate it when that happens.
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“What do you want for breakfast?”
“Whatever you eat. I love all food without discrimination. Except okra.”
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Ortega leaned forward. “Nothing new has popped up. Believe me, I’ll reopen the frigging case in a heartbeat when I have something to investigate, but there’s no new evidence. How the hell do I investigate a nightmare?” It helps to have a crazy aunt, I thought.
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I was so green I’d give a two-bit answer to a two-dollar question.
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I handed the house mother a business card. There was no company crest in the McCrary Investigations colors to print on my card. If McCrary Investigations had company colors, they would be the black and blue of my occupational bruises. My company crest could be the Port City Police shield I once wore. Or maybe a set of brass knuckles.
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Bernard’s American Bistro was an upscale French restaurant on east Sixth Street. You know it’s upscale when you have to use a valet to park your car.
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This guy is stranger than a witch doctor at a medical convention.
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Carry a clipboard and you can go anywhere and people think you belong. Why else would anyone carry a clipboard but because they have to? It’s the next best thing to Harry Potter’s Cloak of Invisibility.
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Everybody has a story to tell and sometimes the best thing you can do is listen to it.

Four Years Gone, published in October 2018, has received 169 reader reviews with 4.5 stars on Amazon and 80 ratings on Goodreads with 4.6 stars as of 7 Sep 2023. Read Reviews...

Four Years Gone Free Sneak Peak
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Take a look at the other Carlos McCrary Thrillers: