The first rule
THE FIRST RULE Robert Crais (Orion €14)
Self-made businessman Frank Meyer, his wife Cindy and their two little boys had just finished dinner when their front door was battered open. Within minutes, the family was executed in cold blood.
Their nanny survives but is not expected to live. They are the seventh family to have suffered such a fate, and since the previous victims all had criminal connections, the LAPD assume Frank was dirty, and -- given his past career as a mercenary soldier of fortune -- suspect he was involved in importing weapons. But his erstwhile commanding officer Joe Pike, a police officer turned private investigator, knows Frank was clean. With the help of his friend and business partner Elvis Cole, Pike sets out to clear Meyer's reputation. Within hours, he traces the gang behind the killings, but discovers they are only the tip of a deadly iceberg.
There have been eight Robert Crais thrillers featuring the wise-cracking Elvis Cole, but this is only the second in which Joe Pike takes first billing. The lethal Pike is prepared to drive a Humvee through the legal code to exact his form of rough justice on those who killed his friend and his family.
Highly recommended for adrenalin junkies.
Irish Independent
