The First Rule, by Robert Crais (hardcover, $26.95)

L.A. private eye Elvis Cole once again takes a backseat as his silent but deadly associate, Joe Pike, takes center stage. I liked this novel much better than the first book to star Joe Pike, The Watchman. That first Pike book destroyed the mysterious, inaccessible, Clint Eastwood-in-a-spaghetti-western image I had of him. He had been in and out of the Elvis Cole novels on silent panther feet up until then. Author Robert Crais never really let the panther out of the bag in terms of Pike's background and inner thoughts, so it was a shock to find out that Joe Pike had feelings and parents and a job and wasn't from Planet Zybx or Area 59. Say it ain't so, Joe!

But time marches on and I've gotten used to a Joe Pike with free will, someone who doesn't just appear whenever Elvis thinks him into existence. Okay, that sentence sounded nutty, because Crais does think him into existence. Anyhow…

Joe Pike was a mercenary. His teammates and buddies were tough guys like Joe. They all had been trained in multiple ways of killing people, of viewing a contract in a dispassionate fashion, of always being a few steps ahead of the opposition. It was a sad/happy day when one of his buddies decided to quit the mercenary lifestyle to settle down, marry, and have children. Joe had not had contact with that buddy, Frank Meyer, in years. Not until the police cornered Joe and demanded to know what he knew of the mass killing in Frank's house. Then the contact was limited to Joe's view of Frank's dead body.

Joe decides to avenge Frank. Of course. He begins his own investigation, and discovers in rapid order that this is the latest in a series of home invasions in which the residents have been killed, a Serbian nanny was also killed, there were diapers in her room and no baby in the house, and the nanny's sister carries a gun in her purse.

All of a sudden there are Serbian gangsters, Serbian prostitutes, and various Serbian underworld characters popping out of the woodwork. Where Eastern European gangsters go, the police and FBI are not far behind. It's not so simple to figure out who killed Frank and why. There are also crosses and double-crosses which enliven the plot.

I'm not so shocked anymore by hearing Joe's inner thoughts, because Crais still preserves most of Joe's mystique and terrifying presence. But we now get to see the price Joe has to pay to be what he is.

I love the touches of sassiness that the Elvis Cole books have. On the other hand, there is nothing sassy or funny about Pike or the gruesome situations in which he finds himself. It's a good thing, then, that Crais has brought Elvis in to help Joe. I still prefer more Elvis and less Joe, but I enjoyed this book.

Nine Dragons, by Michael Connelly (hardcover, $27.99)

Maybe I'm just suffering from Bosch-fatigue, but Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly's bread-and-butter character, seemed too somber, whiny and imperious this time around. I didn’t start to enjoy the book until about the last third. On the other hand, I enjoyed Connelly's last book, The Scarecrow, the fantastical novel that featured the return of reporter Jack McEvoy, very much and was looking forward to this new Bosch book.

Harry catches a case with his gun-shy partner of two years, Ignacio Ferras: the shooting death of a Chinese convenience store owner, a man whom Harry had met briefly in Angels Flight. (This is typically and charmingly Connelly-esque: inserting characters from other stories into the current novel.) Harry carefully traces the clues and uses the most modern of forensic techniques (detailed à la "CSI") to help him find the killer. His conclusions lead him to the Chinese triads, alive and well in California. He believes they have killed the shopkeeper because he could not pay his protection money. Before Harry can put the nail in the coffin of a Chinese muscleman for the murder, he receives a disturbing video showing his 13-year-old daughter, Maddie, kidnapped and being held somewhere in Hong Kong, where she lives with her mother, Harry's ex-wife Eleanor Wish. After he receives a threatening phone call, Harry concludes Maddie has been kidnapped because of his involvement with the triad killing in California.

In a section entitled, "The 39-Hour Day," we follow Harry, Eleanor, and Eleanor's boyfriend, Sun, throughout Hong Kong. Since the Hong Kong police have declined to take the case, believing Maddie is playing a prank on her mother, it is up to the three to venture into areas of Hong Kong where two laowai like Harry and Eleanor stand out like big white sore thumbs. Improbable adventure follows upon improbable adventure, and Harry becomes more like "Dirty Harry," racking up the body count. He won't work as a team member, he bulls and bullies his way through the fragile opportunities to discover Maddie's whereabouts, he calls and abuses his U.S. contacts to get information.

I get that Harry's anxious and frantic to think that unspeakable things are happening to Maddie. I get the need for visual action drama in an action drama book. I get that there's a time restraint on finding Maddie and acquiring information to force the U.S. triad to its knees. But this is an extreme case of Harry gets what Harry needs when Harry wants it. I got tired of Harry.

At the same time I really enjoyed the meticulous nailing down of the clues to figure out where Maddie was being held when the video was shot and the unfolding of why the shopkeeper was killed and who did it. So, plot "A+," Harry "C-."

Now for a little spoiler talk . . . SPOILER ALERT
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Good riddance, I say, to Eleanor Wish. With the choice of some wonderful female characters over the years, Harry chose unwisely and unwell when he chose Eleanor. I also realize she was the perfect choice for a person as burdened and moody as Harry. She is what he thought he deserved, is my analysis. Her death will provide Harry with more guilt-ridden angst over the next few books, I'm sure. Oh, lordy.

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A Trace of Smoke, by Rebecca Cantrell (trade, $14.99)

Hannah Vogel discovers her brother's picture in the eerily named Hall of the Unnamed Dead. She cannot claim him, however, because both he and she loaned their identification papers to a Jewish friend and her son to travel from 1931 Berlin to the U.S., to get away from the growing threat of the anti-Semitism that Adolf Hitler's supporters espouse. To be without identification papers in those dangerous times was verboten. People have been executed for less.

Hobbled by not being able to investigate openly and properly, Hannah tries the best she can. She uses her position as a crime columnist to find out the meager facts of her brother's case from the police. She talks to her brother's acquaintances and, as a result, enters the world of post-WWI Berlin decadence. Her brother was a homosexual and transvestite, who sang at one of the popular "Cabaret"-style nightspots.

Her investigation comes to a screeching halt when she opens her door one day to find a five-year-old boy who addresses her as "Mother." He carries a birth certificate that lists her as his mother and her brother as his father. Hannah's life becomes immensely more complicated. (When I first read this description in the jacket summary, I thought, "Ewwww." But Hannah is not the boy's mother, and it is part of the clever – if somewhat fantastical – plot about who the boy actually is.)

Rebecca Cantrell's evocative descriptions of the poverty and soul-torturing compromises the people of Berlin must make are moving. In addition to the exotic erotic other world Hannah's brother surreptitiously moved in, Cantrell shows us a little of all the social classes and brings us face-to-face with the growing resentment against Jews. All in all, a thought-provoking book with a poignant underlying story of the changing mores of Nazi Berlin.

Curse of the Pogo Stick, by Colin Cotterill (trade, $13)

This is the fifth book in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series set in 1970s Laos. Dr. Siri is a reluctant coroner, placed in his current position by an imperious Communist government. In his 70s, Dr. Siri still has all his wits about him – plus the wits that should have been allocated to his superior, Judge Haeng – and the energy of a much younger man. He also has a spiritual advisor, the normally dormant Yeh Ming, a long-deceased village shaman. Late in life, besides his association with Yeh Ming, Dr. Siri has developed the ability to see spirits from The Otherworld. They lead him into and out of danger, with unpredictability as their hallmark.

Within the purview of entertainment, not academic disquisition, Colin Cotterill does a good job of representing the Hmong culture, which has survived turmoil, war, and displacement throughout the years. Dr. Siri comes face to face with the hidden and disenfranchised Hmong when his vehicle is attacked and he is taken hostage. His captors are generous, kind, and need his spiritual help. This is in stark contrast to the obligatory party mission he was on when he was captured. It was, ironically, to show how safe travel in Laos had become under the new regime, and it was in the company of sullen and disagreeable Party members.

While Dr. Siri is attempting to restore spiritual balance to the war-reduced population of one Hmong community, his loyal friends and assistants (Nurse Dtui, fiancée Daeng, policeman Phossy, retired Party power player Civilai, and morgue worker Geung) are fighting a terrorist plot in Vientiane.

Cotterill writes with humor and respect for the culture that was and with insight about the unsettled politics of the time. Despite the slightly fantastical terrorist plot (as if seeing spirits weren't fantastical!) in this book, I have found that time has not diminished Cotterill's ability to entrance and illuminate. This is still one of the best mystery series, and one I love to recommend.