Book #43 was Stalking the Angel, the second book in the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais.  The back of the book reads:

Bradley Warren had lost something very valuable, something that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure. Everything PI Elvis Cole knew about Japanese culture he’d learned from reading Shogun, but he knew a lot of crooks and what he didn’t know, his sociopathic sidekick Joe Pike did. Together their search begins in LA’s Little Tokyo and the nest of the notorious Japanese mafia, the yakuza, and leads to a white knuckled adventure filled with madness, murder and sexual obsession just another day’s work for Elvis Cole.

Elvis Cole is an interesting guy.  He’s a pretty good private detective in the classic mold, but his clients tend to think he’s a little weird.  Especially when they find him in his office, standing on his head. Surrounded by Disney figurines. Elvis also has a soft spot for children in trouble, and that’s what pulls him back to this case, even after being fired.  Soon, it’s not about finding the Hagakure, it’s about finding his client’s daughter, Mimi. There’s a lot more going on here than a missing book, and it gets difficult to figure out who is on whose side, and who is telling the truth. Elvis is a smart-ass, and he’s found his perfect partner in Joe Pike, who probably says less than 50 words in the entire book. He may not say much, but he’s always there when Elvis needs him.

Page count: 288 | Approximate word count: 72,000

2009: Full Blast (Janet Evanovich)
2008: Dark of the Moon (John Sandford)
2007: The Husband (Dean Koontz)
2006: Darksong Rising (L.E. Modesitt, Jr.)
2005: Vengeance in Death (J.D. Robb)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Reading From My Shelves Project; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

Book #1 was The First Rule, the second Joe Pike book by Robert Crais.  The back of the book reads:

The Watchman put Joe Pike, Elvis Cole’s strong, taciturn partner, front and center, and not only won Robert Crais new audiences but remarkable reviews. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said "Robert Crais elevates crime fiction" and now with The First Rule he does it again.

The organized criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are bound by what they call the thieves’ code. The first rule is this: A thief must forsake his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He must have no family-no wife, no children. We are his family. If any of the rules are broken, it is punishable by death.

Frank Meyer had the American dream-until the day a professional crew invaded his home and murdered everyone inside. The only thing out of the ordinary about Meyer was that- before the family and the business and the normal life-a younger Frank Meyer had worked as a professional mercenary, with a man named Joe Pike. The police think Meyer was hiding something very bad, but Pike does not. With the help of Cole, he sets out on a hunt of his own-an investigation that quickly entangles them both in a web of ancient grudges, blood ties, blackmail, vengeance, double crosses, and cutthroat criminal­ity, and at the heart of it, an act so terrible even Pike and Cole have no way to measure it. Sometimes, the past is never dead. It’s not even past.

The First Rule is the most astonishing novel yet from the master of the crime thriller.

This is the first Crais novel I’ve read with Joe Pike at the forefront, and I thought it was quite good. He reminds me a lot of Jack Reacher from Lee Child’s books; they’re both quiet, mysterious, and a lot more dangerous than they appear. And here you see a little of Pike’s softer side when he finds himself trying to save a baby from becoming a pawn in an organized crime double-cross. I thought Crais did a good job of making you wonder what the truth actually is with a lot of characters that are very good liars. Elvis plays a significant part here, but most of the book is through Pike’s eyes.  Joe Pike is a really strong leading man, and I hope we see more books from his perspective. If you are a fan of this genre, Crais is a must-read.

Other reviews:

Jen’s Book Thoughts

Page count: 320 | Approximate word count: 80,000

2009: Eclipse (Richard North Patterson)
2008: Innocent in Death (J.D. Robb)
2007: Acceptable Risk (Robin Cook)
2006: Conspiracy in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2010; ARC Reading Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Pub Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2; Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010; TwentyTen Challenge;