Robert Crais - Joe Pike 02 The First Rule

Table of Contents

ALSO BY ROBERT CRAIS

Chasing Darkness
The Watchman
The Two Minute Rule
The Forgotten Man
The Last Detective
Hostage
Demolition Angel
L.A. Requiem
Indigo Slam
Sunset Express
Voodoo River
Free Fall
Lullaby Town
Stalking the Angel
The Monkeys Raincoat

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Copyright 2010 by Robert Crais

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Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crais, Robert.
The first rule / by Robert Crais.
p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-16328-3

1. Pike, Joe (Fictitious character)Fiction. 2. Cole, Elvis (Fictitious
character)Fiction. 3. Married peopleCrimes againstFiction.
4. Home invasionCaliforniaWestwoodFiction. 5. Drug trafficCaliforniaLos
AngelesFiction. 6. Private investigators
CaliforniaLos AngelesFiction. I. Title.
PS3553.R264F
813.54dc22

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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for my friend,
Harlan Ellison,
whose work, more than any other,
brought me to this place.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Pat Crais, Aaron Priest, Neil Nyren, Ivan Held, and Tim Hely Hutchinson. Jon Wood, Susan Lamb, and Malcolm Edwards. Eileen Hutton. Mark and Diane, for taking the Egg. Gregg and Delinah. Jeffrey Lanebecause hes cool. Frank, Toni. Bill Tanner, Brad Johnson, Lynne Limp. Damon and Kate, as always. The Plum Brothers: Alan Night Train Brennert, William F. Slow Hand Wu, Michael Bardwulf Toman, and Michael Fastball Cassutt. Otto. Shelby Rotolo. Eileen Bickhambecause I care. Chip, Gene, Roger, and Joenow I know. Stan Robinson. Gregory Frost. Tim Campbell. Lois, Vic, Coop, Biljon, Mike A, and Mike B. Jerry. April. Don Westlake. Betsy Little, Steve Volpe.

All of them helped.

The organized criminal gangs from the fifteen republics of the former Soviet Union are governed by what they call the Vorovskoy Zakonthe thieves codewhich is comprised of eighteen written rules. The first rule is this:

A thief must forsake his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He must not have a familyno wife, no children. We are his family.

If any of the eighteen rules are broken, the punishment is death.