The First Rule

This is an okay book written by Robert Crais. 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 – because only other criminals are his family. If any of the rules are broken, it is punishable by death. Frank Meyer had the American dream – a wife and family he adored, a successful business – 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 worked as a professional military contractor, a mercenary, with a man named Joe Pike. Frank was one of Pike’s guys, and they faced death together in every rotten hellhole around the world.

This is the 13th novel in the series.