This new novel was on my most wanted list

"The Wanted," by Robert Crais (Putnam, 322 pages, $28).

DAYTON, Ohio -- One of the finest gifts I received over the holidays was a new novel by Robert Crais. "The Wanted" is the latest installment in an enduring series featuring the Los Angeles private investigator Elvis Cole.

Crais fashions novels that are riveting, thrilling, and most entertaining. His first few books were somewhat light-hearted with Elvis constantly cracking wise in them. His 1999 book "L.A. Requiem" revealed something changing. It was dark and quite complex. Crais had begun avidly burrowing deeper inside the stories.

Sherlock Holmes had his Dr. Watson. James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux has his sidekick Clete Purcell. Elvis Cole's alter ego is a guy named Joe Pike. Some years ago Pike began assuming a heftier role in these books.

In "The Wanted," Elvis is hired by a worried mother to investigate her son, who has begun behaving in mysterious ways. Tyson is in high school, he doesn't have a job and he's started wearing very expensive clothes.

What's going on? Is he dealing drugs? His mom searches his room. She finds a Rolex watch that's worth as much as a car. Wads of cash. Designer clothes. She hires Cole to figure out what kind of games this kid is playing. And with whom.

Elvis detects that young Tyson is in a burglary ring that targets rich victims. The police seem to be clueless. As "The Wanted" opens, readers meet a dangerous pair named Harvey and Stemms. They are professional hit men hired by the owner of a home that was burglarized.

Harvey and Stemms need to locate these youthful thieves to recover a stolen object. The owner of the missing item is willing to do anything to get it back. Elvis doesn't realize at first that he is in a race with these hired killers. Elvis knows Tyson is into something bad. Harvey and Stemms are still trying to figure out the identities of the burglars -- as they proceed efficiently along, they are leaving a trail of corpses in their wake.

Elvis Cole soon understands that he's engaged in a battle of wits with two stealthy men who are determined to find Tyson before he can.

Harvey and Stemms reveal themselves to be almost endearing psychopaths. Crais introduces a character named Carl who is an amusing, eccentric nerd; read: computer genius. Of course Joe Pike materializes during the final deadly showdown.

"The Wanted" is another dazzling feather in the plumage of a writer who currently rules the roost in this genre.

Vick Mickunas writes for the Dayton Daily News. Email: vick(at)vickmickunas.com. Mickunas interviews authors every weekend on WYSO-FM in Yellow Springs, Ohio. For podcasts and more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook.

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