Pagan Babies is an Elmore Leonard book that came out around 2000. In many ways its just another typical Elmore Leonard book. It has the terse unaffected dialogue, the protagonist who’s involved in something shady. But hey, that’s why you read an Elmore Leonard book! It’s a good read and has just enough twists to not feel like the same book as the last one of his you read. But it’s not one of his best like Get Shorty, Killshot or Out of Sight.
Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith
Polar Star is the sequel to the classic crime novel Gorky Park. Written in the late 80s it features detective Arkady Renko now solving a murder aboard a soviet fishing ship. Smith’s writing is above average and the oppression of the soviet environment adds a whole different feel compared to the generic detective novel. Gorky Park is better but if you enjoyed it you’ll want to read this one too.