I've long been a big fan of Andew Vachs and his literary alter-ego, Burke.
Andrew Vachs website
for those of you who don't know, Vachs is a crime writer of a particularly hard-boiled type of fiction. His main character, Burke, is a professional thief and former orphan who hunts and sometimes kills child predators.
He has a non-biological family whose support and loyalty are unquestioned in the underground world of New York City: Mama, the tough as nails owner of a Chinese restaurant and matriarch of an underground crime ring; Silent Max, the deaf martial arts expert who may very well be the deadliest man alive; Immaculata and Flower, Max's wife and child; Michelle, a transgendered person and Burke's "sister," the Prof, Burke's mentor and father figure who always speaks in rhymes; The Mole, a Zionist extremist/mechanical genius who lives in the City Dump, and Clarence, a West Indian "brother" who is also being tutored by the Prof. Last but not least is Burke's partner and best friend - Pansy - a 140lb. Neopolitan Mastiff that is the best bodyguard a man could ask for.
Other characters that come and go are Morales, an old-time cop who hates Burke but appreciates his passion for going after freaks; and Wolfe, the assistant DA/female rights advocate who may have a thing for Burke.
These characters are in every one of the 14 or so Burke novels...they all grow and evolve over the course of the novels like you would expect, too. And they are all wonderful, colorful and very real.
In real life Vachs has fought for many years on behalf of child rights and in trying to better the Child Protective Services departments that seem to fail in the service of their intended clients so often. This makes him very passionate about his subject matter and that definitely comes across in his writing.
The writing is sparse and hard-boiled - very Raymond Chandler-like. His stories are incredibly dark and feature villians that rape and kill children, human slave runners, psychopathic pimps and cops, and all sorts of miscreants.
The Burke novels are in chronological order, so it's probably best to start with the first one:
Flood
Black Lizard/Vintage Crime trade paperbacks have them all and they are gorgeous, over-sized paperbacks...each book cover is a piece of art in itself.
Fantastic series of novels by a great, great writer. I highly recommend them.