Rwanda is among the least likely settings for an Elmore Leonard novel. But, with the opening chapters of the engrossing new Pagan Babies, Leonard seems determined to prove that toughs are the same all over: They can't keep their mouths shut. Of course, bragging about your accomplishments reveals a fatal lack of cool, perhaps the most essential virtue in Leonard's universe, and when a Hutu mass murderer makes a boasting confession to Terry Dunn—a priest, of sorts, whose first mass ended with him helplessly witnessing the slaughter of his Tutsi congregation—he comes to regret his decision. After this unexpected opening, Leonard's novel moves, naturally, to Florida and Detroit (mostly the latter this time), shifting gears into a twisty and familiar but expertly accomplished story of an ex-con comedienne, low-level criminals, and the pursuit of an elusive $250,000. By this point, Leonard could probably craft a satisfying thriller in his sleep, so it's all the more exciting that with his 36th novel he's still found ways to keep fresh. Here, he focuses on the playacting involved in the criminal world, offering a collection of colorful characters that includes a con artist who begins to buy his own con, Mafiosos whose tough-guy acts have been inherited from gangster movies, and a Hoosier hit man too single-minded to try to fit in at all. With Dunn, he's also created an extremely compelling protagonist: a man who's seen the worst the world can offer and never quite reveals whether he's given up on doing the right thing. Factor in Leonard's inimitable dialogue and laser-precise plotting, and Pagan Babies reveals itself as predictable in the best possible way: Just as you'd expect, it's one of the year's best reads.