american suckerman turnaround revolution

books:

39 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2006

Super, and especially as audiotape
I read early Pelecanos crime novels to get a sense of life in the parts of DC I don't know personally. I heard that by the time he wrote Drama City Pelicanos was rising above the genre, and I now agree. I particularly enjoyed listening to the audiotaped version of this novel, which seems to capture the accents of the streets. It's like listening to wonderful radio drama, but with the fuller ...

The Turnaround

25 reviews
George Pelecanos

Little, Brown and Company, 2008

Darn Good Book...
As a "crime" novel, "The Turnaround" does not feature any unexpected plot twists, no feelings of mounting suspense, no gory forensics details. No villain to loathe (one character is extremely unlikable but even he could be considered a victim of his childhood and environment), no detective to root for. It is just one damn fine story. I finished it in two nights and I've probably said this before ...

Right as Rain (Derek Strange/Terry Quinn)

50 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2002

Vivid Characters, Gritty Action from DC
'Right as Rain' started the Derek Strange and Terry Quinn series of crime novels set in Washington DC by George Pelecanos. Strange and Quinn are each former-DC cops. Strange is black and Quinn isn't. Strange is a private detective and Quinn isn't. Strange is under control and Quinn - nope. Strange is hired to look into the shooting of an off-duty black cop by a white cop - who turns out to be ...

The Big Blowdown

14 reviews
George Pelecanos

St. Martin's Minotaur, 1999

Standin' in line to see Krupa and the Dorseys, pullin' my fedora over my eyes
An excellent book. As one reader put it, 'I love this period piece.' As I had conversations with my father about his growing up in New York, it always seemed to me that this was a cool period to hang out in, the '40s and the early '50's. Life is easier now but it doesn't seem as much fun. Spend a few minutes watching MTV and suits yelling at eachother on Fox, and tell me about the shortcomings of ...

Shame the Devil

31 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Dell, 2001

John Steinbeck with a pistol
George Pelecanos is at his best in SHAME THE DEVIL, and Pelecanos at his best is pure American street fiction at its finest. While frequently compared to such writers as Dennis Lehane and Jim Thompson, it is perhaps most accurate to look at Pelecanos in the light of someone like John Steinbeck. Pelecanos builds a tight world of cops, fry cooks, appliance salesmen, store clerks, and sets them in ...

The Sweet Forever

24 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Dell, 1999

Well Done and Engrossing
The Sweet Forever is a well done and engrossing crime novel. Pelecanos' story shifts from the Washington DC gang members to the corrupt cops to honest people just trying to get by and back again. It's not really about one crime, like a murder that must be solved. Rather it concerns a chain reaction of events which occur after a bag of drug money is taken from a flaming car. The characters are ...

The Night Gardener

64 reviews
George Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2007

Outstanding thriller
I'm a big fan of the police procedural/thriller genre when it comes to TV and movies--frequently getting sucked into reruns of "Law & Order: SVU" when I should be doing other things--but for some reason I haven't read many books like this. Maybe it's time to change that. As the story begins, it's 1985 and a middle-aged cop named T.C. Cooke is examining a string of "Palindrome murders" in which ...

Shoedog

10 reviews
George Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2004

Outstanding Drama
Few crime novelists can hook you like George Pelecanos. His 1994 stand-alone "Shoedog" was out-of-print until last fall in paperback....great news! There are no good guys in this tale of violence, extreme betrayal and social realism. Every character is morally questionable. Like great film-noir, the cast is either anti-hero or villain. After drifting worldwide for seventeen years, ...

Hard Revolution

30 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2005

An acquired taste......
Pelecanos' books are an acquired taste. I read his first book because it was a murder mystery but because of his easy writing style, I decided to read more of his books. I'm now into my 3rd and 4th Pelcanos books. Hard Revolution was the 2nd Pelecanos book I read. For sure HR is not a murder mystery. It isn't even a mystery book, more like crime drama. Pelacanos specializes in Washington DC. ...

The Best American Mystery Stories 2008 (The Best American Series)

Houghton Mifflin, 2008

Edited by George Pelecanos, best-selling author and writer for the hit HBO series The Wire, this year's collection promises to deliver the same stellar caliber of mystery stories that readers have come to expect from this series. "A must-read for anyone who cares about crime stories" (Booklist), the collection is filled with talented new voices and veterans of fine writing. Contributors include James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Joyce Carol ...

DC Noir (Akashic Noir)

4 reviews

Akashic Books, 2006

Scary and Fun
I completely enjoyed this book. I grew up in the DC area and recognized all of the neighborhoods in which the stories took place. I gave the book to my native Baltimore friend and she loved it too. The stories, while very dark, were well written and riveting. Now my friend and I are dying to get Baltimore Noir. That will be tomorrow at the panel discussion at the Pratt Library. Buy these Noir ...

Soul Circus

32 reviews
George Pelecanos

Vision, 2004

Powerful
George Pelecanos is an exceptional writer, but Soul Circus is the most powerful novel of his that I have yet read. The third novel in his Derek Strange series, it concerns the jockeying for position of two small-time drug dealers and their mutual interactions with a P.G. County arms dealer. The arms dealer, Strange, and his associate, a white man named Quinn, are all ex-cops. While the story ...

True Confessions: A Novel

10 reviews
John Gregory Dunne, John Dunne

Da Capo Press, 2005

I'm addicted!
I initially purchased this book in 1980, and have read and re-read it at least once a year, ever since! The cynicism Dunne uses to capture the emotions of the two main characters. The Spellacy brothers, Des, the Priest, and Tom, the cop, not only establish their parts in the murder of the "Virgin Tramp," but also come to grips with their own Irish Catholic life journeys. This one is a "must ...

King Suckerman

29 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Dell, 1998

A major neo-noir novelist
There are three unique values to this writer's noir novels. All shone very brightly in _King Suckerman_. First, Pelecanos recreates a Washington DC which makes the working class and minority (as opposed to administrative) city come alive. You know you are not reading about Baltimore, New York, or Philly, but Chocolate City in the 70s. This takes an extensive understanding of Washington's locales, ...

Hell to Pay

43 reviews
George Pelecanos

Grand Central Publishing, 2003

Firmly so-so.
After I read a book, I often check online to see the reviews. I don't like to read them before I open a book (with the exception of new recommendations) but it is always interesting afterwards to see what other folks had to say. Sometimes, even often, I am not that different than the general crowd of reviewers. Other times, I seem to march to a different drummer. Hell to Pay is one of those ...

D.C. Noir 2: The Classics (Akashic Noir)

Akashic Books, 2008

Classic reprints from: Edward P. Jones, George Pelecanos, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, James Grady, Julian Mayfield, Marita Golden, Elizabeth Hand, Julian Mazor, Ward Just, Jean Toomer, Roach Brown, Larry Neal, and others. George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO series The Wire , and the author of ...

A Firing Offense (A Five Star Title)

20 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Serpent's Tail, 1999

characterizations and setting save this Pelecanos novel..
'A Firing Offense', as judged by many amazon.com reviewers, is not the most thrilling of crime novels by Pelecanos. In fact the criminal aspect of this story, which only comes to light towards the end (..no spoilers), is somewhat thin. However this book simply oozes with atmosphere. 1980s wasted youth, drug culture, with the lead character (Nick Stephanos) definitely in a "desperately seeking ...

Drama City
George P. Pelecanos

Orion, 2005

Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go (A Five Star Title)

11 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Serpent's Tail, 1999

A very entertaining book, but not one of Pelecanos' best
I've now read all of George Pelecanos' novels and I loved them all, including this one. If there's a better crime thriller author out there, I haven't found them. Gritty seems to be the operative word in describing his work and this story is no exception. His stories are all set in Washington D.C., with lots of great word pictures of places there and lots of music references. It's an ...

Nick's Trip

11 reviews
George P. Pelecanos

Serpent's Tail, 1999

Might Be The Best Book By Pelecanos
This was the first Pelecanos book I ever read, and it had me snared from the very beginning. This guy is so talented, so funny, and so adept at capturing the raw feel of average daily life for a simple bartender who occasionally plays private detective. I found myself in awe of the writing in this book; so original, so humorous...with characters so real that you can't help rooting for them. ...

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