Review
Cops and robbers" plots are two-a-penny. What raises Pelecanos
above so many others writing in this genre are his sub-plots and characterization. While the main plot has a beginning, a middle, and is more
or less tied up at the end, a number of the sub-plots that are so exceptionally
weaved into the main are left dangling
, either we don't quite know where
they start or we don't know how they will end
- this isn't frustrating,
it's just realistic. One such story-line is about Diego, Ramone's son, who
struggles to gain respect in the predominantly white suburban school his parents
have snuck him into (showing that Ramone, while definitely a "good cop" isn't
above bending the law when it comes to doing the best he can for his children).
As for his characters - Pelecanos's Washington is not the glamorous side of
politics and money but...
Beyond the Book
George P. Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957. He worked as a line
cook, dishwasher, bartender, shoe salesman, electronics salesman, and
construction worker before publishing his first novel in 1992. He is the
author of fourteen crime/noir novels to date, all set in and around Washington,
D.C. In addition to his books and various works of short fiction he has
also produced three feature films,
Caught (1996),
Whatever (1998) and
Blackmale (1999), and is a staff writer and story
editor for the HBO series,
The Wire. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three children.
Bibliography
Nick Stefanos series
A Firing Offense (1992)
Nick's Trip (1993)
Down...
