Product Description

RIGHT AS RAIN - Derek Strange and Terry Quinn are ex-cops turned private detectives in Washington DC, hired to investigate the death of an off-duty black policeman at the hands of a white officer. Caught between a corrupt police force and the flourishing drug trade, they find themselves up against some of the most implacable, dead-eyed killers ever to grace the pages of a novel. HELL TO PAY - A bent cop and a missing teenage hooker mean business as usual for Strange and Quinn. But the murky streets of downtown DC have darker secrets in store. Lorenze Wilder has made an enemy of one of the hardest criminals around and he will be made to pay. When the reckoning comes, Lorenze isn't the only victim, and the jaded partners become unlikely avenging angels for a soul they thought they'd saved. SOUL CIRCUS - Strange and Quinn are asked to trace a missing woman. But in the Washington underworld, nothing is that simple. Their efforts lead to a young mother being brutally murdered - a devastating discovery that causes the partners to question their morality. Yet at the same time they must continue the search for another missing girl, a teenage runaway who shows up in a porn video. And who hasn't been seen since.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #194287 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 784 pages

About the Author
George Pelecanos lives in Washington DC with his family. He also manages Circle Films, the production company responsible for such films as the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink.

Customer Reviews

If you haven't read these then buy this book
Pelecanos is a genius, his novels are the best thing to come of American crime writing in decades. All these Derek Strange books are superb giving a unique insight into the underworld of Washington. The plots, the characters and the action are all very human and while some of the main protagonists may not be the most likable they are always real.
After I read the first Derek Strange book some years ago I immediately bought everything Pelecanos had written, every book is a gem and I can not recommend any of his work highly enough.

Not as good as I had expected
Had I paid full price for this book I would have given it a far lower rating as the print quality is very poor. Particularly irritating were the very thin pages more like newspaper and several missing words. But as I picked it up for a pound that didnt factor in the overall rating.

The books themselves were good detective novels. The endings were predictable but I would still recommend them. I did grow to like Strange and Quinn. The characters are believable and this sets the books apart to a certain extent. I agree however that I would not put it in the same class as Crais. The text is very american and gritty and does deal with the issues of class and colour in a real believable way.

Definitely worth a read but I am not sure I would look out for more by this writer.

good but not great
I had read 'The Big Blowdown' (which apparently Richard Price read before offering Pelecanos work on 'The Wire'). That was OK enough for me to want to try out more of this author's work. I liked the Derek Strange character. I liked the dialogue and interaction with other characters. I didn't like so much the author's switching of viewpoint, letting us into other characters' heads. For me, that gets in the way of good story telling. The plots of the novels are all right but not exactly gripping. I understand that both Robert Crais and Michael Connelly praise Pelecanos' writing, but these three novels are not up to their standards.