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northstar's review
4.0
It took me a while to get into this novel but I ended up liking it as well as any of his Nick Stefanos books, which I read last year. Pelecanos tells a good, if violent, story but he also builds strong characters. Center to this story is Pete Karras, a WWII veteran who mixes with low-level mobsters after he returns from the Pacific and ends up with a bum leg and a job at a cafe. His efforts to save a co-worker's sister and protect his boss from gangsters leads him right back to the mob and an old friend he thought he left behind. If you've never read Pelecanos, start with this one or A Firing Offense--he writes in trilogies and tetralogies, with overlapping characters. Get ready for lots of drugs and liquor, heavy but plot-driven violence and unforgettable views of Washington, DC.
francomega's review
4.0
Exactly what I was hoping from Pelecanos, whose writing is so good on The Wire and Treme. This is the first book in his D.C. Quartet. Great attention to detail--really captured the sounds and feel of 1940s DC (I assume?). Gritty, witty, noir-y fun.
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