Shame the Devil

George Pelecanos writes convincingly about the underside of Washington DC, the flip side of the glamorous branches of government. We have all waded through those tiresome DC-based legal and political thrillers that would have you believe that Washington DC is the exclusive enclave of the hyper-rich, powerful and wonderful. Pelecanos paints a vibrant picture of life in a downscale bar, the customers, the employees, and the lives that touch them. Nick Stefanos is a part-time private investigator and a full-time bartender. It is never a pretty picture. Alcoholism is front and center; lives of desperation, futility, corruption and crushing poverty are touched. The local DC government is portrayed as decaying and failing.An interesting quirk is that all of the characters love music. Each scene has a piece of rock music that the author describes enthusiastically. It is just one of the details that provides so much richness to the image.In this dismal environment, Pelecanos creates characters that are real. They have hopes and aspirations. And, they are prisoners of their past. You enter Nick's world and are swept along in an interesting and exciting plot. This author has an uncanny ability to craft a plot that is always believable and inevitable, without being predictable. Nick finds the small links that pull the solution to an old mystery together in a totally credible manner. You will find yourself caring for and liking the exotic characters in this book. Many current mystery authors cite Pelecanos as personal favorites. I rate this five-stars with a bullet!

But George Pelecanos continues to write some of the best fiction that's out there. I would rate this a great mystery, even if you know "whodunnit." The characters are smartly written and the book is superbly paced. I first discovered Pelecanos with his last book "The Sweet Forever" and it was great to see how his characters from that book have evolved. If you're tired of reading the same old, same old from writers such as James Patterson and Steve Martini, definitely read this book. Pelecanos is right up there with Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly (two writers whose positive reviews of Pelecanos inspired me to try him). Also, if you're at all familiar with the DC area, Pelecanos captures the setting beautifully. I cannot more highly recommend this book.

One thing that is sure about George Pelecanos, he gets better with each new book. Shame the Devil is the final book to use the cast of characters that center around the Washington D.C. bar, The Spot, where recurring character Nick Stephanos is the bartender (when not working as an unlicensed detective). This book offers fast paced action as well as satisfying character portrayals and, more than any other of his books, probes fundamental human issues of faith and life's meaning in the face of arbitrary violence and cruelty.One of the things that make Pelecanos so popular with the D.C. audience is also protentially a problem for readers elsewhere; his books are so detailed with references to streets and neighborhoods that would mean nothing unless one knew them personally that readers might wish for some exposition to explain where and 'what' Georgia Ave. or Anacostia are. Still, the sense of place is fundamental to his writing and his stories come alive because they are about real people in a known setting. He is almost alone in creating Washington stories that don't focus on the President or some Senator or one of the Federal law enforcement agencies. Pelecanos's books are peopled by blue collar workers, common criminals, D.C. cops, and a sprinkling of hard working attorneys and small businessmen. This book starts with a bang - an armed robbery that goes wrong and ends up with multiple victims - and it progresses to a dynamite conclusion in which revenge is is coupled with self-discovery and redemption. A really thrilling and satisfying reading experience.

In 1995 Washington DC, May's Pizza Parlor is the scene of a massacre in which three employees, the getaway driver, and a little boy are dead. Additionally, Officer William Jonas is badly injured when he exchanges bullets with the criminals. Though he has no remorse over four of the dead, CEO (criminal executive officer) Frank Farrow escapes with his booty, but feels rage over the death of his brother.Frank decides he must return to DC to kill the cop who killed his sibling. However, Frank is not the only person filled with overflowing anger from the pizza parlor incident. Dimitri Karras wants to get even with Frank for running over his little five-year old boy when he evaded the local police. Other relatives of the dead also suffer from deep grief and their efforts to share their feelings have minimally eased some of the ache. Dimitri learns from private investigator Nick Stephanos that after three torturous years have passed, Frank has returned to enact his own vengeance, unaware that his victims have individuals seeking him out to get their own form of vengeance.SHAME THE DEVIL is an inner city tale of grief and revenge. The story line centers on the survivors struggling very poorly with the '95 slaughter. The plot shifts among several deteriorating neighborhood locales in which the characters meet to discuss the aftermath. Fans who enjoy a character-driven, angst-laden tale will want to read George P. Pelecanos' poignantly fine novel.Harriet Klausner