Hell to Pay

This gritty, hard-boiled crime novel is a little hard to take--I almost didn't make it past the street-tough, violent young perps in the first chapter. But I am glad I presevered for this look that most of us who live in D.C.--I have lived in the D.C. area all of my life--don't see from the suburbs. There is just enough recognizable in the streets, bars, landmarks and radio stations that you know Pelecanos is a D.C. native who knows what goes on in the streets. P.I. Derek Strange teams up with his white friend and former D.C. cop Terry Quinn to work on several cases. There are many interesting story lines--one missing girl turned prostitute case from the P.I firm, a plot of revenge on two levels--one for "dissing" a street punk and the other for a senseless killing and very personal stories of working with a Pee Wee football team to give neighborhood kids a chance and for Strange and Quinn trying to redeem their own personal lives.After learning more about Pelecanos, I found out that Derek Strange and other characters have drawn on many aspects of his life--from helping his father in a greasy spoon diner in D.C., to his profiling of a shoe clerk--an occupation he lived for several years--to his frequenting many of the hangouts of Strange and Quinn. Pelecanos paints a very vivid picture of the hopelessness, crime and the allure of the drug trade for youths with few options and a very short life expectancy. There is hope in his story--through the work of volunteers with football and other youth activities, we see that there is a way out for some of the kids if they choose it. Hell to Pay is a grim story, but I am glad he told it and I read it. I plan to go back and read the first story of Strange and Quinn, "Right as Rain" as well as his early novels.

P.I. Derek strange is back with Janine and her son Lionel as well as Terry Quinn from "Right As Rain" who is helping him coach Pee Wee football and doing some investigating on the side. It opens with bad guy Garfield "Death" Potter at a pit bull fight (he's so bad he later shoots the losing dog) browbeating a guy to tell him where to find Lorenze Wilder who owes him $100. Strange appears when he meets Susan Tracy and Karen Bagley, two ex-cops now running a detective agency that finds runaways and helps hookers.Tracy and Bagley hire Quinn to track down a 14-year-old runaway who is controlled by pimp Worldwide Wilson. Terry screws up the snatch, Susan bails him out and they become a hot item in the aftermath.On a parallel story line, Potter and co. kill Lorenze and his nephew Joe on their way home from Pee Wee football practice. Lorenze's sister has been raising Joe on her own, never telling him who his father is. He's a force that will figure into the rest of the story.Though 2/3 of D.C. homicides go unsolved, ther are enough clues and enough interest to get Joe Wilder's killers. Strange gets to Potter before the cops do. At the same time Terry is going after Worldwide who beat up Stella the working girl who tipped them to the runaway.The two parallel showdowns are a stretch, but Pelecanos has a great way of letting justice be done. In the end the reader knows what happened to whom and is still left to speculate how Pelecanos expects the criminal justic system to clean things up.Enough loose ends for a sequel? I hope so! Pelecanos never disappoints.

Derek Strange and Terry Quinn, who were introduced to us in Right As Rain, return for a second gruelling case that once again takes them (and us) through the sleazy, dangerous backstreets of Washington DC.Strange is a middle aged black private investigator who is essentially a good man who has to deal with all manner of low-lifes, and consequently is forced to do things that weigh heavily on his mind. Hell To Pay focuses on Strange's devotion to the black youth living in the projects of Washington. He is determined to give them every possible chance to make something of themselves by building self-esteem and confidence.Furthering the youth theme and, in a way, counterbalancing all his good work, are the two cases that Strange and Quinn work on throughout the book. The first involves a fourteen year old prostitute and their attempts to get her off the streets and back home to her family. The second is the investigation of the murder of a child. This becomes a much more emotional case that turns personal, with Strange walking a moral tightrope.Once again, Pelecanos has delivered a powerful story that graphically portrays the mean streets and dangerous characters of modern day society. Although relentlessly illustrating the everyday tragedy surrounding us all, there is at least an underlying tone of hope.

Derek Strange and Terry Quinn, the salt and pepper detective team first introduced in "Right as Rain" (2000), are back in another stellar mystery from one of the very best writers of contemporary fiction. Forget about the milquetoast scribblers who pop up on Oprah; authors like Pelecanos are where the quality really is.In the hands of a less-skilled writer, this unlikely duo would seem forced and false, an interracial pair thrown together because it's contemporary and PC. Pelecanos couldn't care less about that, though. Strange and Quinn are together because it works; their skills and personalities not only complement each other, their pairing allows them to access both sides of D.C.'s color divide. Even more than that, these two very different men have gradually, reluctantly formed a real friendship.Pelecanos does so many things well in his books. The action, the suspense, the dialogue are all breathtakingly sharp. He even provides the soundtrack to his story, music selected to demonstrate his characters moods and attitudes.It's amazing to me that Pelecanos isn't a bigger name in the mystery field than he is. Maybe his work is too dark or too gritty for the mainstream audience. It certainly is not the result of a lack of quality. You will find few better than him.Reviewed by David Montgomery, MysteryInkOnline.com

These days there are a handful of names working the hardboiled/detective/cop genre that you can trust: James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane, and Michael Connelly top that list. One name that has hovered around the edges has always been George P. Pelecanos. For Pelecanos to be on the fringe of this group is criminal. Pelecanos is hands down the finest writer working the genre. The question then is why most have never heard of him? I have my thoughts on this subject, but I'll be kind and sum it up to poor marketing on his previous titles. "Hell to Pay" is Pelecanos' tenth novel and second to feature the team of private investigator Derek Strange and his sometime employee/partner Terry Quinn. As with all of his previous work "Hell to Pay" is centered around the streets of Washington DC. Not the well-lit and clean DC streets that the tourists frequent, but the real DC streets, the streets that are filled with the thrown away and the unwanted. Streets where the wrong look or wrong walk can get you killed. If you think that the DC that Pelecanos operates in has gotten kinder or gentler since last year's "Right as Rain", you're off the mark. "Hell to Pay" begins in the open wound that is the inner city ghetto. Pelecanos introduces us to three of the main characters as they listen to DMX, pack heat, smoke dope, and drink as they prepare to head out to a dogfight. The first victim to fall in Pelecanos' latest is one Lorenze Wilder, killed for trying to pull a small change burn in a drug deal. The amount of cash lost is of no account, however this is DC and if word gets out that you've been played once, your business will be history, so Wilder goes down. If Wilder would have been murdered alone it would have hardly registered a mention in the press, but Lorenze was not alone. In the car with him was his young nephew Joe who had just left football practice, catching a ride with his uncle instead of his usual ride, his coach, Derek Strange. Strange struggles with this murder. As he fights with himself over the death of Joe Wilder his lover/secretary calls him on his infidelity. Strange's relationship with her as well as her teenage son becomes strained. The life of Derek Strange has begun to unravel when he steps into the home of a noted DC drug lord who is seeking his help. Strange listens to his proposition and is forced into a decision. Does he do what his heart tells him is right or does he follow his head. Strange now finds himself in a situation where he feels that either decision will be the wrong one. While Strange is involved in his case Quinn has taken on the task of finding a young girl that has been lost to the streets. In the process the hotheaded Quinn as well as his young informant run afoul of the girls pimp, Worldwide Wilson. And while the love life of his partner Strange begins to deteriorate, Quinn falls for one of the women that has put him on this case. From this point we see the main characters all heading for in