First time I have read this author and was pleasantly surprised. Read it because he was one of the writers for the HBO series The Wire which I finally started watching and then ended up liking. The book takes place in D.C. where I used to live and is about a guy who works for the Humane Society and I love animals. With all this going for it, I thought I'd give it a try. The thing I liked most of all was his ability to stay true to the characters especially with his dialogues. I think that's why I liked The Wire so much. Lorenzo Brown his main character is a young, black man, ex-con, trying to stay clean. He loves his job and all the animals whether they are mean, dirty, abused or unlovable. He comes across as a decent man trying to survive the hard streets of DC. Whether he accomplishes this you will have to read and decide for yourself.
Helpful Score: 1
Nobody captures the aching heart and raging soul of inner-city DC like Pelecanos does--and this is coming from a fellow Washington native who knows many of those mean streets first-hand. If you're a fan of Richard Price and Peter Blauner, add Pelecanos to your favorite author list. Drama City is as good a place to start as any.
Helpful Score: 1
Great read. Well developed characters, a definite page turner.
Loved this book.... as I have all his other ones.
I enjoyed the book for the depth of character development but felt that the pace of the story line could have been quicker.
Believeable characters, dialogue so real I can hear the voices. Not quite as gripping as some of his other books, but still an enjoyable read.
Lorenzo Brown loves his work. In his job as an officer for the Humane Society, he cruises the city streets, looking for dogs that are being mistreated - underfed, unclean, trained to kill. He takes pride in making their lives better. And that pride helps Lorenzo resist the pull of easier money doing the kind of work that got him a recent prison bid.
Rachel Lopez loves her work, too. By day she is a parole officer, helping people - Lorenzo Brown among them - along a path to responsibility and advancement. At night she heads for the city's hotel bars, where she can always find a man who will let her act out her damage. She loses herself in sex and drink and more.
But Rachel's nights are taking a toll on her days. Lorenzo knows the signs. The trouble is, he truly needs her right now. There's an eruption coming in the streets he left behind, the kind of territorial war that takes down everyone even near it. Lorenzo needs every shred of support he can get to keep from being sucked back into that battleground. He reaches out to RAchel - but she may be too far gone to help either of them.
Rachel Lopez loves her work, too. By day she is a parole officer, helping people - Lorenzo Brown among them - along a path to responsibility and advancement. At night she heads for the city's hotel bars, where she can always find a man who will let her act out her damage. She loses herself in sex and drink and more.
But Rachel's nights are taking a toll on her days. Lorenzo knows the signs. The trouble is, he truly needs her right now. There's an eruption coming in the streets he left behind, the kind of territorial war that takes down everyone even near it. Lorenzo needs every shred of support he can get to keep from being sucked back into that battleground. He reaches out to RAchel - but she may be too far gone to help either of them.
very good not his best but well worth reading
