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At one point Washington, D.C. was affixed with the nickname "Dodge City" due to the violence, vice and death that plagued --- and continues to plague --- the upstanding majority of that troubled city. George Pelecanos is a native of Washington, D.C., and reading one of his fine detective novels is akin to taking a guided tour of the most dangerous places on its meanest streets. Pelecanos doesn't take you around on a bus; it's a walking tour that doesn't miss a thing.
DRAMA CITY is a bit of a departure for Pelecanos. It is a stand-alone novel, outside of the Derek Strange/Terry Quinn mythos, although both of these gentlemen make brief cameo appearances. DRAMA CITY is a crime novel, yes, but it is more of a character study, one that is an edge-of-the-seat read from first page to last. Pelecanos introduces us to Lorenzo Brown and Rachel Lopez, two D.C. residents whose lives and fortunes cross and intertwine over the course of a few days.
Brown is a former gangbanger, a straight-up street soldier whose job resulted in a prison sentence. He is back in the Humane Society and earning the grudging respect of those who would look down on him for holding a "public" job. Brown, in turn, is acquiring a respect for himself and what he does, something that helps him resist the lure of the easy but dangerous money of his old life. Lopez is Brown's parole officer, someone who truly wants to see him do well and who is actually involved in the lives of her cases. Lopez, however, is leading a double life. During the day she is a respected parole officer, but at night she gives herself up to alcohol and the lure of random, anonymous sex, with her nights gradually taking control of her days.
Brown and Lopez find themselves being pulled into the middle of a territorial dispute between rival drug gangs, one of which Brown was formerly a member. Brown's past is on a collision course with his present, while Lopez is caught in the crossfire.
Pelecanos layers his narrative with realistic grit and grime, as well as shine. The characters who populate DRAMA CITY are frighteningly real, but Pelecanos does not create one-dimensional characters. He pulls the curtain back and reveals the social laboratory behind the creation of the societal monsters in our midst. Pelecanos also shows the toll that is wreaked upon the law-abiding, the straights, the people who go to work, come home, and stay behind their shuttered windows and locked doors until morning when they begin again. Ultimately, however, DRAMA CITY draws a sharp and deadly contrast between the ease of doing evil and the difficulty of doing good.
DRAMA CITY is a stark, dark read that eschews simplistic characterizations. The story, and its characters, will get under your skin and stay there. Highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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