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Loading... Drama Cityby George Pelecanos
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  markatread | Feb 26, 2009 |  Okay, I'll admit it; I originally picked up this book out of a quirky sort of vanity; because I'm sort of in it. When I was working for the Washington Humane Society, George Pelecanos spent several days riding with some of our Humane Officers while doing research for Drama City. I didn't know much about him at the time, but I met him briefly and he seemed like a nice guy. A few months later, when the book was released, a friend who had worked with Pelecanos told me that there was a character briefly mentioned in the book who sounded a lot like me. I was in the aftermath of my father's death at the time, so my mind was elsewhere and I never followed up to see what the book was all about. Then a couple of days ago, I saw the paperback on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, and figured what the hell. I started reading mostly just to try and locate the character based on me, but then I found myself being drawn into the story almost against my will. Pelecanos has really captured the essence of DC in this book. It is obvious that he knows the city and its residents extremely well, and it's a lot of fun to hear places mentioned in the book that not I've not only heard of, but that I have a clear picture of in my head. The novel is about Lorenzo Brown, a onetime criminal enforcer who's recently returned to the streets after doing eight years in prison on a felony drug charge. Lorenzo is trying to stay clean and out of trouble; he has a job as a Humane Officer with the Washington Humane Society, enforcing the city's animal cruelty laws. Try as he might to stay straight, events keep pulling him back towards his old life. It's a simple story, based on events that happen every day in countless lives, which makes it a very compelling read. Add to that the personal connection I have to the subject matter and I was engrossed almost immediately. But the best part was stumbling across this passage (on page 158 of the mass market paperback edition) after I'd forgotten what I was looking for: " Jerry, a huge multitattooed Humane Officer who had a desk nearby, dropped the Metro section of the Post on Lorenzo's desk without comment before walking heavily from the room. Jerry left the newspaper for Lorenzo, section by section, as he finished it." I am in book-geek heaven every time I read those words. (  ) bibliophool | Apr 16, 2008 | It's not bad, it's just not as good of some of Pelecanos' other books. Don't get me wrong, I love George Pelecanos' book, writing style, characters, etc., but I was a little disappointed by this one. Maybe part of my frustration was that I didn't find any of the characters particularly engaging. Lorenzo Brown, the ex-con animal control officer, and his parole officer, Rachel Lopez, are Pelecanos' new protagonists of the book. I thought they were only loosely sketched out, and they didn't end up seeming as "human" or sympathetic as some of his other characters in previous works. Because of that, I was somewhat bored with the novel's pacing; it seems to plod along more than most of Pelecanos' other books. I won't go over the plot or main characters in great detail, as you can find other reviews that do so at great length. The reader is presented with an almost inevitable outcome for the book -- doom. But that's clearly appropriate for Pelecanos' modern noir style. The book is written in Pelecanos' gritty, street-smart style, and his knowledge and portrayal of DC is as good as ever. He certainly can't be criticized on those accounts. Having criticized the book at the start, however, I should note that it was an enjoyable read (significantly better than most modern crime fiction on the market) and I fully intend to read Mr. Pelecanos' future efforts. I'd recommend the book to any die-hard fans of Pelecanos or modern crime / noir fiction. Casual readers might be better advised to read some of Pelecanos' other books first in order to truly see how engaging of a writer he can be. I think if I'd simply liked the protagonists a bit more, I'd have rated this one higher; as is, I just didn't care about them enough. Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers (  ) bibliorex | Apr 2, 2008 | Few authors can write about race and the urban landscape with his nuance and insight—and nobody else can do it while telling such a damn good story. —David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times  NativeRoses | Jun 4, 2007 | A crime drama with evocative themes of redemption, community and of all things - the joy of being a pet owner. Take a guided tour through the gritty streets of DC with some memorable, honest characters. Not entirely true to genre, but a decent read anyway. ( ) Jaylabelle | Apr 23, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
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Pelecanos's first standalone after four consecutive novels starring private eye Derek Strange (including Soul Circus and Hard Revolution), Drama City introduces Lorenzo Brown, a young, black onetime criminal enforcer who's recently returned to the streets after doing eight years in prison on a felony drug charge. Crime and criminals had always been fundamental to Lorenzo's existence. ("Y'all know how that is. I ran with some boys, one in particular, and when those boys and my main boy went down to the corner I went with 'em. They were my people, the closest thing I ever had to male kin.") Since his release, though, he's been serving as a Humane Law Enforcement Officer with the Humane Society, protecting animals from the panoply of domestic cruelty, trying to leave both the drugs and the thugs behind. This attitude has won him a few champions, notably Rachel Lopez, his striking half-Jewish, half-Latina probation officer and friend, who spends her days "telling other people that they need to stay on track," but then goes off the rails at night, haunting hotel bars, picking up inappropriate guys, always frightened by the idea of a relationship "where she was not in complete control." Of course, these delicate balances of individual behavior are only possible in the absence of the unexpected. When a seemingly inconsequential mistake incites a lethal turf battle between rival gang bosses Nigel Johnson and Deacon Taylor, and Rachel is stabbed in the chest by a volatile, hopped-up gunman, Lorenzo finds his killer instincts returning to the fore. He must decide how far he's willing to go--and how much he's willing to lose--in order to exact retribution.
A simple plot on its face, yet given high stakes and a heroic edge by Pelecanos's portrayal of Brown as a man-in-progress struggling to secure his liberty from the past, helped along by his unexpectedly sympathetic former boss, childhood friend Nigel Johnson. Less satisfyingly rendered is Lopez, whose acrobatic swings to the wild side provide merely arousing diversions, without adequate character development. Bearing soul as well as teeth, Drama City gives off the air of a Greek tragedy. You know things are going to get bad before they turn worse, but Pelecanos keeps you riveted throughout. --J. Kingston Pierce
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:22 -0400)
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The best part of the book is twofold. The telling of the story of Lorenzo being a Humane Service Officer is really well done. It is slowly developed and seemingly secondary to the bigger story of whether he will get sucked back into the gang or not. But this story is actually just as compelling and is obviously where Lorenzo finds a place where he can be just as committted to what he does in the real world as he once was to the gang. And the second part of the book that is really well done is the NA meetings. It is somewhat of an indictment of a book to have NA meetings be the best part of the book. But it is also true that any author that can use such a simple device so effectively, is a great writer. (