[close] George P. Pelecanos (born 1957 in Washington, D.C.) is an American author of detective fiction set primarily in the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer. He has worked extensively on the HBO series The Wire. His novels use an ensemble cast of characters, following their exploits across several generations. While there are some elements of redemption for these characters, Pelecanos tends to focus on hard-luck, small time criminals and crooked cops whose only way to survive on the crime infested streets of D.C. is to get over any way they can. His gritty depiction of street life spanning from the late 1960's to the present puts him in the running as an heir to the work of Jim Thompson and James M. Cain. [close]