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13th out of 30 books
—
50 voters
The Sweet Forever (D.C. Quartet #3)
George P. Pelecanos's latest book is not only a tremendously detailed and emotionally powerful crime novel but also a virtual compendium and update of his other excellent novels that are all similarly rooted in the nonpolitical neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Brought back for major roles are Marcus Clay, Dimitri Karras, and other important players from King Suckerman. Th...more
Paperback, 298 pages
Published
2000
by Serpent's Tail
(first published 1998)
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I've heard a lot of good things about Pelecanos and so I was eager to read some of his work. This one has a pretty good reputation, high ratings etc. so I expected big things. I don't think it managed to live up to the hype.
Perhaps if I hadn't seen The Wire the imagery used and the life portrayed within it's pages would have been that much more powerful, however as it is I felt that they took the ideas put forward in this book and went further, deeper and generally made the show pack more of a p...more
Perhaps if I hadn't seen The Wire the imagery used and the life portrayed within it's pages would have been that much more powerful, however as it is I felt that they took the ideas put forward in this book and went further, deeper and generally made the show pack more of a p...more
I rate Pelecanos novels as 4 and 5 star books not because they are great literature (though they are better than you might guess), but because they are such page-turners. Once I start to read one, it is seldom that I have not finished within 24-36 hours, and badly need some extra sleep.
If you have never read one, be forewarned that there is a good deal of course language, and usually some fairly course sex. They are raw, but I have always felt that this isn't done to gain attention from the read...more
If you have never read one, be forewarned that there is a good deal of course language, and usually some fairly course sex. They are raw, but I have always felt that this isn't done to gain attention from the read...more
George P. Pelecanos's latest book is not only a tremendously detailed and emotionally powerful crime novel but also a virtual compendium and update of his other excellent novels that are all similarly rooted in the nonpolitical neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Brought back for major roles are Marcus Clay, Dimitri Karras, and other important players from King Suckerman. There are poignant cameos by Randolph of Shoedog as well as the two Nick Stefanos--grandfather and grandson--from The Big Blowd...more
Another solid crime thriller by Pelecanos, the third in his D.C. Quartet series.
Ten years after the violent bicentennial events in King Suckerman, trouble comes right to the door Marcus Clay's record store. A gangster's car speeds out of control, swerving around the Green Line Metro construction on U Street, and crashes in a fiery wreck, with a pillowcase of drug money going missing in the chaos. Pelecanos lays out the consequences with his usual sure hand. The characters--both returning and new...more
Ten years after the violent bicentennial events in King Suckerman, trouble comes right to the door Marcus Clay's record store. A gangster's car speeds out of control, swerving around the Green Line Metro construction on U Street, and crashes in a fiery wreck, with a pillowcase of drug money going missing in the chaos. Pelecanos lays out the consequences with his usual sure hand. The characters--both returning and new...more
The first George Pelecanos book was published in 1992. The Sweet Forever, out in 1998, is his seventh and is the third in the DC quartet: The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, and Shame the Devil. He published books at the standard one each year clip beginning in 1992 but skipped 1999 before he returned to the annual book again in 2000.
This is the best Pelecanos book I have read in some time. I try to spot him in occasionally among my other reading kind of like a reward. I deserve...more
This is the best Pelecanos book I have read in some time. I try to spot him in occasionally among my other reading kind of like a reward. I deserve...more
Misschien wel de rock-’n-rollste van de Amerikaanse misdaadbrigade. Sinds begin jaren negentig is Pelecanos aan een opmars bezig die niet te stuiten valt. Hoewel zijn oeuvre uiteenvalt in verschillende reeksen, de boeken zich afspelen in verschillende tijdperken (wel allemaal naoorlogs) en de nadruk meer verschoven is naar het sociaal-realistische element, is zijn werk in z’n geheel toch verrassend coherent en continu. The Sweet Forever is het derde deel uit zijn D.C. Quartet, vier boeken die zi...more
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With characters that make you outraged and disgusted and also sad, George Pelecanos’ “The Sweet Forever” is a notable book, not least of the reasons being that it is as addictive as the crack that is just starting to pour into the novel’s Washington, D.C. setting as it comes to a close. Of course, as Keith Haring so succinctly put it when he named a Harlem mural, “Crack Is Whack,” this can be a good and a bad thing: You find yourself reading Pelecanos' novel probably when you should be getting...more
Pelecanos delivers another solid look at life on the mean streets of D.C. Not his best effort, but nobody serves up gritty slice of life insight like Pelecanos does. This time he sets his sights on the 1980's as we check in with Marcus Clay and Dimitri Karras for the 2nd. book in their series. He continues to connect the various characters in his universe, some of which had adventures of their own back in the early 1940's. For this reason I recommend reading the books in order. Some are better t...more
I read this book a couple of days, which is fast for me. It really drew me along, though i did skim the last, winding-down chapter. So why only two stars? There were a couple of stylistic things that started to bother me: mainly, the constant musical references. Hardly a page passed without the title of a song, and the name of the artist, being cited. Sometimes there'd be comments about the musicians, too. They felt arbitrary after a while, and like something extraneous intruding on the narrativ...more
This book might resonate more strongly for those (like me) who have lived in DC, for whom the mere mention of a Ben's chili half-smoke prompts involuntary sense memories; also for those (again, like me) for whom the cocaine epidemic of the 1980s impacted one's material well-being. But all that stated, few U.S. writers active today understand race and class better than Pelecanos, and anyone with a mind and a heart can get into that.
Aug 05, 2011
Sebastian Hagedorn
added it
My first Pelecanos novel. I knew him from The Wire, but at least this novel is a bit diiferent, i.e. a much more happy ending. I enjoyed the musical references the most. I have almost all the records the white protagonists in the book listen to – and just about none of the others, I must admit. Plus I've been to the 9:30 club myself a few years after 1986, the year the novel takes place.
This is the first Pelecanos novel I read and serves as a strong introduction to his work. I actually read this before King Suckerman (which received better reviews) but I find this to be the superior work. He is grouped within the hard-boiled genre but his characters, Marcus especially, has more heart than Philip Marlowe and certainly more soul than Sam Spade.
I read this in 2000, and made no notes of my reaction to the book. But I like Pelecanos, and have read other books by him, so I must rate it at least three stars; it may deserve more from me, but I just can't remember. On second thought, I'm giving it 4*, I think that I have really liked anything I've read by him.
The thing about fairy tale endings is that they don't belong in crime dramas. This thing get's wrapped up so neatly I want to puke every time I think about it. Yet, I read other people's reviews on Goodreads and they love it! Am I nuts here?
George Pelecanos writes for The Wire and David Simon raves about him so he's been a 'to-read' for a while. I've finally read a few of his novels and this is my favorite. He writes about DC, the part that feels a lot like Baltimore, and this book, unlike his later ones, isn't strictly a crime novel. The backdrop of the book is the 1986 NCAA tournament - the year of Len Bias - and there are great thematic connections between the frenetic pace and unpredictability of the tournament, the 1980's coca...more
Picked this up after finishing watching 'The Wire'. Pelecanos wrote some seasons of the wire and collaborated on others which were amazing. This book takes place in DC rather than Baltimore. Great story and great characters.
Very D.C. Gritty, sometimes very offensive, several unlikeable characters, but cool D.C. scenes and reference. Good crime novel -- easy to read.
My new favorite crime writer. The characters are well drawn and have some depth to them. The plot is well thought out and moves along at a brisk pace
Like urban crime novelist Richard Price, George Pelecanos wrote for The Wire, so I was looking forward to it. Had some good parts and all, but none of really grabbed me. 2 stars - "it was okay". I'll try and read another of his in the future.
A good time-passer. Well written cops and gangstas romp set in Washington DC in the eighties.
But why does this sort of thing always feel like reading anthropology?
But why does this sort of thing always feel like reading anthropology?
One of my favorite novels about DC. It's rare to read crime fiction so heartfelt.
Drug sellers vs. dirty cops, with a record store owner in the middle. Lots of blood shed.
Real Solid Writer! Deep, gritty story.
George Pelecanos has written a number of thrillers, and I am looking forward to reading more. I like his style. The dialog is crisp, the characters interesting, and the detail is engaging. IN this story, a black record story owner and his Greek American buddy face up to a Washington DC drug lord and his muscle boys. Pelicanos is a writer for the fabulous HBO series "The Wire" and it shows here. He has the same kind of gritty characters and episodic narrative as the TV show.
Slightly too cliché for me, I enjoyed the last page though!
You weep for Len Bias all over again. And he's not even in it except as something of a McGuffin, a glowing suitcase representing the moment that crack began to seriously have its way with Washington.
So you really weep for the city and where it all went horribly wrong.
The year before, middle and upper-middle class white kids in the Dischord scene were talking about having a Revolution Summer. I don't think this is what they meant.
So you really weep for the city and where it all went horribly wrong.
The year before, middle and upper-middle class white kids in the Dischord scene were talking about having a Revolution Summer. I don't think this is what they meant.
Drugs, Minor Threat, Trouble Funk, crooked cops, racial tension, power pop, car crashes, bags of money that don't belong to the people holding it AND IT ALL REVOLVES AROUND LEN BIAS. Warning: contains an inexplicable amount of useless D.C. geography. But at least you'll know how to get from Rock Creek Park to some fictional lesbian bar. Knowledge is power.
Absolutely masterful depiction of mid-80's Washington, DC. Pelecanos juggles about two dozen characters and three separate story lines without once dropping the ball. Drug dealers, crooked cops, small businessmen, appliance salesmen and one lonely kid all caught up in the middle of a search for missing drug money. Compulsive reading.
This is a great place to start reading George Pelecanos. It has all of his trademark elements: Washington DC (the parts the tourists don't see), music, drugs, and sports (Len Bias haunts this book). And if you've already read some of his books all the great characters pop up again here.
Great stuff from Pelecanos - pre-Wire Wire - interlinking of lives, black and white, some deliberately vying for criminal supremacy, some surrounded inescapably by crime, others trying to escape it - desperately sad, but with hope...
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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...more
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