--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "cptpipes2000" <cptpipes@...> wrote:
>
> Incidentally, there is an energy that runs through the early
Stefanos detective novels that I
> enjoyed when I read them even though they are quite different from
everything Pelecanos has
> done since.
>
I second the rec of the DC Quartet, and I think 'The Big Blowdown' is
a pretty good place to start. I'm also very fond of the early books,
though I admit that the first one -- "A Firing Offense" -- is more of
an episodic story about appliance salesmen and their drug habits than
a crime novel. But the third Stefanos book, "Down by the River, Where
the Dead Men Go," has a strong storyline to go along with that energy,
and it should work well as a jumping-on point.
The Derek Strange series: I liked the writing in these, but often the
characters felt more like ideas than people. I read them, but they
didn't hold my interest the way the earlier books did.
'Drama City' started out very promisingly, but it has a point toward
the end where a character makes a reckless choice that I couldn't
believe, and it took me out of the book to the point that I stopped
reading. I don't know whether the ending redeemed it or not.
I haven't tried 'The Night Gardener' or the new one, so I'd be
interested in people's thoughts.
-Carrie
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