D.C. Quartet Series by George P. Pelecanos

Washington DC, 1946. For two local young men, Pete Karras and Joey Recevo, the easiest way to find work after the war is by providing a little muscle for a local boss who runs a protection racket with the Mafia. The trouble with Pete Karras is that he is just too soft on his fellow immigrants, and the last thing the boss wants is for his mob to get soft. The boys have to teach Karras a painful lesson that he won't forget... moreWashington DC, 1946. For two local young men, Pete Karras and Joey Recevo, the easiest way to find work after the war is by providing a little muscle for a local boss who runs a protection racket with the Mafia. The trouble with Pete Karras is that he is just too soft on his fellow immigrants, and the last thing the boss wants is for his mob to get soft. The boys have to teach Karras a painful lesson that he won't forget. Three years later Pete and Joey meet up once more and a final confrontation puts the meaning of friendship and honour to the ultimate test. "The Big Blowdown" is the first novel in Pelecanos' acclaimed "Washington Quartet". less

It's the week leading up to the Bicentennial celebration in Washington, D.C., and King Suckerman is the hot new blaxploitation film that's got everyone talking. Small-time dealer Dimitri Karras and his friend, record-store owner Marcus Clay, are out looking to score some weed when they stumble in on a big deal gone bad -- and pick up some cash that isn't theirs... moreIt's the week leading up to the Bicentennial celebration in Washington, D.C., and King Suckerman is the hot new blaxploitation film that's got everyone talking. Small-time dealer Dimitri Karras and his friend, record-store owner Marcus Clay, are out looking to score some weed when they stumble in on a big deal gone bad -- and pick up some cash that isn't theirs. Pursued by a trigger-happy gangster looking to settle the score, Dimitri and Marcus suddenly find that they're players in a savage game of cross and double-cross....Brilliantly evoking the retrocool of seventies music, clothes, and movies, King Suckerman is bold, real, and violent -- a supercharged thriller in the hardboiled tradition of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, and Pulp Fiction. Here is George Pelecanos's strongest work to date -- a book that is certain to win him a whole new audience of admirers. less

Marcus Clay's record store is at the epicenter of the drug trade in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1980s. Dimitri Karras, his best friend and store manager, is rapidly developing a nasty drug habit. But things get worse when the two men witness the theft of the bag of a local drug lord who is willing to destroy the entire neighborhood to get it back. "A detailed and emotionally powerful crime novel."--"Chicago Tribune."

A robbery goes wrong, workers are shot, the gunman's brother is killed by police and a boy is run over in the getaway. Now the heat has died down, the gunman is determined to avenge his lost brother by killing everyone involved in his death.