Customer Reviews

Drama City

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Drama City was a great introduction to Pelecanos for me. I'm a huge fan of HBO TV show The Wire and have been working my way into the writers literary works. Pelecanos was my 2nd after checking out David Simon's Homicide and The Corner. I was instantly hooked and finished the book in 3 days. It was tightly plotted and engrossing stuff. The characters were all engaging but Lorenzo Brown as the reformed criminal turned humane society worker really impressed me. I was struck by the similarities between Brown and Dennis "Cutty" Wise on The Wire. Perhaps unsurprisingly Chad Coleman who plays Cutty narrates the audiobook version of the story. Brown is well drawn and multi-faceted - he is prone to violence but is aware of this flaw and constantly tries to keep himself in check. As if that wasn't sympathetic enough he's also a true animal lover. Following him trying to keep to the straight and narrow in the same neighbourhoods he grew up in gives the book its tension. Its not a typical crime story and is probably more accessible for it. Well worth checking out if you like The Wire or like modern urban crime writing.

A short review but having just read it I felt moved to write something. Like the earlier reviewer I read this book in only 3 days (not usual for me to read so fast). It took me in to a world that is so different to my own white middle class UK one in every way. The book really IS rewarding and a page turner at the same time. Violent for sure but in a measured way - and it has the rare treat for this sort of novel of a happy ending (well sort of!).
A great place to start with Pelecanos if you've not read one before.

I am a Pelecanos addict and this I feel is the best I have read yet (this was my 9th)
The background as in all his other work's is the dark side of Washington and the shadier character's of life , Pelecanos does not entertain sentimentalities and atonement is not always achieved , his characters are gritty and extremely well detailed , Lorenzo here is the centrepice and Pelecanos bought him to life for me .
As usual the description of Washington is fantastic and one really does feel the atmosphere of the place.

The storyline is fast and frenetic and I found myself at the end of the book in super fast time - a mini-masterpiece in my opinion - ENJOY but realize that there is not always redemption - as in real life

This is the first George Pelecanus book that I've read. I read it in just two days as I was totally drawn into the story. The ghetto life style was for me believable. Lorenzo Brown out of prison after serving eight years for drug charges wants to lead a better life. He gets a job in his old neighbourhood as an officer for the Humane Society looking for ill-treated animals.
Sounds too good to be true? Well yes it is as a young killer changes his life again. He is soon back with his drug dealing friends and the violence that was his life before prison.
The story weaves around other characters in the 'Hood' who are not all evil and makes for an exciting read with great plotting and fast dialogue.

I've read most of the Pelcanos novels now but this is the one I started with. It has all of his hallmarks including brilliant dialogue, conflicted heroes, seriously nasty characters and a great plot. I don't think this is one of his series so would recommend as a first try if you haven't read any other of his novels. Top stuff.

Sorry but i cannot understand all the fuss made here. The writing is competent but no more than that. The pace is incredibly slow & the shady characters are all a bit too similar. I almost gave up about half way through but thankfully it picked up a bit once Lorenzo made the choice to get involved with his old criminal buddy once again. Unfortunately the ending was an anticlimax .

I have never written a review about a book before, however if this stops one person buying this book I feel it will be worth it. Firstly the plot was basic, there were no surprises,twists turns etc and I was on page 145 and still wondering when the book was going to start. I laughed out loud on a few occasions the "street talk" between the main characters was embarassing and could only have been written by a white middle age man.
Again like some previous readers it took me a few days to read, not because I was engrossed but because it was an easy throw away read a bit like the Beano. The main character was a joke, he goes around lecturing everyone about how they are mistreating their dogs yet leaves his own dog alone all day by himself, oh he does leave a fan on though, woopey doo. There are a couple of intimate moments as well involving Rachel Lopez with a stranger, I won't spoil it for you but these were hilarious. To wrap it up I felt nothing for the main characters Rachel,Lorenzo and Nigel and even less for the story line , poor, poor, poor. Can I have my money back please?