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 zich afspelen in de Amerikaanse hoofdstad, steeds in een ander decennium (The Big Blowdown in de 40s, King Suckerman in de 70s en Shame The Devil in de 90s), maar vaak met terugkerende personages. Dit deel (80s) leunt het meest aan bij King Suckerman, wat door velen nog steeds als z’n beste wordt beschouwd. Concreet: een vunzig semi-blaxploitation sfeertje, geweld en muziek, veel muziek. Dat laatste onderscheidt Pelecanos van zijn collega’s. Hij is een melomaan die schreef over (pop)muziek, ervoor zorgde dat een editie van Hard Revolution een soul-cd als bijlage kreeg, en o.m. al een song aan Steve Wynn bezorgde (”Cindy, It Was Always You” op diens Tick…Tick…Tick). Zijn Strange/Quinn-reeks barst van de soulverwijzingen, hier is het allemaal eerder rockgericht. Misschien niet bijzonder, maar voor een muzieknerd met een zwak voor 80s gitaarrock/punk is het opduiken van The Dream Syndicate, The Feelies, Thin White Rope, Hüsker Dü, Black Flag, Pretenders, Tommy Keane én The Replacements wel een mooie bonus. Gelukkig blijft het niet bij namedroppen, want The Sweet Forever is een van de testosteron stijf staande misdaadroman (ja, mét auto’s en wapens à volonté) die zich ontvouwt aan een rotvaart. Met The Wire zou Pelecanos het meer in politieke/sociale richting zoeken, maar de verscheidenheid aan personages met hun opgefokte taaltje is hier reeds in volle glorie aanwezig. (****)
A drug runner's car crashes outside of Marcus Clay's record store and someone steals a bag of money out of the back of the car as it burns. Will the stolen bag of money destroy all that Marcus Clay has worked to build?The third book in George Peleanos' DC Quartet catches up with Dimitri Karras and Marcus Clay in the 1980s, years after the events of King Suckerman. Marcus now owns a chain of record stores and Dimitri owns an impressive cocaine habit. Complicating matters are a pair of crooked cops, a local crime lord named Tyrell Cleveland and his goons.Tension slowly builds in this one as Karras sinks deeper into addiction, one of the crooked cops grows a conscience, and the stolen money seems to be the cause of all the troubles in the world. In addition to music, Basketball plays a big part in this book, notably Len Bias, who would die of a cocaine overdose after being drafted before ever playing for the Celtic, an event I remember from when I was a kid.Nods to other works in the Pelecanos-verse abound, notably appearances by both Big Nick Stefanos and his grandson, Nick, who is still married and has just begun his self-destructive ways.Without giving away too much, this one ends with one of the best gunfights in crime fiction, right up there with Matthew Scudder and Mick Ballou taking down the bad guys in Everybody Dies. 4.5 stars.
What do You think about The Sweet Forever (2015)?
I love a novel that is descriptive about its geography. I love it more when I live in that city but the setting is nearly 30 years ago when Washington, DC was a very different place. Getting to ride around with the cops, corner boys and citizens around U street was refreshing to see how far the city has come and also interesting to see what is still around. More than a few novels I've read this year like to choose fictional places to set their stories and I think this is such a cop out; yes it's marvelous to see an author's inventiveness at creating a place from nothing, but I would rather enjoy a story about fictional people and situations in a place that I can already relate to and feel at home in.The other thing that Pelecanos does a great job at describing in this book (and putting me off of at the same time) is the rampant cocaine use particularly by Dmitri's character. The reasoning and false promises and inner thoughts allowed me to see deep into what ailed and drove Dmitri on his addled tour through bachelorhood.
—TAB
James wrote: "Getting most of his music references is indeed something to be proud of. Some of them are pretty esoteric!"Yeah I definitely did not get all of them and had to crank up the old Google machine. I do vividly remember that NCAA tournament that runs through the plot though as an IU fan it is not one of my better memories.
—Sandi
An earlier novel of his like this makes Pelecanos's contributions to "The Wire" as clear as day. He understands what drives people--cops, dealers, people trying to improve their lot and people irreparably damaged by their choices but also by forces beyond their control--and he knows how to create atmosphere through details that "shows" you his version of D.C. Lehane's the better moralist because Pelecanos is a wee bit too idealistic, but I'm starting to believe, after having read 7 or so books by each auther, Pelecanos has his buddy from Boston beat.
—Christopher David
