A brilliant novel from one of America’s finest literary crime writers…
On a hot summer afternoon in Washington DC 1972, three white teenagers, stoned and fearless, drive a stolen car into a rough, black neighbourhood. Taunting local black kids through the car window, they speed off to what they think is safety.
They find themselves trapped in a dead-end street whilst an angry mob gathers. In the ensuing chaos, two of the white boys manage to escape, but Billy – the third friend – is shot dead.
Thirty-five years later, one of these men reaches out to another, opening a door that could lead to salvation. However, another survivor of that day is now out of prison, and is looking for reparation in any form he can find it . . .
On a hot summer afternoon in Washington DC 1972, three white teenagers, stoned and fearless, drive a stolen car into a rough, black neighbourhood. Taunting local black kids through the car window, they speed off to what they think is safety.
They find themselves trapped in a dead-end street whilst an angry mob gathers. In the ensuing chaos, two of the white boys manage to escape, but Billy – the third friend – is shot dead.
Thirty-five years later, one of these men reaches out to another, opening a door that could lead to salvation. However, another survivor of that day is now out of prison, and is looking for reparation in any form he can find it . . .
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Reviews
A fine novel with rich dialogue and characters.
A stunning, gripping read
Pelecanos maps the social landscape of DC with a compassionate complexity, scouring the badlands of the city and the psyche for the causes of criminality and the bonds that bind communities.
Pelecanos is in the top rank of American crime scribes, and this is him at his very best.