The Blue Flame - by George P Pelecanos (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

He was curious. It was the cop in him. That flame was still alive.

The neon "Strange Investigations" sign may be flickering in disrepair outside his office, but private investigator Derek Strange is still accepting new cases. When a flashy drug lawyer hires him to prove an alibi for an accused murderer, Strange can't help getting drawn into the darkness. In his hunt for answers, he stands his ground against some of Washington, D.C.'s most dangerous criminals, and a police department that doesn't entirely welcome his interference. As the violence escalates and claims another victim, the raised stakes force Strange to question his own moves. Are his instincts still intact?

The Blue Flame is signature Pelecanos: tough, smart, rich with details of a time and place--and at its core, exposing the good and bad that exist side by side in so-called heroes and villains alike.

Review Quotes

"A modern storytelling master."--NPR.org

"Crackles with energy."--Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

"Every time I read one of George Pelecanos's novels, I'm left a little awed...The guy's a national treasure."--Dennis Lehane

"Here we see what makes Pelecanos's best writing so resonant: the sense of longing, of miscommunication, the way love does not enlarge us but rather makes us small."--David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times

"If I were in jail, George Pelecanos would be on my reading list, right up there with James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard...Pelecanos's characters are so human and so doomed. This is an author who writes with the steady hand of a man who knows he's driving a cool set of wheels and respects his own mechanical skills."--Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"Like his hero Elmore Leonard, Pelecanos finds the humanity in the lowest of lowlifes...Pelecanos's peppery dialogue energizes every page."--Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Tribune

"The characters--good-hearted, ill-intentioned, or in between--are shown by Mr. Pelecanos with loving clarity, free of cliché, condescension, or illusion...Delivers the thrills of an action movie and the poignancy of fine storytelling."--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"The writing is taut, the violence is graphic, and the characters are so well-drawn that they step off the page and into your life...As good as it gets."--Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press

"Using his customary knowing dialogue and stripped-down, soulful prose, Pelecanos skillfully, sensitively works the urban frontier where the problems and stresses of everyday life cross the line into the sort of criminal behavior that could tempt anyone--anyone at all."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author