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D.C. Quartet #3
The Sweet Forever
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."
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
124 people are currently reading
1534 people want to read
About the author
George P. Pelecanos
59 books1,626 followersGeorge Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
May 27, 2013
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.
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.
February 28, 2019
It’s the spring of ’86 in Washington D.C. and while Reagan may technically be in charge of the country, cocaine is ruling the streets.
Marcus Clay is trying to run the record stores he owns and catch as many of the college basketball tournament games as possible on TV. Unfortunately, the record business could be better, he and his wife are separated, and his best friend and employee Dimitri Karras has a growing coke habit. When a drug runner wrecks his car right outside one of Marcus’ shops somebody snatches the money out of the car before the cops show up, and that kicks off a series of events that eventually find Marcus and Dimitri mixed up with drug dealers and dirty cops.
This is set 10 years after King Suckerman which also featured Marcus and Dimitri, but much like that one this isn’t just their story. In fact, they’re almost supporting players in this although much of it is filtered to us through their experiences. As always, Pelecanos manages to create an authentic sense of time and place by constantly working in the music, clothes, cars, and television shows of the time, but those are just the details. Where he really shines in telling us what it’s life is like for these characters whether it’s Dimitri going out for a drug fueled night of partying or a dirty cop struggling to deal with his wife’s mental health issues.
The story of the money is the connective thread that makes this a crime novel, but what Pelecanos is really doing is telling us the story of D.C. at a certain time and place. There’s a sense of impending doom over this one with many characters noting how the drugs and street crime are taking over the city, and crack was on the horizon. Pelecanos has characters casually mention rumors that the mayor is a drug addict as well as a local basketball star which are hints at how much worse things will get if you’re familiar with their true stories.
This is Pelecanos following his usual template, and he was already very good at using that to write compelling stories.
Marcus Clay is trying to run the record stores he owns and catch as many of the college basketball tournament games as possible on TV. Unfortunately, the record business could be better, he and his wife are separated, and his best friend and employee Dimitri Karras has a growing coke habit. When a drug runner wrecks his car right outside one of Marcus’ shops somebody snatches the money out of the car before the cops show up, and that kicks off a series of events that eventually find Marcus and Dimitri mixed up with drug dealers and dirty cops.
This is set 10 years after King Suckerman which also featured Marcus and Dimitri, but much like that one this isn’t just their story. In fact, they’re almost supporting players in this although much of it is filtered to us through their experiences. As always, Pelecanos manages to create an authentic sense of time and place by constantly working in the music, clothes, cars, and television shows of the time, but those are just the details. Where he really shines in telling us what it’s life is like for these characters whether it’s Dimitri going out for a drug fueled night of partying or a dirty cop struggling to deal with his wife’s mental health issues.
The story of the money is the connective thread that makes this a crime novel, but what Pelecanos is really doing is telling us the story of D.C. at a certain time and place. There’s a sense of impending doom over this one with many characters noting how the drugs and street crime are taking over the city, and crack was on the horizon. Pelecanos has characters casually mention rumors that the mayor is a drug addict as well as a local basketball star which are hints at how much worse things will get if you’re familiar with their true stories.
This is Pelecanos following his usual template, and he was already very good at using that to write compelling stories.
February 14, 2014
This is another great novel from George Pelecanos which captures brilliantly the disintegration of Washington, D.C., a city that Pelecanos obviously knows very well and loves even more. The book is set in March, 1986. The NCAA tourney seems to be playing on virtually every television set in town and on the streets of D.C. the big game is drugs, particularly the crack cocaine epidemic that seems to blanket much of the city.
The story contains a great cast of characters, many of whom have appeared in other Pelecanos novels. Some of these are good people; others are very bad, and a lot of them fall somewhere in between the lines. Here, their lives intersect in a lot of tangled and troubled ways.
Marcus Clay is the owner of a small chain of record stores, which he proudly describes as "African American Owned and Operated." One of the stores is located on the edge of the ghetto and from the doorstep of the store, Marcus and his employees have a window on the flourishing drug trade.
Then one night a drug-runner's car crashes in front of the store and the driver is decapitated. Marcus sees the crash as does a young white man who runs to the car, initially intending to assist the victim. He sees that is impossible, but he also sees a pillowcase full of drug money. Without thinking about the consequences, he grabs the cash, jumps in his car and races away.
In doing so, he sets into motion a complex chain of events, involving crooked cops, drug lords, innocent bystanders and at least a handful of decent people who are just trying to do the Right Thing. The story is both compelling and heart-breaking, and the reader's heart goes out to a city that seems to be collapsing into itself and to the people who are trapped in the wreckage with no apparent hope of salvation. A very Good Read, indeed.
The story contains a great cast of characters, many of whom have appeared in other Pelecanos novels. Some of these are good people; others are very bad, and a lot of them fall somewhere in between the lines. Here, their lives intersect in a lot of tangled and troubled ways.
Marcus Clay is the owner of a small chain of record stores, which he proudly describes as "African American Owned and Operated." One of the stores is located on the edge of the ghetto and from the doorstep of the store, Marcus and his employees have a window on the flourishing drug trade.
Then one night a drug-runner's car crashes in front of the store and the driver is decapitated. Marcus sees the crash as does a young white man who runs to the car, initially intending to assist the victim. He sees that is impossible, but he also sees a pillowcase full of drug money. Without thinking about the consequences, he grabs the cash, jumps in his car and races away.
In doing so, he sets into motion a complex chain of events, involving crooked cops, drug lords, innocent bystanders and at least a handful of decent people who are just trying to do the Right Thing. The story is both compelling and heart-breaking, and the reader's heart goes out to a city that seems to be collapsing into itself and to the people who are trapped in the wreckage with no apparent hope of salvation. A very Good Read, indeed.
February 6, 2017
4.5*
Old Dimitri has got himself into a load of trouble. Nick Stephanos has to help out. I always enjoy Stephanos' escapades.
Pelecanos portrays Washington DC in the mid 80s in a delightful way, he really places us there through cultural references to music, food, drink, and what's in vogue in general. As a result the reader feels as if they are in the midst of the city - and the city is rife with the cocaine trade. The Mayor is also deep in his nostrils in fairy dust and escorts, and the cops too are caught up in the whole sordid affair. In the 'hoods' black kids are killing each other, and the corrupt cops are letting it all happen.
Pelecanos paints his scenes very well and there's also a great pace to his work. The Sweet Forever is an easy read without feeling like a trashy one. Recommended for lovers of good crime fiction, along with those interested in Washington DC in the 80s.
Old Dimitri has got himself into a load of trouble. Nick Stephanos has to help out. I always enjoy Stephanos' escapades.
Pelecanos portrays Washington DC in the mid 80s in a delightful way, he really places us there through cultural references to music, food, drink, and what's in vogue in general. As a result the reader feels as if they are in the midst of the city - and the city is rife with the cocaine trade. The Mayor is also deep in his nostrils in fairy dust and escorts, and the cops too are caught up in the whole sordid affair. In the 'hoods' black kids are killing each other, and the corrupt cops are letting it all happen.
Pelecanos paints his scenes very well and there's also a great pace to his work. The Sweet Forever is an easy read without feeling like a trashy one. Recommended for lovers of good crime fiction, along with those interested in Washington DC in the 80s.
March 5, 2024
Ain’t no thing!
I love reexperiencing these Pelicanos books in the audible format. They are done well and bring me back into the experience of a dozen or so years ago when I was first reading all of his books that I could get a hold of.
I bumped this up from four stars to five stars. Maybe it is because the audible versions are actually better than the print versions. Or maybe it’s just that I love the nostalgia I think I started reading his books when we lived in Silver Spring and some of the books Were set on the streets where we lived.
______________________
The first George Pelecanos book was published in 1992. The Sweet Forever, out in 1998, is his seventh and is the third in the DC quartet: The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, and Shame the Devil. He published books at the standard one each year clip beginning in 1992 but skipped 1999 before he returned to the annual book again in 2000.
This is the best Pelecanos book I have read in some time. I try to spot him in occasionally among my other reading kind of like a reward. I deserved this book right now and it was worth waiting for.
The story begins in a police cruiser with a black and a white officer in Washington, DC. We have the unspoken thoughts of the black officer as his partner exudes racism. We move to a white suburban couple driving into DC. The unspoken thoughts here are those of the woman as she talks about a male friend, telling only part of the truth. The friend is Dimitri Karras. In both cases, we see a rift in the communication, barriers between people. It is not hard to dislike all four immediately. You have the impression you will see them again as well as more relationship crippling dialogue. In the first sixteen pages there is white racism and fear, corruption, sex, young street tuffs and dealers, drugs, blood and gore, housing project slums, a car fiery crash and a pillowcase of cash money. This is standard Pelecanos, and this is just for starters!
Pelecanos always captures the look and feel of the location and the year. The Sweet Forever is metro DC in 1986; you can go to the bank on his books being in DC. He has the movies, the politics, cars, the fashion and the culture just right. For me, that nostalgic feel is one of the things I like about his books. I lived in Silver Spring, just outside DC, in the late 80s and early 90s. I walked the streets in the Pelecanos books. In 1986 Guatemala was in the news, cocaine was the recreational drug of choice, ‘Top Gun’ was at the movies and the University of Maryland with Len Bias was in the March Madness. I was forty. I was twice as old as my oldest son. He would not be a typical Pelecanos character – but we do have some of the parent-child issues that are common in Pelecanos.
As is the norm with Pelecanos, the good guys aren’t all good and the bad guys aren’t all bad. But many of the bad guys are dead in the end. Along with a couple of eleven year old boys who were trying to get into The Life. I guess I should give up waiting for a well developed significant female character in a Pelecanos novel; just ain’t going to happen. Well, nobody’s perfect.
I bought this autographed, fine, first edition copy of The Sweet Forever by George Pelecanos from www.mysterymikes.com for a good price. If you are looking for quality used detective, mystery and suspense books at a fair price, check him out. He is part of the Alibris system.
Ain’t no thing!
I love reexperiencing these Pelicanos books in the audible format. They are done well and bring me back into the experience of a dozen or so years ago when I was first reading all of his books that I could get a hold of.
I bumped this up from four stars to five stars. Maybe it is because the audible versions are actually better than the print versions. Or maybe it’s just that I love the nostalgia I think I started reading his books when we lived in Silver Spring and some of the books Were set on the streets where we lived.
______________________
The first George Pelecanos book was published in 1992. The Sweet Forever, out in 1998, is his seventh and is the third in the DC quartet: The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, and Shame the Devil. He published books at the standard one each year clip beginning in 1992 but skipped 1999 before he returned to the annual book again in 2000.
This is the best Pelecanos book I have read in some time. I try to spot him in occasionally among my other reading kind of like a reward. I deserved this book right now and it was worth waiting for.
The story begins in a police cruiser with a black and a white officer in Washington, DC. We have the unspoken thoughts of the black officer as his partner exudes racism. We move to a white suburban couple driving into DC. The unspoken thoughts here are those of the woman as she talks about a male friend, telling only part of the truth. The friend is Dimitri Karras. In both cases, we see a rift in the communication, barriers between people. It is not hard to dislike all four immediately. You have the impression you will see them again as well as more relationship crippling dialogue. In the first sixteen pages there is white racism and fear, corruption, sex, young street tuffs and dealers, drugs, blood and gore, housing project slums, a car fiery crash and a pillowcase of cash money. This is standard Pelecanos, and this is just for starters!
Pelecanos always captures the look and feel of the location and the year. The Sweet Forever is metro DC in 1986; you can go to the bank on his books being in DC. He has the movies, the politics, cars, the fashion and the culture just right. For me, that nostalgic feel is one of the things I like about his books. I lived in Silver Spring, just outside DC, in the late 80s and early 90s. I walked the streets in the Pelecanos books. In 1986 Guatemala was in the news, cocaine was the recreational drug of choice, ‘Top Gun’ was at the movies and the University of Maryland with Len Bias was in the March Madness. I was forty. I was twice as old as my oldest son. He would not be a typical Pelecanos character – but we do have some of the parent-child issues that are common in Pelecanos.
As is the norm with Pelecanos, the good guys aren’t all good and the bad guys aren’t all bad. But many of the bad guys are dead in the end. Along with a couple of eleven year old boys who were trying to get into The Life. I guess I should give up waiting for a well developed significant female character in a Pelecanos novel; just ain’t going to happen. Well, nobody’s perfect.
I bought this autographed, fine, first edition copy of The Sweet Forever by George Pelecanos from www.mysterymikes.com for a good price. If you are looking for quality used detective, mystery and suspense books at a fair price, check him out. He is part of the Alibris system.
Ain’t no thing!
January 27, 2012
I've heard a lot of good things about Pelecanos and so I was eager to read some of his work. This one has a pretty good reputation, high ratings etc. so I expected big things. I don't think it managed to live up to the hype.
Perhaps if I hadn't seen The Wire the imagery used and the life portrayed within it's pages would have been that much more powerful, however as it is I felt that they took the ideas put forward in this book and went further, deeper and generally made the show pack more of a punch than Pelecanos could squeeze in to these pages.
There were some interesting characters to get to know, despite what seemed like a new character being intoduced every chpater and from what I've read they're all from the novels written prior to this one. SOmething to look out for fer sure.
Aside from the constant ramblings about basketball (a sport I care very little for) this was a tightly written, entertaining, urban drama dealing with aspects of society that in general we wish we could avoid; drugs, guns, poverty and violence are all portrayed without glamour and in a quite visceral manner.
Not as good as I was hoping but I'll definitely give him another shot.
Perhaps if I hadn't seen The Wire the imagery used and the life portrayed within it's pages would have been that much more powerful, however as it is I felt that they took the ideas put forward in this book and went further, deeper and generally made the show pack more of a punch than Pelecanos could squeeze in to these pages.
There were some interesting characters to get to know, despite what seemed like a new character being intoduced every chpater and from what I've read they're all from the novels written prior to this one. SOmething to look out for fer sure.
Aside from the constant ramblings about basketball (a sport I care very little for) this was a tightly written, entertaining, urban drama dealing with aspects of society that in general we wish we could avoid; drugs, guns, poverty and violence are all portrayed without glamour and in a quite visceral manner.
Not as good as I was hoping but I'll definitely give him another shot.
January 4, 2012
I rate Pelecanos novels as 4 and 5 star books not because they are great literature (though they are better than you might guess), but because they are such page-turners. Once I start to read one, it is seldom that I have not finished within 24-36 hours, and badly need some extra sleep.
If you have never read one, be forewarned that there is a good deal of course language, and usually some fairly course sex. They are raw, but I have always felt that this isn't done to gain attention from the reading public, but simply because the people he writes about are often like this. Pelecanos grew up in the Washington D.C. environs, and his point of view of this world is, to me, totally believable. His novels usually feature both "good" and "bad" characters, of both genders, and of both white and black races; and he writes with a good deal of empathy towards all his "good" characters (and some of his bad ones too).
If you have never read one, be forewarned that there is a good deal of course language, and usually some fairly course sex. They are raw, but I have always felt that this isn't done to gain attention from the reading public, but simply because the people he writes about are often like this. Pelecanos grew up in the Washington D.C. environs, and his point of view of this world is, to me, totally believable. His novels usually feature both "good" and "bad" characters, of both genders, and of both white and black races; and he writes with a good deal of empathy towards all his "good" characters (and some of his bad ones too).
May 23, 2008
You weep for Len Bias all over again. And he's not even in it except as something of a McGuffin, a glowing suitcase representing the moment that crack began to seriously have its way with Washington.
So you really weep for the city and where it all went horribly wrong.
The year before, middle and upper-middle class white kids in the Dischord scene were talking about having a Revolution Summer. I don't think this is what they meant.
So you really weep for the city and where it all went horribly wrong.
The year before, middle and upper-middle class white kids in the Dischord scene were talking about having a Revolution Summer. I don't think this is what they meant.
December 24, 2016
When oh when will a George P. book find it's way to a movie script? Never mind, nothing ruins a good book like a bad movie. Still, every George P. novel moves at breakneck pace. The story bursts out of the gate and you have to run to keep up. If George lets Hollywood have a go at his D.C. dramas hopefully it will be a Marcus Clay/Dimitri Karras/Nick Stefanos story like this one. And I hope Samuel L. Jackson plays Marcus Clay. Until then......
November 11, 2013
The third book in the author's DC quartet and just as good as the previous two. The dark, gritty crime story was lightened a bit by all the pop culture references and I actually knew most of the music ones for once.
January 30, 2019
The best Pelecanos book so far, it benefits from an absence of a true, single protagonist. The ensemble cast, without anyone getting really close to being a clean cut good guy, keeps the story moving. Pelecanos had often succeeded in drawing realistic characters but he has been equally consistent in ruining them with a forced redemptive ending, which made no sense from a character standpoint. This book bucks the trend, the redemption seems earned.
Self destructive Dimitri Karras; bigoted, self-deluding Officer Tutt; his self-loathing partner Murphy who is struggling with morality; and naive dreamer Eddie Golden who comes crashing to reality are all intriguing characters when none of them is burdened with the responbility of carrying the whole show single handedly. The setting as always in a Pelecanos book is bubbling with authenticity. There is an underlying nostalgic pining in the writing though it is not bittersweet, just bitter realization that past was better, present is going down the drain and the future is hopeless.
The only problem I had with the book is the constant references to period music and some Basketball competition that went on in the eighties. It is a stupid decision on Pelecanos' part purposely catering to a niche audience (native Washington-ians) that most readers would find meandering at best and irritating distraction at worst. This self indulgence costs the book a better rating.
The ubiquitous violence and overall depravity levels might put off some readers but I absolutely believe without them the overall gritty atmosphere could not have been nailed in such an effective manner. Rating - 4/5.
Self destructive Dimitri Karras; bigoted, self-deluding Officer Tutt; his self-loathing partner Murphy who is struggling with morality; and naive dreamer Eddie Golden who comes crashing to reality are all intriguing characters when none of them is burdened with the responbility of carrying the whole show single handedly. The setting as always in a Pelecanos book is bubbling with authenticity. There is an underlying nostalgic pining in the writing though it is not bittersweet, just bitter realization that past was better, present is going down the drain and the future is hopeless.
The only problem I had with the book is the constant references to period music and some Basketball competition that went on in the eighties. It is a stupid decision on Pelecanos' part purposely catering to a niche audience (native Washington-ians) that most readers would find meandering at best and irritating distraction at worst. This self indulgence costs the book a better rating.
The ubiquitous violence and overall depravity levels might put off some readers but I absolutely believe without them the overall gritty atmosphere could not have been nailed in such an effective manner. Rating - 4/5.
July 29, 2020
This book made it really obvious I need to re-evaluate my relationship with crime fiction / hardboiled noir, even as escapist fare. I've long been a huge fan of The Wire, and will maintain that Pelecanos and David Simon did a terrific job writing nuance and inevitability and tragedy and joy into that set of characters. I loved The Wire so much I took a class on it in college (shout-out to Shawn Peters at UW-Madison) which stressed the social contract, assigned Paul Butler as reading, and was responsible for opening my eyes to a lot what's wrong with America's relationship with crime and policing and incarceration.
The Sweet Forever, set in DC around Len Bias' run in the tournament with Maryland in 1986 preceding his untimely cocaine overdose, is pretty quintessential crime fiction. It is laden with unceasing sexist descriptions of all of its one-dimensional female characters, every description of every woman in the novel made me recoil a bit and every character existed to inform the character of the main they were there to round out. The remaining characters are either racist stereotypes or vessels for hit-you-over-the-head moralizing. Everyone is abusing drugs and alcohol the entire time. Typical noir stuff.
Otherwise, the book was pretty good! A decent plot with high stakes that is tied up a little too neatly, but I get the appeal. Nevertheless, I think conscientious readers need to reevaluate this generation of crime fiction and potentially leave it behind. There are plenty of new standard-bearers to welcome in who recognize the humanity of all of their characters (I'm looking forward to Ryan Gattis' new novel later this year, for instance).
The Sweet Forever, set in DC around Len Bias' run in the tournament with Maryland in 1986 preceding his untimely cocaine overdose, is pretty quintessential crime fiction. It is laden with unceasing sexist descriptions of all of its one-dimensional female characters, every description of every woman in the novel made me recoil a bit and every character existed to inform the character of the main they were there to round out. The remaining characters are either racist stereotypes or vessels for hit-you-over-the-head moralizing. Everyone is abusing drugs and alcohol the entire time. Typical noir stuff.
Otherwise, the book was pretty good! A decent plot with high stakes that is tied up a little too neatly, but I get the appeal. Nevertheless, I think conscientious readers need to reevaluate this generation of crime fiction and potentially leave it behind. There are plenty of new standard-bearers to welcome in who recognize the humanity of all of their characters (I'm looking forward to Ryan Gattis' new novel later this year, for instance).
August 5, 2018
As a longtime resident of DC, and a fan of The Wire, this Pelecanos novel—the first I have read—was not as good as I had expected. The characters are very well drawn, but the narrative is a bit too sparse, with too many curious choices for me to feel satisfied. For example: as much as I'd heard about this occurring against the backdrop of Len Bias' last NCAA run and his death by cocaine overdose, the novel shunts any mention of the latter to the very final pages—if you didn't know what happened, you wouldn't know what happened. And the penultimate chapter features one of my least favorite tropes: two characters' expository dialogue about what happened to all the other characters the novel doesn't bother to actually follow up with. It's as contrived here as it was when Tom Wolfe did the same with A Man in Full the exact same year. Also: why are some DC locales and personages accurately named, like the 930 Club and Bias himself, but others are misnamed like "Cardoza" High School (actually Cardozo) or "Carole" Schwartz (actually Carol)? I'm still scratching my head over this. But hey, my (mis-named) old building at the top of 13th and Clifton is name-checked, so how disappointed can I be?
September 24, 2017
The worlds that Pelecanos writes about in his novels and his work on television are visceral, stemming from the reality of his observations of modern urban life. In "The Sweet Forever," Pelecanos presents his native Washington D.C. in the throws of the 1980's, rife with drugs, crime, racism, music, culture. Set in the middle of the 1986 NCAA basketball tournament, where Len Bias took the nation by storm before dying tragically from a cocaine overdose, "The Sweet Forever" shows what a truly great crime novel can do: use time-hardened genre tropes as ways into cultures and experiences that no other genre can engage with. Pelecanos borrows from genre and pop-culture to build a world and a story that is captivating, revealing, and intensely human.
November 5, 2017
Had an itch to scratch in reading a Pelecanos book after watching The Deuce and this was recommended by the dudes from The Watch podcast. I find those two to be insufferable but I have to admit, they have good taste in crime fiction.
This might be my favorite effort of Pelecanos' after What It Was. Or perhaps I'm in a different place in my life and don't need my crime fiction to be so pulpy. Either way, it's a good read with good characters and a compelling plot set against rich descriptions of DC. As a Maryland fan and compassionate human being, the Len Bias stuff was painful to read. Otherwise, I liked this effort and may have to read more of his work.
This might be my favorite effort of Pelecanos' after What It Was. Or perhaps I'm in a different place in my life and don't need my crime fiction to be so pulpy. Either way, it's a good read with good characters and a compelling plot set against rich descriptions of DC. As a Maryland fan and compassionate human being, the Len Bias stuff was painful to read. Otherwise, I liked this effort and may have to read more of his work.
September 28, 2017
Author George Pelecanos has done extensive work as a screenwriter for the hit HBO television show The Wire. The Sweet Forever seemed liked a pretty good episode of the hit HBO television show The Wire. I have never seen an episode of the hit HBO television show The Wire.
June 9, 2019
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του Πελεκάνος που διαβάζω, η ατμόσφαιρα θυμίζει πάρα πολύ την σειρά The Wire, στην οποία συμμετείχε ως μέλος της συγγραφικής ομάδας. Όμορφα γραμμένο, ευθύ και ωμό, δεν θέλεις να το αφήσεις κάτω.
January 4, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed the framework of this. Centering the action around a running dialogue of the 1986 NCAA Tournament and highlighting the bonds that sports creates across ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic lines was brilliant. Another rock solid thriller from Pelecanos.
November 28, 2018
One of Pelecanos' best. No wonder he was hired by "The Wire". Always fun to read his books since he mentions places and streets that I know so well in my neighborhood.
August 20, 2022
A real page turner!
June 5, 2024
A fine representation of a modern-pulp novel. Reading it 25 years after it's publication the book holds up from a story perspective while of course being dated by its references, though in all honesty that was part of what I enjoyed the most. I liked that the characters were well rounded, having positive and negative traits, though having recently read the book I can't really remember the name of any of them. You know how they often say that the location was a character in a movie, in this case cocaine and DC are almost the biggest characters in the novel. At the same time I figure these stories are a dime a dozen, and my greatest enjoyment did come from the specificity of the locations, so I would only really recommend the book if you enjoy the genre and have a soft-spot for DC.
July 4, 2014
It feels odd to review a novel 13 years after its publication, but as I'm working my way through George Pelecanos' extensive catalog, I guess it's bound to happen. This is yet another example of his ability to take an incident that is just a part of life in a major city, a traffic accident, and create a masterful story about what really happened and its repercussions.
I won't go into the plot, which I'm sure you can glean from the product description on this site. What I like to do when I review is to compare a book to the mental checklist I have on what I like in the particular genre. I also like to determine if there's anything distinctive that makes it stand out or reminds me of other authors or novels.
The coolest thing The Sweet Forever has going for it is that it's like opening a time capsule of the mid-1980's. The author does a great job evoking the music, clothing, hairstyles, drug use, etc. from that era. As with his other novels, Pelecanos uses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music to great effect, and it truly produces an aural soundtrack for the story line. He incorporates music heavily into most (all? don't know, haven't finished the lot) of his books, but this time it seems a little different just because of the '80s time slice for the story.
The story is believable and the characters react in predictably unpredictable ways. The dialogue is crisp and life-like, which is one of the author's great strengths. In a lot of ways he reminds me of another favorite, Elmore Leonard- he really 'owns' the genre in a city (Leonard in Detroit, GP in DC), he writes great dialogue, his stories aren't about FBI mastermind crime solvers going after criminal masterminds but more about 'blue collar' lower-level street criminals. I think the thing I like best about him is that he creates characters that are really in the 'grey area'.... the good guys aren't really all that good, the bad guys have some redeeming qualities (at least some of them), the cops have seemingly the same good-to-evil continuum, and there's a number of side characters that contribute color and depth.
This is another Pelecanos gem that I can't recommend highly enough.
I won't go into the plot, which I'm sure you can glean from the product description on this site. What I like to do when I review is to compare a book to the mental checklist I have on what I like in the particular genre. I also like to determine if there's anything distinctive that makes it stand out or reminds me of other authors or novels.
The coolest thing The Sweet Forever has going for it is that it's like opening a time capsule of the mid-1980's. The author does a great job evoking the music, clothing, hairstyles, drug use, etc. from that era. As with his other novels, Pelecanos uses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music to great effect, and it truly produces an aural soundtrack for the story line. He incorporates music heavily into most (all? don't know, haven't finished the lot) of his books, but this time it seems a little different just because of the '80s time slice for the story.
The story is believable and the characters react in predictably unpredictable ways. The dialogue is crisp and life-like, which is one of the author's great strengths. In a lot of ways he reminds me of another favorite, Elmore Leonard- he really 'owns' the genre in a city (Leonard in Detroit, GP in DC), he writes great dialogue, his stories aren't about FBI mastermind crime solvers going after criminal masterminds but more about 'blue collar' lower-level street criminals. I think the thing I like best about him is that he creates characters that are really in the 'grey area'.... the good guys aren't really all that good, the bad guys have some redeeming qualities (at least some of them), the cops have seemingly the same good-to-evil continuum, and there's a number of side characters that contribute color and depth.
This is another Pelecanos gem that I can't recommend highly enough.
May 12, 2016
"Murphy shot Ray in the chest, the dumdum bullet flattening on impact & punching out a fist sized through his back. Ray staggered, yanked at the trigger guard of the gun, yanked the trigger instead. He screamed as the round entered his groin & blew his balls to chowder, the muzzle flame igniting his pubes. Foam spilled from Ray's mouth as he pirouetted to the floor." - Ouch! Bet that smarted.
I thought the L.A. Quartet by James Ellroy would be hard to beat. I thought the Red Riding Quartet by David Peace would be difficult to rival, but the D.C. Quartet by George Pelecanos at least equals both, in my opinion.
Pelecaonos' D.C. Quartet encompasses five decades, from the 1950's to the mid 1990's in a gritty, brutal portrayal of life on the streets of Washington D.C. There are several central characters throughout the Quartet, whose lives fade in & out as the story progresses. Although it is at times brutal, there is also an underlying story of enduring friendship & loyalty...
Honestly, if you enjoy well written, gritty crime fiction, you owe it to yourself to read the D.C. Quartet.
I thought the L.A. Quartet by James Ellroy would be hard to beat. I thought the Red Riding Quartet by David Peace would be difficult to rival, but the D.C. Quartet by George Pelecanos at least equals both, in my opinion.
Pelecaonos' D.C. Quartet encompasses five decades, from the 1950's to the mid 1990's in a gritty, brutal portrayal of life on the streets of Washington D.C. There are several central characters throughout the Quartet, whose lives fade in & out as the story progresses. Although it is at times brutal, there is also an underlying story of enduring friendship & loyalty...
Honestly, if you enjoy well written, gritty crime fiction, you owe it to yourself to read the D.C. Quartet.
September 17, 2008
I read this book a couple of days, which is fast for me. It really drew me along, though i did skim the last, winding-down chapter. So why only two stars? There were a couple of stylistic things that started to bother me: mainly, the constant musical references. Hardly a page passed without the title of a song, and the name of the artist, being cited. Sometimes there'd be comments about the musicians, too. They felt arbitrary after a while, and like something extraneous intruding on the narrative. It felt like i had to stop paying attention to the story and dig through my memory banks to recall that Cameo song, and once i'd recalled it, it would bring up memories completely unrelated to the world and themes of the novel (like, with Cameo, for some reason i think of an old optomitrist's office; was it on the radio there? i don't know).
I picked this up b/c i knew the author was a writer for "The Wire" on HBO. I'd listened to one of his commentaries on Season 3.
I picked this up b/c i knew the author was a writer for "The Wire" on HBO. I'd listened to one of his commentaries on Season 3.
September 13, 2007
George Pelecanos writes for The Wire and David Simon raves about him so he's been a 'to-read' for a while. I've finally read a few of his novels and this is my favorite. He writes about DC, the part that feels a lot like Baltimore, and this book, unlike his later ones, isn't strictly a crime novel. The backdrop of the book is the 1986 NCAA tournament - the year of Len Bias - and there are great thematic connections between the frenetic pace and unpredictability of the tournament, the 1980's cocaine epidemic, and the street violence that sweeps up the characters. It's highly structured without feeling artificial. Dialogue and character are his strengths but this book is also very well-crafted. It was pure enjoyment.
July 9, 2013
This gritty crime novel set on U Street in 1986 shows the darkest side of Washington’s recent history.
“Marcus Clay and George Dozier sat at the counter of the Florida Avenue Grill, located at the corner of 11th and Florida on the tip of Shaw. They had seen each other at church, as they did every Sunday, and Clay had followed Dozier to the grill for a late breakfast. They sat on red stools where the counter jutted in, back toward the swinging kitchen door. Along the wall, front to back, above the grill and sandwich board and coffee urns, hung framed photographs of local and national celebrities who had visited the diner over the years for some of the very best soul food in Washington, D.C.”
“Marcus Clay and George Dozier sat at the counter of the Florida Avenue Grill, located at the corner of 11th and Florida on the tip of Shaw. They had seen each other at church, as they did every Sunday, and Clay had followed Dozier to the grill for a late breakfast. They sat on red stools where the counter jutted in, back toward the swinging kitchen door. Along the wall, front to back, above the grill and sandwich board and coffee urns, hung framed photographs of local and national celebrities who had visited the diner over the years for some of the very best soul food in Washington, D.C.”
March 28, 2014
This is the first Pelecanos book I've read, although I'm a fan of his writing on The Wire. This is a really snappy crime novel, although it weirded me out a little. The book is set in DC during the mid-80s, which I'm really familiar with as a resident. All of the little details like the long hall leading to the 930 Club as well as the larger background details like the scuttlebutt around Marion Berry's drug use and the impending arrival of crack were strange to read because of how familiar they were. The book is a strong document of the struggles DC went through as it became the murder capital of the US. All of these are in the mix as the intersecting stories play out and do a great job informing the characters' motivations.
October 19, 2015
The third book of the D. C. Quartet series, set in 1986, finds record store owner, Marcus Clay, and long-time friend, Dimitri Karras, in trouble again with local drug gangs. Clay plays the imperfect moral compass, while Karras continues a downward spiral: leading a tawdry life of sex and drugs, slowly killing himself coasting from one cocaine high to the next. By the end, Clay is given new hope and Karras reaches a major life decision point. Good story, with an earnest start, sympathetic characters, despicable bad guys, and some great action scenes. I like the way Pelecanos breathes life into his characters: 3 dimensional, multifaceted, some with heart, some heartless. The book has all the typical George Pelecanos scene setting; music, clothes and culture of the times.
July 11, 2013
I read this in small chunks over nearly 3 weeks, and am convinced I would've enjoyed it considerably more had that not been the case - a good part due to the number of characters to keep track of, but also just the pacing itself. 3rd of the D.C. quartet (or 6th of the Nick Stefanos world, depending on one's view), again a slice of the street, corruption, good intentions... replete with local reference (seriously? name-checking a member of the Insect Surfers? that's cred right there). This one occurs during 1986 March Madness and the subsequent NBA draft, so the final scene is inevitable to any with a knowledge of the history.
April 14, 2014
Period piece set in Washington DC in 1986. Unfortunately I endured this time personally, so the trip down memory lane wasn't so much fun. Pelecanos leans a little heavily on period detail - the NCAA basketball tournament, the music, and clothing for instance - perhaps too much.
The book is a morality play, and for that genre, does its work well. I won't go into detail as it would ruin the reader's experience, but the story works.
Dialogue here seemed problematic - and if I took out the ethnic taglines and removed the narrative tags, I suspect I would have had a tough time knowing who was speaking the lines.
The book is a morality play, and for that genre, does its work well. I won't go into detail as it would ruin the reader's experience, but the story works.
Dialogue here seemed problematic - and if I took out the ethnic taglines and removed the narrative tags, I suspect I would have had a tough time knowing who was speaking the lines.
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