George Pelecanos C/D?

This is pretty much the best crime fiction writer there is (check the frickin' dialogue.) Now that he writes for 'The Wire' a lot of his stuff has been appropriated for the show--but damn, who is better than this?

I've only read a few of his books, and the only serious objection I have to any of them is that each character, no matter how minor, is a music nerd at a near ILM level. I appreciate his silverback-gorilla level musical interjections, but it kind of draws me out of the story to believe everyone is thinking about this stuff all the time. Less of an issue with the characters centered around the record store, natch, but they're not the only ones.

Yeah, his constant unnecessary name-dropping, both of musical acts and DC locations, gets pretty annoying over the course of a book. Other than that, he's pretty good.

I linked these already but...

http://citypages.com/databank/27/1337/article14551.asp
http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2006/07/george_pelecano.php

I'd rank his books as follows:

Drama City (2005): redemption story about a dogcatcher, where even the dogs are distinct characters
Nick's Trip (1993): between-the-lines, and between-beers, road-trip mystery about the illusory nature of friendship
Hell to Pay (2002): more dogs here, great suspense, and some painfully true-feeling drama about love, along with about the most believable interracial friendship in crime fiction
Soul Circus (2003): the sequel to Hell to Pay, with a big finish
Right as Rain (2001): the prequel to Hell to Pay
Hard Revolution (2004): would have probably worked better as a straight-up oral history of the '68 riots, or of Link Wray's heyday, but this is still fascinating
Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995): feels almost standard until the signs of alcoholism add up, and with a climax worth the wait
Shame the Devil (2000): revenge offers no comfort, just something that needs to be done; creepiest Pelecanos villain yet
Shoedog (1994): toys with genre cliches while taking time out for realistic ex-sex and the art of selling shoes
The Sweet Forever (1998): let's just say '86 wasn't my year--I'm not as nuts about this set of characters, either, who seem to act out parts of the author's conscience.
King Suckerman (1997): same as above, but '76, and hits the same notes a few too many times
The Night Gardener (2006): I know the fatherhood stuff here is close to his heart, and the cop stuff is recently researched, but both scenarios seem short on imagination and long on axes to grind.

Looking forward to reading:

A Firing Offense (1992)
The Big Blowdown (1996)

Weird. I love the King Suckerman, Sweet Forever, Shame The Devil trilogy the most next to Drama City (which is the gem.)

Ha, the last time we had a discussion about this guy, people suggested The Sweet Forever as the one that would appeal to doubters.

I'm not a huge sports fan, might have something to do with it. Even without me understanding it, though, there's some beautiful basketball description in King Suckerman. I don't regret reading any Pelecanos book.

Still can't get into this guy. Although I do like the Pelican.

Reading Hell to Pay - it's okay, but the musical name-dropping is awful. Are all of his books like that?

Yup. At least the ones I tried to read.

Still enjoying The Pelican. Reading an old one, looking forward to the new one.