By George Pelecanos
Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD (Abridged), Audio CD (Unabridged) and Large Print Editions

Pelecanos crafts a tale of violent crime set against the backdrop of racial turmoil of 1968. The latest novel in the Derek Strange series is a prequel that follows Derek during his time as an officer with the MPD. The events of Derek's childhood shape the young man he is at the time of this tale. This is a powerfully moving story, though it not without its share of rough spots.

The opening section, taking place in the spring of 1959 came across a bit awkwardly. Here, there were some instances where this felt a bit self-consciously like a prequel. This was particularly noticeable in the scene where Derek first encounters a tan boxer as a boy and pointedly says that someday he is going to own a dog like that.

At times, the narrative shifts from showing the events to telling what the events were and interpreting how the reader should feel about those events. This is a shortcut when presenting a story. It is sloppy and distracts from the story.

Hard Revolution Excerpt "The guy with the black hair will walk away. He liked to fight when he was younger. But I don't think he does anymore." "You know him?" "Ran with him some when I was a kid. We did a little shoplifting together one day, a long time ago." "You guys get away with it?" "I got caught. He didn't." "His lucky day," said Peters. "No," said Strange. "It was mine." ©2004 George Pelecanos Published with permission from Little, Brown & Co.

This was particularly noticeable during one climactic scene, when a bank customer takes action that affects the course of this climax, he is rapidly introduced. Readers are given a brief synopsis of this character's life moments before he takes the extreme action that alters the course of the climax. This disposable character is brought into the novel abruptly. As such, his background needed to be established immediately. In terms of pacing for this novel, there simply was not enough time to more fully flesh out this character.

The reason he was brought into the novel was solely to perform this one action here at the climax. In an otherwise well-written novel, the use of this character comes across as clumsy and contrived. This character's action was necessary to make the rest of the events of the climax move forward believably.

Where this novel is particularly effective is in the interweaving of historical events with the events of the fictional individuals. Historical descriptions of protests and riots are not merely backdrops. These events affect the lives of the characters on a daily basis. Some resist getting swept up in the chaos, while others take advantage of the situation for personal gain.

This book is definitely worth reading. Not only does it stand on its own, but it also serves as an introduction into the Derek Strange series.

Bookworm's Briefing
George Pelecanos, a veteran novelist brings to life a compelling tale of violent crime set against the racial tension of Washington D.C. in the spring of 1968. Here, Derek Strange is a rookie police officer, a street cop who will one day become a private detective. Despite some awkward and clumsy scenes, this is a powerfully emotional tale.