Soul Circus (Derek Strange/Terry Quinn)

Rating:
Summary: Strange and Co. are just about the Best PIs in Fiction Today
Review: African American Private Investigator Derek Strange has married his assistant, Janine, and is attempting to balance his home life against the demands of his job, which at the time involves keeping a drug dealing client, who's not a very nice guy, from receiving the death penalty.

Hot tempered and paranoid European former policeman, Terry Quinn is Strange's partner. In addition to trying to keep a man from getting murdered by the state, they are searching for a teenage girl, a runaway last been seen staring in a porno movie. Strange and Quinn have also been hired by would-be crook, Mario Durham, older brother of real crook, Dewayne Durham, to find his former girlfriend. The outcome of that investigation, while nominally successful, is tragic because it leads to the the girl's death.

Strange does his best to bring satisfactory outcomes to his cases, but he isn't always successful. This causes him pain, as he's a thinking man who is constantly aware of the hopelessness of the lives of the people in ghetto.

This is a tough, violent book, but it's writing is tack sharp, the dialogue is as real as the people on the pages and, if like me, you're a fan of Mr. Pelecanos, you'll be glad that he decided to expand on his trilogy and do the prequel to the Strange and Co. stories. I can hardly wait to start reading HARD REVOLUTION.

Reviewed by Judith Ann Cole

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!!
Review: George Pelecanos is one of today's best crime writers. I've read all of his novels and I can honestly say that I've never been disappointed. In his latest novel, Soul Circus, Mr. Pelecanos returns us to the Washington D.C. of Derek Strange and Terry Quinn. It's a Washington that most of us don't know about. Drug dealers, gangs, guns and violence abound, but that's not all these neighborhoods are about. Mr. Peleconos takes us deep into our capitols neighborhoods and culture.
If you've been keeping up with Mr. Pelecanos's writing you'll know that, Harriet Klausner pay attention here, this is Derek Strange and Terry Quinn's third appearance and Mr. Pelecanos's 11th novel.
As I said before I've enjoyed every one of his novels but the ending to Soul Circus is a surprise that I wasn't prepared for. It may just signal the end to Derek Strange's stories. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
If you've read Right as Rain and Hell to Pay then pick up this novel as soon as possible. If you haven't'..What are you waiting for?

Rating:
Summary: George Pelecanos has written a taut and compelling story
Review: Reading fiction is a form of escape, of course. If you want reality, you read nonfiction. But after reading SOUL CIRCUS, the latest novel from George P. Pelecanos, you may find yourself wondering what it is about reality that made you want to escape into a world so dark and disturbing and so, well, real.

The eleventh novel from Pelecanos and the third to feature private investigators Derek Strange and Terry Quinn, SOUL CIRCUS also includes a number of characters that have appeared in previous Pelecanos novels, including Nick Stefanos, another private detective whose character is based on Pelecanos himself.

SOUL CIRCUS finds Derek Strange searching for evidence that will mean the difference between life in prison and the death sentence for Granville Oliver, a dangerous gang leader and drug dealer on trial for murder. Strange has resolved to perform this service, despite Oliver's reputation, for a couple of worthwhile reasons, not the least of which is that decades before, while serving as a police officer, Strange killed Oliver's father. Strange feels that, in depriving Oliver of a father, he set a boy on the path to gangs, drugs, guns and violence, and therefore bears some responsibility for the situation in which Oliver now finds himself. But as Strange explains it to those who question his judgment in the matter, he is not defending Oliver --- he is defending Oliver's rights.

Strange's investigation leads him to a young woman who may have evidence that will keep Oliver off the injection table. But there are those who prefer to see Oliver dead and not just the prosecution. These people have long since rid themselves of the burden of conscience that might otherwise interfere with plans for kidnapping, extortion, murder and the other tools of the bad guy trade.

In the midst of this investigation, Strange and Quinn take on another small case: locating an absent girlfriend for Mario Durham, a petty crook and no deep thinker whose motives, unbeknownst to Strange and Quinn, have more to do with settling a score than they do with faltering romance. Mario, it turns out, is the brother of Dewayne Durham, another feared gang leader and drug dealer. It is Mario's desire to impress his brother that leads to the death of the absent girlfriend and sets in motion a series of events that trigger a cascade of gunplay and violence that winds its way back to Strange and Quinn.

SOUL CIRCUS intricately weaves several subplots into a taut and compelling story that plays out in neighborhoods of Washington D.C. that are so removed from the pomp and photo-op politics of the nation's capital that they might as well be in some third-world hellhole. Pelecanos very effectively demonstrates that living within sight of those familiar, gleaming white symbols of democracy are citizens whose voices are never heard and whose issues offer insufficient political payback to draw the attention of those in power.

But while Pelecanos has a political agenda, his message integrates seamlessly with the story. There's no preaching here and no soapbox --- just finely wrought characters playing out their interconnected destinies in prose that snatches you up and propels you along like a cigarette butt being washed down a storm sewer.

While the story is indeed dark and populated with cold, stone-hearted people, Pelecanos peppers SOUL CIRCUS with details and crisp, often funny dialogue --- particularly between Strange and Quinn -- that provide a precise balance of elements that keep the narrative well within the parameters of noir, without tumbling into a thoroughly depressing, hundred-proof nightmare. But be warned, there's enough violence and nasty business here to make you check to see that the cat is in and your doors are locked.

Readers already familiar with Pelecanos will find in SOUL CIRCUS the unblinking realism and relentless pace they have come to expect. Those new to Pelecanos will find themselves reaching eagerly into his backlist to devour every delicious, hyper-hardboiled scrap. As a vehicle for escape, SOUL CIRCUS will take you as deep into the urban battlefield as you can go without having to actually dodge bullets.

--- Reviewed by Bob Rhubart

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed But Not Dissuaded
Review: Soul Circus was a disappointment after the first two Derek Strange novels (Hell To Pay and Right as Rain). There is much to enjoy in the book, but not half as much as either of the previous two novels.

There were two problems that bogged down the book for me. First, Pelecanos seems to have lost interest in the character of Terry Quinn from the very beginning -- the only time that Pelecanos seems to be invested enough to animate Quinn into a full, believeable character is in Quinn's bedroom scenes; apart from those Quinn's a prop here.

The second issue that weighs this installment (unfortunately "installment" is an accurate pun here) is that the callbacks (the echoes in pattern, relationships) to the previous two books feel like Pelecanos engaging in the same-ol', same-ol' rather than feeling like Pelecanos is further elucidating, or even effectively reinforcing, either who the characters are or that the characters' setting pushes them toward similar situations again and again. It feels like the actions that recur from the previous novels in this series, are repeated because Pelecanos feels the need to have the characters play these notes again, not because the characters have the need to fall into these patterns or have these personality tics. The recurrances play like ill-conceived "hooks" for pop songs.

Both of these issues seem related to what many have noted, that Pelecanos seems less interested in the characters in this book than in driving home a point about gun control and the death penalty. The joy of the previous two works in this series came from exactly the character exploration that's missing here. I look forward to reading the next Derek Strange book that finds something new to explore about Strange and DC -- Pelecanos does that so well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Soul Circus, George Pelecanos' third installment of the story of Derek Strange, the proud private detective in Washington DC is excellent. Pelecanos does not shy away from disturbing story lines and this novel is no exception. Strange and his partner Terry Quinn are caught, as they always are, in the middle of violence and drug dealing turf wars in Washington. The cast of characters is not pretty, nor is the action. You've got drug dealers, gun dealers, murderers, gang wars, etc. While the stories are disturbing, they are also entertaining. The background of the novel is filled with Pelecanos trademark soundtrack. The novel makes for a quick, gripping read. The one caveat I would give you is that Pelecanos gets a little preachy, through the characters, regarding gun control and the death penalty, but I do think his is an honest exploration of the ramifications of both of those hot potatoes. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A THINKING MAN'S THRILLER VERY WELL READ
Review: With his 11th novel bestselling author George Pelecanos offers another powerful, disturbing and highly readable story set on the mean streets of Washington, D.C. Private investigator Derek Strange with the aid of Terry Quinn again takes center stage as turf battles erupt in violent grabs for territory and money.

Accomplished voice performer Richard Allen adds just the right amounts of menace and bravado to his reading, ably inhabiting the skins of both good and bad guys.

When a D. C. crime boss is captured and imprisoned he seems a shoo-in for the ultimate punishment. Lawyers representing the gang leader hire Strange to help in getting a lighter sentence. A witness is needed to cast doubt on testimony against the drug lord, and that witness might just be an angry former girlfriend. After all, hell hath no fury like a you-know-who.

Meanwhile with the crime boss in jail two young drug dealers are jousting for the apparently up for grabs neighborhood and profits to come. It is, as Pelecanos makes clear, a vicious circle that goes round and round in an amoral neighborhood where fear rules and friendships are forsaken.

Pelecanos writes thinking man's thrillers, as his legions of fans will attest.

- Gail Cooke