I picked this up after Stephen King listed as one of his books of the year, and also because it's in a genre – crime thrillers – that I'm into.

Pelecanos really scratches the atmosphere and messy lives of underprivileged people living in the rough areas of Washington DC in this book. It's an atmospheric, at times humorous and pretty hardnosed.

Briefly, the story's about ex-con Lorenzo who's on parole and trying to make a go of life away from the drug trade by working for the Humane Society – basically looking for mistreated pet dogs and the like. He's doing OK until a shootout in the neighbourhood impinges on his life.

From a writing viewpoint, I was interested in the way Pelecanos' story is not totally propelled by plot. He takes detours into the character's life, his work, his workmates and budding, tentative romance. It builds a flesh-and-blood character you really get into. And when the crisis comes, it's pretty gripping.

I'll be buying up more stuff by GP and would love to know which other novels WWers can recommend.