Hell to Pay, George Pelecanos

All right then, Pelecanos has got me hooked on Derek Strange and Terry Quinn. I must read the entire series. Book 2 follows a team of investigators in the DC area as they are hired to find a 14-year-old girl who’s run away from home and is now a prostitute in a violent part of DC. Interweaving through this is the inner turmoil the two ex-cops have within themselves, in relationships, and the world in general.  Interesting ‘villains’ that are never one-sided… complex characters that Pelecanos lets you know… no one becomes a criminal by circumstance… there’s always a backstory.  No person is ever good or bad, and that’s it. There’s always more to their stories. After a violent crime is committed against one of their young players from a neighborhood football team that Strange coaches, tracking down the criminals becomes a point of honor for Strange and Quinn. And as you can assume, things don’t necessarily go as planned.