D.C. Noir

Sixteen stories of capital crimes and misdemeanors—the basis for the film directed by George Pelecanos, producer and writer of The Wire.
 
Mystery sensation Pelecanos pens the lead story and edits this groundbreaking collection of stories detailing the seedy underside of the nation’s capital. This is not an anthology of ill-conceived and inauthentic political thrillers. Instead, in D.C. Noir, pimps, whores, gangsters, and con-men run rampant in zones of this city that most never hear about.
 
This anthology includes brand new stories by George Pelecanos, James Grady, Kenji Jasper, Jim Beane, Jabari Asim, Ruben Castaneda, James Patton, Norman Kelley, Jennifer Howard, Richard Currey, Lester Irby, and others.
“[Grady’s] ‘The Bottom Line’ is a tour de force of narrative bravado. A story of double-dealing on Capitol Hill, it crams enough plot to power a full-length novel into a mere 30 pages. From its opening sentence—’The Capitol building glowed in the night like a white icing cake’—to the surprises at its finish line, this is a story that never stops barreling along.”—The Washington Post
 
“Pelecanos . . . delivers a wholly satisfying volume. From his own ‘Confidential Informant,’ to James Grady’s ‘The Bottom Line,’ Pelecanos shows us how both trash-strewn alleys and oak-paneled offices can trap their occupants with dreams, compromise, and heartbreak.”—Booklist
 
“Well written . . . Highlights include Pelecanos’s ‘The Confidential Informant’ and Laura Lippman’s ‘A.R.M. and the Woman.'”—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Pick up a copy of the book D.C. Noir . . . and prepare to be transported to a different D.C. that the tourists see . . . Pure Washingtonian.”
― Washingtonian

“Imbued with countless collective years of local experience.”
― Washington City Paper

“[Pelecanos] has assembled a compelling mix of ex-convicts, retired police officers, former crime beat reporters and a few writing pros willing to turn their storytelling eye, whether jaundiced or tender, inward toward the neighborhood . . . Local haunts and hangouts are lovingly drawn.”
― Washington Times

“From the Chevy Chase housewife who commits a shocking act to the watchful bum protecting Georgetown street vendors, the tome offers a startling glimpse into the cityscape’s darkest corners . . . Fans of the [noir] genre will find solid writing, palpable tension and surprise endings.”
― Washington Post

“Those looking for redemption in humanity would do well to look elsewhere, but this set of gritty urban tales, written with all the requisite touches of shadow and fog of the noir masters, is a rare cut for crime aficionados and should pique the interest of anyone who calls the Dark City home.”
― Examiner Washington