SOUL CIRCUS: GEORGE PELECANOS

This is the third or fourth novel I have read by Pelecanos, a writer for the HBO series Treme as well.  His novels, at least the ones I have read, are set in the gritty, urban world of D.C., with mostly black characters and in this case, a black PI named Derek Strange. He used to be a cop, like most PI's, is now in his fifties, and has married for the first time late in life.  He knows the world of the urban youth, their options (none), their hopes and dreams (drugs and money and power) and their end (usually either prison or being shot).  And all of this proves true in SOUL CIRCUS, though Derek Strange does all he can to avoid these results.  He works with youths, tries to steer them on to the right path, even if, in this case, the villain he works for is a drug dealer, responsible for numerous killings.  Strange does not like him much but he likes the idea of the death penalty even less, thus his willingness to work for the drug king pin and his lawyer.

He has a buddy who works with him, Terry Quinn, who must live with guilty after having accidentally shot a fellow cop though he is later exonerated.  Strange finds himself in the middle of two gangs, both run by notorious drug dealers who will stop at nothing to keep their power and control. Like the TV show THE WIRE, this book describes the lives of these dealers, how they train the young uns, first as look outs on their bikes, later as runners in their teens, finally if they are still living, they become dealers, with cars and guns.  Needless to say, neither one of the gangs has much luck dealing with Strange, and four young runners end up shooting each other for no reason, and the chiefs also end up killing each other for a slight. Much ado about nothing. Strange has little luck with his client, the suggestion being that the system is rigged from the start for the black man; he has little hope of avoiding the path of drugs and death, yet Strange does his best to save lives one boy at a time.

The novel ends with him driving to Virginia, to a gun dealer store, who sells to anyone, in this case, this is the way most guns get in to DC where selling guns is illegal.  Derek brings a couple of gallons of gas with him, empties it on the gun shop at night, sets it on fire, and heads home to DC...one less place for the black youths to get their lethal weapons.  I was not into this book at first, not knowing much about Strange but I liked him more and more as the novel progressed, especially his understanding of intercity black culture.  I can see why he works with David Simon, creator of The Wire.  Both fill their works with the black man, black culture, good and bad.