Stories open D.C.’s heart of darkness

  • By Holly E. Thomas / The Washington Post
  • Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:00pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Find out what evil lurks in the heart of Washington in “D.C. Noir” (Akashic Books, $14.95). The book, released Wednesday, is the sixth in a series of noir anthologies set in various cities around the world.

George Pelecanos, author of the best-selling Derek Strange novels, edited the anthology, which includes works by 16 writers with local ties, including known authors such as James Grady and Kenji Jasper. Other tales come from amateur scribes: actor Robert Wisdom from HBO’s “The Wire”; police officer Quintin Peterson; and Lester Irby, a 1970s bank robber who wrote his story while incarcerated.

“I tried to pick authors that could represent every part of the city, every person who lives here,” Pelecanos says. “Even though we have authors like James Grady, I also wanted other people who aren’t household names but who deserve to be published.”

From the Chevy Chase, Md., housewife who commits a shocking act in Laura Lippman’s “A.R.M. and the Woman,” to the watchful bum protecting Georgetown street vendors in Robert Andrew’s “Solomon’s Alley,” the tome offers a startling glimpse into the cityscape’s darkest corners. If you’re new to noir, 16 stories’ worth of gritty desperation might get tiresome, but fans of the genre will find enough solid writing, palpable tension and surprise endings to keep them reading.

“We couldn’t have noir stories from Palm Beach, where the sun is always shining and there’s no crime,” Pelecanos says. “But in D.C., we have our share of conflict, from street crime to business crime to internal conflicts. It happens, even in places like Chevy Chase.”

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