In some twenty mystery-thrillers, Pelecanos has created unforgettable and utterly human characters, placed them in situations offering no obvious right choices, and has illuminated the life of D.C. neighborhoods better than any sociology text could. In his latest novel, he follows Michael Hudson from prison, where he read voraciously, to his sudden release into a gentrified Washington. As Michael struggles to pay his debt to the man who helped free him and to find his place in this new city, he finds that the one thing that hasn’t changed is the allure of crime. Washington’s favorite mystery writer, Pelecanos is also an independent film producer, and a producer and Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series The Wire, Treme, and The Deuce.