Does for Washington, D.C., what Raymond Chandler did for LA. Strange takes us into the D.C. the tourists and politicians don't know: from neat rowhouse neighborhoods to the D.C. Central Detention Facility. The title, The Blue Flame, refers to the fact that Strange, an ex-cop, still has that burning cop curiosity. I hope it's never extinguished.
The Blue Flame operates in a mostly quiet register, and I read it as a book about aging, and about the tools still at your disposal when youth is a long-ago memory. This shouldn’t be your first Pelecanos novel — start with the D.C. Quartet — but it is a fitting return for both the character and the author.
Gritty, dark, violent ... Pelecanos’ realistic descriptions of life in the Black communities of Washington, DC, and his vividly depicted characters, authentic dialogue, and ability to infuse a story with both violence and warmth make this an outstanding read.
Instead of a big reveal, Pelecanos provides an unsettling view of Strange’s dealings with D.C. Metro Homicide as he digs beneath the smug skin of the nation’s capital. Eloquent testimony to the hero’s sense that 'there was no such thing as closure.'
