The Martini Shot

A Novella and Stories

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By George Pelecanos

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Short stories and a novella from one of crime fiction’s most revered writers.

Whether they’re cops or conmen, savage killers or creative types, gangsters or God-fearing citizens, George Pelecanos’ characters are always engaged in a fight for their lives. They fight to advance or simply to survive; they fight against odds, against enemies, even against themselves. In this, his first collection of stories, the acclaimed novelist introduces readers to a vivid and eclectic cast of combatants.

A seasoned claims investigator tracks a supposedly dead man from Miami to Brazil, only to be thrown off his game by a kid from the local slum. An aging loser takes a last stab at respectability by becoming a police informant. A Greek-American couple adopts an interracial trio of sons and then struggles to keep their family together, giving us a stirring bit of background on one of Pelecanos’ most beloved protagonists, Spero Lucas. In the title novella – which takes its name from Hollywood slang for the last shot of the day, the one that comes before the liquor shots begin – we go behind the scenes of a television cop show, where a writer gets caught up in a drama more real than anything he could have conjured for a script.

By turns heartbreaking and humane, brutal and funny, these finely constructed tales expose the violence and striving beneath the surface of any city and within any human heart. Tough, sexy, fast-paced, and crackling with energy, The Martini Shot is Pelecanos at his very best.

Genre:

  • Praise for THE DOUBLE:

    "It's astonishing all the good stuff Pelecanos can pack into one unpretentious book that make the story so rich."
    Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
  • "Pelecanos at his best...The Cut crackles with energy."
    Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer
  • "Every time I read one of George Pelecanos's novels, I'm left a little awed...The guy's a national treasure."
    Dennis Lehane
  • "A lean, swift, atmospheric detective novel...The Cut is a resourceful and notably original work the delivers the thrills of an action movie and the poignancy of fine storytelling."
    Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

On Sale
Mar 15, 2016
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Back Bay Books
ISBN-13
9780316284387

George Pelecanos

About the Author

GEORGE PELECANOS is the author of twenty-two novels and story collections set in and around Washington, DC, and has been the recipient of numerous international writing awards. He is a screenwriter, essayist, and television writer/producer whose credits include The Wire, Treme, The Deuce, and We Own This City. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

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