George Pelecanos and Derek Strange Tell “What It Was”
Press Release
Bestselling crime novelist George Pelecanos releases his latest Derek Strange novel, What It Was.
Tualatin, Oregon, January 1, 2012 – Since 2001, Derek Strange–the hard headed private detective–has faced a cadre of clever bad guys as he navigates the streets and culture that is Washington D.C.
About What It Was
In Pelecanos’s newest book, What It Was, it is 1972 and Derek Strange has recently left the D.C. police force and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank “Hound Dog” Vaughn is still on the force. Helping a new client recover a ring of some sentimental value, Strange steps into Vaughn’s case, where a local druggie has been murdered.
Soon both Strange and Vaughn are in hot pursuit of a cold-blooded killer known on the street as ‘Red Fury,” so called for his looks and the car his girlfriend drives. Red Fury doesn’t care who he has to kill – or cross – to get what he wants, and as the violence grows and the stakes get higher, strange and Vaughn know that the only way to catch their man is to do it ‘their way.’
George Pelecanos talks about Derek Strange on YouTube. Click here to watch the video.
“I am pleased to see Pelecanos return to the streets that earned him the Gumshoe Award in 2003,” tells John Hutchinson of VJ Books, “Hell to Pay is one of my favourite books, and I appreciate how What It Was tells some of the back story of how Derek Strange got started.” “It’s a great background for the other Strange novels, Right as Rain and Soul Circus,” adds Hutchinson. (more…)