Hard Revolution (Derek Strange & Terry Quinn Series #4) » (Abridged, 4 Cassettes, 6 hours)

A devotee of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction, George P. Pelecanos has honed his street-smart style with a series of detective thrillers all set in the seamier corners of the D.C./Maryland/Virginia triangle.

With HARD REVOLUTION, George Pelecanos delivers the knockout punch his admirers have long awaited. Here is the rich, dramatic, and totally engrossing story of two brothers—one a rookie police officer, the other a recently returned Vietnam veteran—who come to blows in the year 1968, when DC exploded into chaos and violence. HARD REVOLUTION tells for the first time how Derek Strange first became a police officer, and what drove him to leave the force and become a private investigator. Filled with the rich details of time, place, music, and local color that are Pelecanos's trademark, and with unerring insight into the morality of daily life, HARD REVOLUTION is a gripping, modern Cane and Abel tale set against the backdrop of a nation at war with itself.

The New York Times

Hard Revolution is best appreciated in context, with the adult Derek Strange in sight. It offers a blunt introduction to this enduring character, and a potent one … Mr. Pelecanos writes clean, tight, cogent prose with a heartfelt urgency. However convenient the story's timing may be, it packs a serious punch. — Janet Maslin