"He is among the finest ten or twelve novelists working in the U.S. today. . . . [a] Balzacian figure so intent upon rendering this nation's whole ramshackle, impossible urban life over the past half-century."
---James Sallis, from his introduction

"Pelecanos writes hard-boiled prose full of music and pain, like he just might be in charge of saving his characters' souls. The Big Blowdown is his `Once Upon a Time in D.C.'---a big book with drive and savagery, and elegance too."
---Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn

"A charged page-turner . . . With stylistic panache and forceful conviction, Pelecanos delivers a darkly powerful story of the American city."
---Publishers Weekly [starred review]

"Pelecanos's books get into your blood like a shot and a beer after a third shift. Definitely my favorite writer working today."
---Peter Farrelly, author of Outside Providence

"A snazzy Lincoln Zephyr of a novel."
---Les Whitten, Washington Post Book World

"Bold and broad-shouldered, a crime epic filled with passionate characters and the gritty life of the street. . . . Pelecanos lifted me from my chair and hurled me right into the mean D.C. streets of the 1950s. Bravo!"
---T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Blue Hour

"One of those writers whose books I would never miss."
---Harlan Ellison, author of Mephisto in Onyx

"To miss out on Pelecanos would be criminal."
---Barry Gifford, author of Wild at Heart