"A taut thriller"

Working for the Aiding Prostitutes in Peril non-profit organization, Montgomery County sleuths Karen Bagley and Sue Tracey specialize in locating teenage runaways. They hire DC private detective Derek Strange to help them with cases in the District. After proving his worth to his retainers, Derek and his partner Terry Quinn are sent to bring in fourteen-year-old Germantown runaway Jennifer from the cold mean streets of the city.

While Terry works the child prostitution case, Derek has a more personal vendetta to handle. Someone(s) killed the quarterback of the Pee Wee football team that Derek coaches while the kid was at an ice cream stand. At the same time Derek anguishes over the lad's murder, his longtime lover is all over him for his frequent visits to the massage parlor.

No one describes the neighborhoods of Washington DC better than George Pelecanos who take his audience on quite a vivid tour of the other side of Washington. The two subplots are well written and exciting, but the action is the streets of the city, homicide hot even on a wintry night. The characters are believable and make the story line sing while augmenting Mr. Pelecanos tour guide of the nation's capital. Fans of gritty urban investigative tales will want to read HELL TO PAY and its predecessor RIGHT AS RAIN because these are some of the best the sub-genre offer.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 20, 2002