George Pelecanos: 30 books

In the summer of 1976, the nation's capital is gearing up for the Bicentennial. Captain Beefheart's on the eight-track, and the hot new film "King Suckerman" has everyone talking. Two knockaround guys named Clay and Karras are out looking for trouble when they stumble onto a drug deal gone...

From "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world" ("Esquire") comes this powerful early novel, now available in paperback for the first time--the noirish story of how a Washington, D.C., liquor store heist shows a drifter named Constantine what it means to be a shoedog. Martin's Press.