The Double, George Pelecanos

The next in the series on Spero Lucas – an ex-Marine, investigator in DC, who takes 40% of recovering stolen property – usually cases that involve the criminal underworld. Lucas is usually a man who gets what he wants – whether it's taking down a criminal or being with a woman he finds attractive… even if it’s a married woman who seduces him. Lucas’s main job in this book is to retrieve a valuable painting that was stolen from a woman by her ex-boyfriend. This leads Lucas back into the territory of career criminals – all who have nothing to lose. Lucas’s specialty – find what’s missing and get it back to his client… but do it quietly. This time though, Lucas’s dark side – a side we all have, begins to unravel him and he takes everything to its ultimate limit. Dialogue is authentic; situations and circumstances are real; the next best thing to riding along with Lucas as his partner. As usual, Pelacanos tells it like it is, which in life is never episodically straightforward.