The Sweet Forever by George P. Pelecanos

It's 1986, 10 years after the Bicentennial events of King Suckerman, so a woman in her 30s wears a Susanna Hoffs-style haircut "from the cover of the 'All Over the Place' album, not the redone look off the new LP." Dimitri, after a brief career as a teacher, is now working full-time for his friend Marcus's expanded chain of four Real Right record stores; he drives a BMW 325 and wears his graying hair moussed and spiked. (He also snorts more cocaine than Al Pacino did in Scarface, one of several films used as icons here.) The doomed basketball star Len Bias--just finishing his college career and about to sign a huge deal with the Boston Celtics--is on TV screens everywhere, admired equally by the former local hoops hero Clay and a conflicted cop named Kevin Murphy who has misplaced his moral compass. The complicated, satisfying plot involves $25,000 stolen from a drug dealer; several children in peril; smart adults who screw up their lives in dumb ways; and the speed with which violence festers and explodes in unexpected directions. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
It's March madness. And the college boys are playing basketball on TV. But on the streets of D.C., the homeboys are dealing, dissing, dying. From behind plate glass, with an 80s backbeat pounding in his brain, Marcus Clay watches it all happen, and prays that he can make a go with his downtown record store. Then a car comes careening down U Street. And what Marcus sees next will plunge him into the middle of a war.

A drug runner is decapitated in the crash. A bystander--a white boy desperate to buy a woman's love--snatches a bag of cash from the wreck. And a prince of crime wants it back. . . . For Marcus's buddy, Dimitri Karras, the mayhem is a chance to make a score. For a pair of dirty cops it's a chance to get free. And for dozens of lives swept up into the maelstrom, it's just another springtime in America's capital, where the game is played for keeps . . .

Reader Reviews
sex, drugs, rock & roll ... perhaps the best from Pelecanos?, October 20, 2003 Reviewer: lazza from London 'The Sweet Forever' is one of several novels from Pelecanos based in urban Washington, this time in the mid-1980s. The city is an absolute mess; violence, drugs and corruption reign supreme. In this backdrop Pelecanos weaves a story of inter-racial strife, heartbreak, disillusionment, and despair. Yes, this books packs it all in without appearing to be forced, preachy, or sentimental. While most books from Pelecanos sort of delve into these areas in one way or another 'The Sweet Forever' really succeeds in every way. [As you can tell, I really liked it. :-)] But the book isn't perfect. Without trying to explain its somewhat complex and interwoven story let me just say the ending seems to fit together just a bit too nicely. I would have liked a least one loose end, which would a been a better reflection of reality. The ending wasn't disappointing, but rather it could have been just a bit more powerful. Bottom line: my favorite so far from Pelecanos after reading nearly of his books. Strongly recommended.