George Pelecanos

Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, and worked at a variety of jobs before getting involved in the film industry. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and two children.

As a modern crime fiction author, Pelecanos is very much a descendant of the hard-boiled and noir schools. His style is tough and direct, in the best hard-boiled manner. All of his novels take place in Washington, D.C. and in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. His plots, however, do not involve the usual cadre of politicians or national intrigue, but instead depict the crimes and passions of the streets. All of his novels have received strong critical praise, although none have yet made the best sellers list.

Pelecanos worked as a producer for several films, including Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever (Susan Skoog, 1998), and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999). He was also the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation.

Most recently, Pelecanos gained notoriety was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO series, The Wire, which is set and produced in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2005 he was nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for his writing on the show. He was also a producer and writer on the Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg World War II miniseries The Pacific, which premiered on HBO in 2010.

His novel Right as Rain is currently in development with director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential and The River Wild) and Warner Brothers.