The Martini Shot

  About the Author

  George Pelecanos is the author of several highly praised and bestselling novels, including The Double, The Cut, What It Was, The Way Home, The Turnaround, and The Night Gardener. He is also an independent-film producer, an essayist, and a producer and Emmy-nominated writer for the HBO series The Wire and Treme. He lives in Maryland.

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  Also by George Pelecanos

  The Double

  The Cut

  What It Was

  The Way Home

  The Turnaround

  The Night Gardener

  Drama City

  Hard Revolution

  Soul Circus

  Hell to Pay

  Right as Rain

  Shame the Devil

  The Sweet Forever

  King Suckerman

  The Big Blowdown

  Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go

  Shoedog

  Nick’s Trip

  A Firing Offense

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  The Confidential Informant

  Chosen

  String Music

  When You’re Hungry

  Miss Mary’s Room

  Plastic Paddy

  The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us

  The Martini Shot

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by George Pelecanos

  Newsletters

  Copyright

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2015 by Spartan Productions, Inc.

  Cover design by Oliver Munday

  Cover photograph copyright © John Springer Collection / Corbis

  Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Author photograph by Thibaut de Corday

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First ebook edition: January 2015

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  “When You’re Hungry” first appeared in Unusual Suspects (Vintage Crime, 1996); “String Music” first appeared in Murder at the Foul Line (Mysterious Press, 2006); “The Confidential Informant” first appeared in D.C. Noir (Akashic Books, 2006); “The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us” first appeared in Measures of Poison (Dennis McMillan Publications, 2002); “Plastic Paddy” first appeared in Men from Boys (William Heinemann Ltd., 2003); “Chosen” first appeared in the ebook edition of The Cut (Reagan Arthur Books, 2011).

  ISBN 978-0-316-28439-4

  E3