The Night Gardener is the only George Pelacanos book that I've read. It has a good story, especially if you like your mysteries to have a hard edge.
But there is one thing that is so distracting that I am having a hard time enjoying the book, and it is this:
Ramone,
Romeo,
Rhonda,
Ramirez,
Rudy,
Red,
Rogers,
Randolph (aka Randy),
Regina,
Robert,
Ronald,
Richard,
Richards,
Raymond,
Raynella, and
Ray
Those are all characters in the book! Apparently Pelacanos's random name generator got stuck on R. The hero goes by Ramone, a main bad guy is Romeo; the hero's wife is Regina, his partner is Rhonda. It is really confusing. And now I am more consumed with finding "R" names than I am with the plot.