George Pelecanos’ The Cut reviewed by Conor Tannam

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May 162012

George Pelecanos has previously worked as a line cook, bartender, dishwasher, and shoe salesman. He has also achieved considerable critical success since the publication of his debut novel in 1992, and especially since his involvement as a writer on HBO’s seminal show The Wire. His books are known for their snappy dialogue and social commentary, which may be why Esquire magazine refers to him as the ‘poet laureate of the D.C. crime world’. On such an esteemed background the launch of a new detective series based in Washington ought to be cause for considerable excitement. Unfortunately, The Cut does not quite attain the high standard of Pelecanos’ best.

Spero Lucas is an Iraq war veteran who has carved out a living as an investigator for a defence lawyer. He’s 29, athletic, and, like so many of the author’s characters, has a penchant for soul music, which allows his author to smoothly segue into the story’s soundtrack, a chorus in counterpoint to his Greek descent and family relationships. When an incarcerated crime boss hires him to investigate a case of theft, Spero is soon embroiled in a world of guns, violence, and drugs. His interactions with two young drug dealers point to the futility of the war on drugs, an idea that Pelecanos has expounded at length throughout his career.

There is much to be admired in The Cut. Sections of the dialogue show Pelecanos at his best. Spero’s elder brother Leo, is a teacher and their conversations are familiar to anyone who has ever quarrelled with a sibling: “’He’s already grown Ma,’ said Spero, passing the orzo to Leo. He’s not gonna get taller if he eats more, he’s just gonna get fat’ … ‘That’s all muscle back there,’ said Leo. ‘That’s why I can’t wear those skinny Levis like you do. I got a man’s build.’” Such moments of domesticity are a trusted staple of Pelecanos’ character development, and once again they provide welcome relief from the genre’s tired and wired stereotypes in their cycles of gratuitous violence. When he even offers up a few choice reading references, Pelecanos is in his element, never more so than when Spero’s brother gets to read Elmore Leonard as a homework assignment.

In short, The Cut has much to celebrate, but several factors cloud if not collapse the central story arc. For instance, sections of the book read like an advertisement for Apple’s Iphone, and since Spero is so conspicuous in his overuse of the phone, the Hollywood product placement eventually eclipses his surveillance work. What is worse, while the novel’s main villain is suitably despicable, we never get the sense that he or his nefarious underlings might pose a viable threat to the war veteran. This comes as the actual surprise, since most of Pelecanos’ previous novels threatened their far from invincible protagonists with a violent dénouement. The absence of such ambiguity finally leads to another absence – that of his trademark tense atmosphere. Here’s hoping that the sequel drops the dross and picks up the pace.

Posted by Len Wanner at 7:47 pm Tagged with: , ,

George Pelecanos’ ‘The Way Home’ reviewed by Donal Tannam

Reviews No Responses »
Jul 222011

As a younger man your reviewer often bought Long Playing records purely on the strength of reviews in the New Musical Express or Empire magazine. Sometimes disappointment followed and sometimes the record in question did not figure highly in the same publication’s end of year list of best albums released in the previous 12 month period. It is often safer to review on mature reflection even though the popular press and public obviously demand a review close to the time of release.

In the case of George Pelecanos The Way Home at least four or five fictional novels have passed my way since so I think I am in a safe position to give a review that I can stand over in 5 or 10 years’ time. The novels I have read since are by some of my favourite authors (Ed McBain, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Stephen King) and so it is understandable that some of the details of The Way Home have since slipped my mind. But I still remember clearly the emotions that the novel stirred in me and the way I was almost reluctant to finish it for fear of the literary void which would follow.

In this post MTV, Twitter generation it is probably fair to say (though not necessarily fair in itself!) that Pelecanos is as famous for his work with TV series The Wire as he is for his substantial catalogue of novels. As I believe that anyone who reads two or three of his novels is either converted already or beyond conversion by my humble efforts, I will address the next few lines to the uninitiated. If you watch The Wire without fast-forwarding to the infrequent but shocking outbursts of sudden violence, or without falling asleep (!), then this book is for you.

We know that The Wire is peopled by some genuine ex-criminals which helps promote the sense of authenticity, and although I really have no hard evidence (as I live in Ireland), the characters in The Way Home ring equally true to me. The main characters in the novel are an Irish-American father and son, both about the same age, respectively, as myself and my own son. We both loved the novel and both related to the characters in it. Pelecanos can still remember what it felt like to be a teenager kicking back in a friend’s automobile, and he obviously can write about a father’s emotions with an equal ring of truth.

The Way Home may not be quite a crime novel in the same way as The Wire can have entire episodes with little or no obvious action, but there is a crime or two lurking within the pages. There is also a moral dilemma for the son who, after doing his time for teenage transgressions, finds a stash of loot in the course of his straight time. As he says himself “I’ve seen this movie before” and although we know that if the stash stays put there will be no real action, we are rooting for the kid to do the right thing. This criminal stash is the first and only plot cliché in this marvelous novel and things take unexpected turns after the find.

Again from a personal perspective, your reviewer has only recently started using a mobile ‘phone but I have started to store names in the Contacts section with a preface as to what their status is. In the novel, the boy is laying carpets for his father’s firm in an effort to go straight and one of his clients enters his number under the Contact name: Chris Carpet. This renaming of the character is a delicious device which enables a character in the future to pin-point the means by which the villains traced Chris “Carpet”. And yes, although this is at times a novel about family, redemption and personal moral choices, Pelecanos has as usual provided a pair of delightfully decadent villains for us to hiss and boo at.

There will be no further plot giveaways in this review; all I can say is treat yourself to some quality time with The Way Home. Maybe it’s because I am growing older with the author, but I believe he is maturing wonderfully as a writer and creating characters that live and breathe for as long as the book is in your hands. The critics tend to agree with me and have waxed lyrical about his most recent publications. The Way Home is definitely one of his best ever, if not the best. Ask me again in five years!

Posted by Len Wanner at 9:51 am Tagged with: ,
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