The Way Home by George P. PelecanosMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I am a lucky man. I know that. I live a quiet life, relatively normal and straight.
But I know there is another world out there, even in the quiet and calm of The Green Mountain state. People who live lives with no purpose or with malice in their hearts.
"The Way Home" shows a little bit of that world in and around Washington, DC. A teenage boy's life goes off the tracks and takes the lives of his family with him. Even as he tries to straighten things out, a decade later as a young man, his old reality crashes in on him.
A few years ago, Stephen King, in his column in Entertainment Weekly, recommended another of Pelecanos novels which I read and enjoyed. That one was a bit of a crime/mystery/thriller if I remember properly.
I saw this at the library and picked it up. Not the sort of book I usually read...more a slice of life story rather than the "incredulity straining fiction" I really enjoy but worth the time to read. I am going to read some of Pelecanos' other books sooner rather than later.
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A fine choice! Many of his books are grouped to tell multiple tales with the same characters:
ReplyDeleteNick Stefanos Series
* A Firing Offense (1992)
* Nick's Trip (1993)
* Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995)
D.C. Quartet Series
* The Big Blowdown (1996)
* King Suckerman (1997)
* The Sweet Forever (1998)
* Shame the Devil (2000)
Derek Strange and Terry Quinn Series
* Right as Rain (2001)
* Hell to Pay (2002)
* Soul Circus (2003)
* Hard Revolution (2004)
You can't go wrong with any of them, but the D.C. Quartet Series is my favorite, as each book is a snapshot of the characters, and the city, in a particular decade.
Just finished "Hard Revolution"....brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI need to pace out the others but am chomping at the bit to get into them.