Customer Reviews

The Big Blowdown

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans of George Pelecanos will not be disappointed in this excellent novel. Set in D.C. during the years just before and after WWII, his familiar cast of characters inhabit a world of hope and violence that somehow seems appropriate to the American Dream. The plot is engaging and believable, the action is fast paced, and the character portrayals are as satisfying as a reader could want. This is a great story of friendship, betrayal and flawed redemption. Much more than just a 'crime novel' (and this is true of his other books as well) The Big Blowdown evokes a time when everthing seemed possible, from great success to 'the Big Blowdown' (atomic annihilation) and tells the story a few immigrant kids whose future turns out to be quite different from any they would have imagined.

Reading a Pelecanos book always leaves me feeling as though I had touched a piece of real life. This book has the added appeal of touching a real piece of time gone by as well. Very satisfying. I highly recommend it.

We follow the fortunes of Peter Karras, a Greek American living in Washington DC, before, during and after World War II. After coming out of the war a hero, Karras, along with his childhood friend Joe Recevo, finds himself drifting along, occasionally providing muscle for the Mafia in their protection rackets. When Karras makes the mistake of showing leniency towards one of his boss's "clients", it's inevitable that he has to be taught a (painful) lesson. The story is ultimately a commentary on how the two friends deal with the different directions their lives have taken, particularly when their paths cross again.

The mood of the time and place are captured with remarkable vividness. Even the street noises are described in such a way that it almost feels as if we are there watching the drama unfold in front of us. I feel this is the defining novel for George Pelecanos and a must read for Pelecanos fans. I can't recommend it highly enough without appearing to gush, so I'll just say that it's a fantastic piece of American literature that manages to capture the 40's very nicely.

This was the first Pelecanos book I read, almost by accident. When I was done, I was completely satisfied and hooked on this writer. This is set in the '40s, around the Washington DC and Maryland area, and I loved the history, the subtle ways of establishing place and time and community through dialogue and action. It is a very character driven novel, the best type, right on the edge of what a crime novel is considered to be. I'm grateful to see Pelecanos joining the ranks of those writers who are pushing the envelope in crime writing. This novel is more the story of the life of a man who attracted violence more than about the violence itself. Great, great work.

I read this book, along with Suckerman, after reading interesting article on Pelecanos on Washington City Paper and I was not disappointed. Excellent plotline and rich characterizations of immigrants and others in 1930s and 40s Washington. Pelecanos captures the feel of the streets, the diners, organized crime, and the sordid side of life like no one else I've read. I highly recommend this book.

Pelecanos continues to amaze me. The thing that particularly struck me about this book was the way he is able to transfer his scene writing skills to an earlier era. He's just as effective in putting the reader in a scene in the 1940's as he is in writing more modern material. Other than that, this book is just what I've come to expect from this author: great character development with complex personalities, gritty people and places, a twisting, hard story that truly holds your interest, etc.

I particularly liked the way the author worked World War II service into the lives of these characters, along with the fear of the big bomb being dropped on Washington, D.C. Also, as usual, the good guys are not even close to being all good and not everything turns out OK in the end.

Let me just sum up my thoughts on this book and this writer like this: If you think you like crime fiction and you're not reading everything Pelecanos has written, it's your loss.

An excellent book. As one reader put it, 'I love this period piece.' As I had conversations with my father about his growing up in New York, it always seemed to me that this was a cool period to hang out in, the '40s and the early '50's. Life is easier now but it doesn't seem as much fun. Spend a few minutes watching MTV and suits yelling at eachother on Fox, and tell me about the shortcomings of radio.

Anyhow, it has it's dark side. Imagine my surprise when I learned as a young man that the Cole Porter lyrics "I get no kick from champagne, mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all, so tell me why should it be true, that I get a kick out of you?" was originally written as 'I get no kick from cocaine.' And here I thought my generation invented it.

The problem is that Pete Karras is such a self centered, self absorbed hero, you have trouble liking him. And I still think that whether it's Odysseus, Shane, 'the Man with No Name,' the Harrys, Callahan and Bosch, or Jack Reacher, you have to like the hero a little. Pete Karras? If I lived next door to him I would move.

I like that the Pelecanos characters have clay feet. Don't we all? But Karras the father (see Dimitri in later novels) did nothing for me. I prefer for reasons that I can't explain given Pelecanos' heritage, the African American characters that evolve with Derek Strange and now, Lorenzo Brown. So this is in no way a knock on George, who together with his brilliant work screenwriting parts on The Wire, continues to put out top shelf stories. Definitely 5 stars +. Larry Scantlebury

I really liked this book. It is a perfect example of its genre -- hardboiled, 40s style, film noir, tough-guy-with-no-heart-of-gold fiction. I have lived in the DC area for over 30 years so I especially appreciated the geographical nuance. There is much more to this city than politics, media and sex. There is crime, gangs and sex, too. Pelecanos knows this intuitively and gives the reader a great ride thru the "seamy underbelly" of Washington, DC. Pelecanos has a keen understanding of the racial dynamics of the city in the 30s and 40s, which pervades our lives today. Overall, this is a really good story well told. I can't wait to read another of his books.

Pelecanos continues to deliver the goods, this time stepping back even further in time from his earlier books--the novel stretches from immediately before WWII, interweaves the characters' experiences in the war, and tells a sordid tale of ruined lives in postwar D.C.

The author continues his trademark use of very specific places and period music, and once again creates flawed but wonderful characters and believable situations. The violence still has the capacity to shock and the reader really feels for the characters. This is as gripping and intense as anything he has written and I highly recommend it.

George Pelecanos' early work is hit-or-miss. This book is a perfect example of that statement. The plot is good and the characters are straight out of any good detective story. However, other elements such as mood and dialogue aren't as sharp here as they become in his later works. This book is a good example of where Pelecanos came from as a writer -- not what he has become.

Following WWII, Pete Karras and his friend Joe Recevo return home to Washington D.C. to find that the best money to be made comes from working as collectors for the local crime boss. But it's a job that Joe finds himself better suited for than Pete does. One night, after Pete goes soft with one of the men he's supposed to strong-arm, Joe is forced to abandon Pete so that their boss can mete out his punishment.

A couple of years later, Pete, left with a permanently useless knee, works as a short-order cook at a restaurant owned by Nick Stefanos - a central character in four previous Pelecanos novels. Their paths cross again when Joe and his gang enter Stefanos's restraunt to extort protection money from him. Nick and his team are not the types to be pushed around, and the events that follow are classic Pelacanos.

One of the things that I enjoy the most about Pelecanos's books is the way he ties them all together. He doesn't use the same character over and over as the main protagonist. For example, in The Big Blowdown, Pete Karras and his wife have an infant son, Dimitri, who grows up to become a central character in King Suckerman. Pelecanos is a compelling storyteller whose characters are flawed, but who I couldn't help but care about.