Customer Reviews

A Firing Offense

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although the first of the Nick Stefano books, I read this one after the other two (Nick's Trip and Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go), and it's probably a good thing I did too. I probably never would have continued on through the series if I had have read this one first. It is easily the weakest of the Stefano books. It lacks direction for a good 90% of the book and only really starts to hot up for the finale and the reveals. Like the other books, Nick Stefano and his friends indulge in mind-blowing quantities of both alcohol and marijuana. Unfortunately, the focus was mostly on these excesses rather than trying to solve the problem at hand, which was to find a former co-worker who appeared to have been kidnapped.

For completeness sake, by all means read this book, but really, it isn't necessary before going on to the next in the series, Nick's Trip, which I felt was a more enjoyable and entertaining story.

I liked it because it was a good snapshot of a man trying to get away from his past and start a new life. However, I only need to read about a few beers and drinks and drugs and I get the idea... after a while it gets pretty boring reading the laundry list of drink and drugs Nick is going through. Even at only 216 pages it could have been trimmed down. He definitely has to learn how to portray women in general and his love interests specifically. It was almost like he added them later to create tension, but didn't flesh them out at all.

Otherwise, I though it was a well written, suspenseful mystery with a few twists. I would buy it at a discount (which I did), but don't pay full price.

When I started reading Pelecanos, it began with "Right As Rain" after seeing him at a book signing in Philadelphia a few years ago. After that reading experience, I knew I had to read some more of his books so I turned to his Nick Stefanos' series. Someone suggested I read them in chronological order as opposed to the order in which he wrote them. Based on that recommendation, I began with The Big Blowdown, which takes place in the 1930's and 1940's. I thought this book was phenomenal. Chronologically, the next three books were King Suckerman, which takes place in 1976, The Sweet Forever, which takes place in 1986 and A Firing Offense which takes place in the early 1990's -- all of which I've now read.

But here is my problem...does Pelecanos write these books only to attract a male audience? I've gotten this feeling with each of these books since there's always some inside male jokes, references to sport's figures and trivia that only guys would know, gratuitous and gritty sex and over the top drinking and drug binges. All of the characters are trying to be so cooler than cool. They don't just leave a tip....they "drop a twenty on a fifteen dollar tab." The first time Pelecanos writes this, it's clever...by the fifth or sixth time, it's old already.

I'm sure this will incite Pelecanos' fans but I mean this sincerely when I say that "I am a fan." I just wish he wouldn't be so exclusive of the opposite sex when he writes. I can understand that he's probably a real man's man -- the kind of guy other guys want to hang out with. But I want to join the party and I get the feeling with these last three books I've read that it's an "all boy's club" and I'm not invited.

Other reviewers have said that The Firing Offense is one of the weaker books in the series. I thought the story was strong and definitely sets the scene for Nick Stefanos' entry into the private eye industry. He gets the bug after he's asked by a young man's grandfather to help him find his grandson who is missing. Since the boy, Jimmy Pence, was just canned by Nutty Nathan's, it seems like a good match that the grandfather has asked for Nick's help as Nick is the advertising director at the same company.

This book will find Nick going back to one of the stores and selling TV's and microwaves from the sales floor with his old friend Johnny McGinnes. They will then travel south together in search of Jimmy until a light goes off in Nick's head leading him to figure out what's been going on behind the scenes at this electronics' company.

So I'm not giving up on Pelecanos....I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. Next up for me is Nick's Trip, which takes place in the later 1990's, until I finally get to Shame The Devil, taking place in 1998. A book friend of mine, who's a huge Pelecanos fan (a guy of course), says that this one will bring me to tears. I'd like to see Pelecanos be able to do that to me. It would prove that there's not all hardness behind that pen of his.

Given that this is the author's first book and that it might not be quite as polished as later work, should you read this book? My answer is: yes, definitely. In fact, I'd recommend that you read this as your second Pelecanos book. I'd recommend The Big Blowdown as your first because it is set in an earlier period. There are some key characters in this book who show up in later works and I would have enjoyed having read this for background about them.

Generally, this book has the standard qualities I love in this author's work - gritty crime stories, interesting characters and great scene development. Besides that, this book would be worth reading for the Johnny McGinnes character alone. He's a sidekick rather than a main player, but he is one wild and crazy and hugely entertaining guy. Check him and this book out if you like crime fiction. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

"A Firing Offense" introduces us to Nick Stefanos, a man who just turned thirty and is unhappy with his life's choices. Perhaps as a way of rebelling, he stumbles on a new profession, private detective. Stefanos inhabits those potions of Washington D.C. that tourists never see. The seedy neighborhoods, the wild club scene and the party culture. Though the scene he describes has changed quite a bit since this book was first published (the clubs he mentions are for the most part long gone and WHFS radio has gone from hip to coporate bland), the prose is riveting and immediate. Nick and his friends are people with problems, and just like real life, things are not going to turn out all right. The violent climax is explosive; and then there's a slow fade, like the aftermath of a love act.

Overall, this is a fine introduction to a gritty private detective series that, so far, unfortunately only includes three novels.

'A Firing Offense', as judged by many amazon.com reviewers, is not the most thrilling of crime novels by Pelecanos. In fact the criminal aspect of this story, which only comes to light towards the end (..no spoilers), is somewhat thin. However this book simply oozes with atmosphere. 1980s wasted youth, drug culture, with the lead character (Nick Stephanos) definitely in a "desperately seeking something" mode. I felt transported back in time to a different place. There is something also of a Jack Kerouac feel to it also as much of the book takes place on the road.

Bottom line: perhaps not a stellar Pelecanos novel but I enjoyed the ride. Recommended.

As a big fan of crime fiction I am always on the look out for new authors, and I was very happy to come across the new printing of this book. The main character, Nick Stefanos, is relatively three dimensional for this genre and likeable and the settings are realistic and believable. I have since bought the two further novels in this trilogy and 2 chapters into the sequel its looking good! If you are a fan of Elmore Leonard or James Crumley type crime fiction then you will almost certainly enjoy this book.

George Pelecanos's novel A FIRING OFFENSE introduces private detective-in-the-making, Nick Stefanos. Nick is a thirty-something advertising director for Nutty Nathan's, an electronics chain store. He is responsible for buying advertising space from newspapers and radio stations and providing the necessary copy and art for the store's ads. He is good at his job even though he feels he is at a dead end. This changes when he meets James Pence.

James Pence is searching for his grandson, Jimmy Broda, who used to work at one of the Nutty Nathan's in Washington, D.C. He has been gone for three weeks and no one has heard from him. He is hoping that Nick might be able to find out what happened to Jimmy. Nick feels a certain kinship to Broda and he feels that he needs to try to find him. Nick goes to work at the store Jimmy used to work for and gets involved in a drug-smuggling operation.

Pelecanos's tries to show the gritty side of Washington, D.C by focusing on the youth who live and work in the city. The employees at Nutty Nathan's show contempt and disrespect for the customers they serve. They lie and trick them and get drunk and stoned during business hours and they find ways to screw their customers. Nick gets involved with skinheads and the punk culture as it is in the early nineties when the story takes place. This book might not be every person's cup of tea but it takes more than one book to achieve a following.

This is the first Nick Stefanos mystery and it is great. Pelecanos really fools arouind with the conventions of the genre, making Stefanos and ex-salesman, who turns PI. when he does the plot doesn't get too complicated, and revolves aroudn a business that Pelecanos knows well. This is a perfect example of writing about what you know. The pages turn and the story envelopes you. I suggest you try this book as your first Pelecanos and then move on. This sets them all up. A great novel.

This first book in the "Nick Stefanos" series is definately a guy book: lots of drinking and drugs, fistfights, all-night drives, hamburgers, and sex on the couch. Excellent descriptions and some fine writing, to be sure, but a little more author's energy spent on character development would have helped me relate to Nick and his buddies, and actually invest some energy in caring what happened to them.

"A Firing Offense" is a good story, however, and one well worth reading if you like action and plot.