Nick's Trip [Paperback]

George P. Pelecanos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1999 | Series: A Five Star Title

The second title in the Nick Stefanos series. Pelecanos is hot.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This hip and sometimes nasty booze-dope-and-good-times tale follows A Firing Offense, the first appearance of Washington, D.C., sleuth Nick Stefanos. It offers breezy, slightly uneven entertainment and some well-aimed criticism of the current music scene. Nick tends bar at the Spot, makes athletic love with his girlfriend, Lee, and agrees to impregnate his lesbian pal Jackie as a favor. Then a former road-trip buddy named Billy shows up at the Spot one night and announces that his wife is missing, as is $200,000 that belongs to a minor-league numbers runner. Nick trails the wife to the backwoods south of the city, where a mean former lover of hers slaughters pigs for kicks and a living. Then the father of the numbers runner gives Nick an unexpected lead in the unsolved murder of his journalist pal, William Henry. A cast of sharply etched minor characters, including a liquored-up, burned-out cop who plays a part in the credible, sobering conclusion, adds to the pleasures offered by the offbeat Nick, with his gruff sensibilities and fine taste in women and music.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Two cases for D.C. shamus Nick Stefanos, who's left his job at Nutty Nathan's (A Firing Offense, 1992) to patrol the bar at the Spot. First, his high-school friend Billy Goodrich walks in and asks him to find his wife April, who he says skedaddled with small-time crime boss Joey DiGeordano. Wrong: April actually rode off into the southern Maryland sunset with hog farmer/bondage freak Tommy Crane and, it turns out, with $200,000 of DiGeordano family money. In between boozy car trips with Billy, present and remembered, Nick finds time to reopen the murder of William Henry, his reporter friend killed because he was learning too much about a trio of pizza kings--and to impregnate his lesbian friend Jackie Kahn, who's decided it's time for a baby. Pelecanos's retake on The Long Goodbye requires Nick to shed the snakelike charm he showed in his debut in favor of a more modish lament for things past, and the split between separate cases doesn't make the book any stronger. But there are still some great scenes, great people, and great background music. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail (September 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852427140
• ISBN-13: 978-1852427146
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George P. Pelecanos was born in Washington, DC in 1957. His first novel was published in 1992 and alongside his consequential success as an author, he has also worked as producer, writer and story editor for the acclaimed and award-winning US crime series, The Wire. His writing for the show earned him an Emmy nomination.

He is the author of fifteen crime novels set in and around Washington, DC. The Big Blowdown was the recipient of the International Crime Novel of the Year award in both Germany and Japan; King Suckerman was shortlisted for the Gold Dagger Award in the UK. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire and the collections Unusual Suspects and Best American Mystery Stories of 1997. He is an award-winning journalist and pop-culture essayist who has written for the Washington Post.

Pelecanos can also claim credit for involvement in the production of several feature films. Most recently, as a screenwriter for film, he has written an adaptation of King Suckerman for Dimension Films, and was co-writer on the Paid in Full.

His novel Right as Rain is currently in development with director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, Wonder Boys) and Warner Brothers. He is a writer on the upcoming World War II miniseries The Pacific, to be produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and HBO. Pelecanos lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three children. He is at work on his next novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nick Ain't Happy, January 11, 2001

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nick's Trip (Paperback)

The three Nick Stefanos mysteries (of which this is the second) follow the linear descent of their hero from rebellious career stiff to hard drinking private eye to hopeless alcoholic. Along the way, Nick bares his soul more completely than do most first person narrative P.I.'s. His stories are also among the most darkly violent and gritty that I've come across in the genre. "Nick's Trip" is better than "A Firing Offense," the first Stefanos book, if only because it is more plausible and more focussed. Along the way, Nick reunites with an old friend who has become an obnoxious yuppie and whose wife has disappered. He also manages to lose his girlfriend and become a surrogate father. The whole book has an overwhelming feeling of lonliness to it, like a late night country song. It is definately NOT for readers of light mainstream fiction.

Overall, a must read for fans of authors such as James Crumley and Andrew Vachss and anyone else who likes their P.I. fiction truly hard boiled.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not His Best, June 25, 2006

By 

Andrew Simmons (Fresno, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nick's Trip (Paperback)

I am a fan of Pelecanos' novels. He is one of the best mystery writers around. His stories are character driven, well written, and full of atmosphere. So what's wrong with Nick's Trip? There's too much trip. We spend too much time driving around and drinking and slumming in sleazy bars. Now in real life that's fun, but in the novel it eventually gets boring. One scene reminds us of another, one bar smells like another, one morning-after feels like another, and eventually we beg Pelecanos to stop the car and let us out. Nick's Trip is a good novel, better than a lot of other mystery novels out there, but it's not Pelecanos' best.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Average P.I., June 15, 2001

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nick's Trip (Paperback)

Nick Stefanos is a private eye who helps make ends meet by working behind the bar at a place called the Spot. An old buddy from school tracks him down and asks him to find his wife. While working the case we are continually taken back to Nick's youth as he remembers old friends and family. The storyline lurches from chapter to chapter. One minute he's working on the case in search of a missing woman, the next he's running down leads about a murdered friend leaving us to make the necessary mental adjustments.

Nick's a hard-drinking, hard-smoking bloke who's marching to the beat of his own drummer. This is not a light hearted romp, rather, we trudge through the seedier parts of town with a character who tends to fit right in. The method of chasing up leads seems to be an endless series of visits to bars throughout the D.C. area with a necessary shot and a beer at each. You've got to be prepared to accept that Nick Stefanos has many faults and weaknesses and is not your average private investigator. Oh, by the way, even with all his faults, I still found the story quite enjoyable.