Customer Reviews

Shoedog

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pelecanos takes a break from the Nick Stefanos series to tell the noir tale of a drifter who, while simply hitching a ride south, gets caught up in shady dealings with deadly consequences. The protagonist, Constantine, is extremely similar to Pelecanos' Nick Stefanos (and even spends a night in Stefanos' bar) he's a loner, able to hold his own, at home with the underbelly of society and a keen sense of what is right and wrong. He gets caught up in with some petty criminals and their controlling boss and ends up in a sticky situation. As usual, Pelecanos uses Washington DC and environs as a backdrop for this gritty little tale.

SHOEDOG is an early work by George Pelecanos, which I recently read for the first time when it was reissued in paperback. The plot involves a drifter named Constantine who stumbles into a half-baked liquor store robbery run for no good reason by a man named Grimes. There's really no reason Constantine can't leave at any time except for his attraction to Grimes' girlfriend.

All of the Pelecanos trademarks are here - Washington, DC....old soul music....drug use described into detail, etc. While I enjoyed SHOEDOG, it lacks the thematic richness of some Pelecanos' Derek Strange books and the conclusion was somewhat unsatisfying....All of the characters, except Constantine, are pretty one-dimensional....

If you've read Pelecanos' other books this will be a fun diversion, but RIGHT AS RAIN might be a better place to start for the novice.....

My first Pelecanos novel and won't be my last because I've heard such good things. But this stand alone heist novel is overlong. There is a great 100 page story in this book but the plot is dragged out to 300 pages with too many points of view and too many back stories for minor characters. You could skip the first 80 pages without missing much.

The action sequences are riveting and well written but don't begin until chapter 20.

Shoedog couldn't have a more archetypal B-movie film noir storyline: a wandering hitchhiker gets picked up by a man who gets him involved with a powerful crime boss, a series of robberies, and a crew of thieves with their own private agendas and codes. But you know what? Archetypes aren't always bad, and when they're done with this much fun and style, it's hard to complain too much. Shoedog isn't as rich and rewarding as Pelecanos's best work; gone are the societal depictions, gone are the complex motivations and moral shades of gray. But in their place is a really fun read, with colorful characters, great conversations, some hard, hard men, and a slew of betrayals and private power games. The end result is a fun crime read, particularly if you're a fan of noir, be it classic or neo. Don't expect the greatness of Pelecanos's later work, but if you set that aside, you'll find this one to be a really enjoyable read that wraps up with a bit of a surprisingly abrupt ending.

I've been on a Pelecanos spree for the past year and a half now and this is by far the most noir-esque of all his work. Constatine is our main grifter who finds his way into a Reservoir Dogs like set up. Originally ublished in 1994, Shoedog is still a strong novel. It is certainly not the Derek Strange series nor is it The Turnaround or Drama City, but it certainly lays the foundation and it's well worth the trip.

This isn't quite one of the author's best, but it's a good tale of a drifter befriended by a senior hood and subsequently involved in a couple of what should be easy and bloodless liquor store robberies. Naturally, if these robberies went as planned, there would be no story.The territory is overly familiar and predictable, but the author's style and depiction of the underside of our nation's capital city save the novel making it well worth reading.

A gritty, violent pulp fiction about a loner-drifter who gets involved in a liquor store heist that doesn't go according to plan from one of the writing team of TV hit, The Wire: The Complete Series.

If you ever find yourself as a character in a work of fiction, it's probably best to avoid hitchhikers. The chances are it's going to turn out very badly for either the driver or the hitchhiker - or both. Constantine is a denim-clad, Marlboro-smoking, drifter and loner with a strong sense of right and wrong who has just returned from a period of travelling around the world and is heading south back home in the US when he is picked up by a man named Polk, driving a muscle car. So what could possibly go wrong?

Certainly it has all the essential ingredients of a classic piece of US crime writing. It's gritty and violent and is set in a world of fast cars, seedy bars and loser-criminals. When Polk tells Constantine that he has to make a short stop in Washington DC, coincidentally where Constantine was brought up, it's no surprise to find that the two become involved in a planned liquor store heist. The criminal gang seem to be more willing than I might have thought to bring the stranger, Constantine, into their confidence giving him a role as one of the two drivers, along with the eponymous Shoedog, a shoe shop salesman named Randolph, with whom Constantine also bonds quickly. For obvious reasons, I don't want to say much more about the plot, but suffice to say that things don't always go as planned.

While Constantine's character has both depth and back story, the rest of the players in this story are much less vividly drawn and, apart from the entertaining Shoedog, are pretty cliche stereotypes. But this isn't about characterisation, it's about plot and action. And Pelecanos is adept at developing the style of the book as the story gains pace towards its conclusion. As you might expect from a writer that was to become involved with The Wire, he is particularly attuned to authentic dialogue of the streets. He also gives constant references to the soul funk music that is played in the various bars and cars along the way.

It's not the most original of plots, but it's well written and paced and there are some nice twists along the way. As an example of `pulp fiction', then it's certainly a very good one. But it's the journey rather than the plot destination that makes this an entertaining read.

This was a fun book. The plot involves a drifter named Constantine who essentially randomly finds himself caught up in a scheme to rob two liquor stores nearly simultaneously. Constantine's fellow ne'er-do-wells are engaging written and the pace of the novel is action-packed. Shoedog doesn't involve any of Pelecanos' other signature characters (Nick Stefanos, Derek Strange, etc.) in a significant way. It is, however, set in Washington, DC, as are the rest of his books.

This was one Pelecanos' first novels, but his writing is still as polished as ever. I actually ended up reading this book after I had read all of his other, better known books and found myself enjoying it more than some of his latest. One very minor quibble: the title is a bit of a misnomer, because the "shoedog" character is not actually the most developed -- the "Shoedog" character plays a decidely second fiddle to Constantine, the protagonist.

The book ends with one of Pelecanos' traditional big finale shootouts, but is still entertaining for all that. I would highly recommend this book to any of Pelecanos' current fans, as well as anyone interested in reading a fun, engaging book about a heist that goes wrong (don't they all?).

Few crime novelists can hook you like George Pelecanos. His 1994 stand-alone "Shoedog" was out-of-print until last fall in paperback....great news!

There are no good guys in this tale of violence, extreme betrayal and social realism. Every character is morally questionable. Like great film-noir, the cast is either anti-hero or villain.

After drifting worldwide for seventeen years, Constantine decides to hitchhike back to DC. He accepts a ride from an older hood called Polk (everyone in "Shoedog" goes by one name).

Outside DC, Polk needs to make a stop to "collect some dough."

That stop sets a dreadfully dark caper in motion for Constantine.

A dual liquor robbery in DC on payday...two inside men on both jobs and a driver. Well cased and set up...it looks okay...and no one has a chance to say no.

In the great noir tradition a woman upsets loyalties and outsiders are after Polk.

The dénouement is stunning and will resound in your mind for an extensive period.

Packed with remarkable dialogue, suspense, treachery, fanatical duplicity and filled with superb pop culture references, "Shoedog" is best read in black and white.

I fell in love with Pelecanos when I picked up "Down By The River Where The Dead Men Go". I loved all of his books that featured Nick Stefanos and Alex Karras. Ever since those intertwined stores ended I have been less enthralled. These recent stories are very readable but repetitive to me. None of the characters are very likable or even very interesting. Read the old stuff, fall in love with Pelecanos and then pick up his most recent stuff. It will be like watching the quality dip on Moonlighting -- you keep praying it will hit it's original glory.