Customer Reviews

The Turnaround

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I recently read the detective novel "Shame the Devil" by George Pelecanos. While I generally liked it, there was something missing, something that wasn't quite right. It was good, but I felt it could have been better. I wasn't sure how it could be improved, only that I thought that there was something about the book that could stand improvement. After reading the latest offering from Pelecanos, "The Turnaround", I now know what the problem was, at least for me. "Shame the Devil" is a detective novel; Pelecanos writes a serviceable one; "The Turnaround", by contrast, is a crime novel. There's no real detective in the plot, and not much of a mystery if you're paying attention. Instead, there's a great story, and that makes all the difference. "Shame the Devil" is a good book; "The Turnaround" is one of the best books I've read in years, steeped in atmosphere and character, and a very good book.

"The Turnaround" starts with a racial incident in the early 1970s in Washington D.C., where all of Pelecanos' books are set. Apparently he also has stuck with Greek main characters, for some reason. The Pappas family, the center of the book, runs a diner in downtown, feeding the breakfast and lunch crowd. The center of the book, at the start, is the family patriarch, John. He runs the business cannily, and hopes that one day one of his sons will take over the restaurant. Instead, one of his sons is involved in a racial incident, in which there are epithets yelled, and someone gets killed. Fast forward three and a half decades, a new generation runs the store, and those who were involved in the incident are either back from prison or reminded of it somehow. They have different agendas, and want different things, and how this plays out is the main part of the book.

"The Turnaround" is steeped in three things, all of them very intrinsic to the book, and all of them very well-done. The author is clearly obsessed with music, one of these guys that can tell you who wrote a song, who first released it, who covered it, which version was popular, etc. He creates the atmosphere of the early 70s in Washington through the music, and oddly through the stereo equipment that it's played on. One of the more amusing incidents in the book occurs when one of the young men in the story relates that his friend has a stereo with "Bosay" speakers, only to be corrected by his brother, who tells him that it's pronounced "Bose". The music is a part of the longer, more modern part of the book too, with the newer artists contrasting with the older ones.

A second aspect of the book which is carefully covered, which adds to the overall story, is the operation of the diner. The author clearly knows someone who has worked in a diner; perhaps his family had one growing up. This was a big part of the sub-plot of "Shame the Devil" too, so I'm wondering if it's going to be a common thread through all of Pelecanos' books. The author spends a lot of time with his characters running the restaurant, letting the cook try new ideas for recipes and weekly specials, that sort of thing. It's an intelligent and interesting sidelight to the main plot.

Third, and lastly, the character of Washington D.C. is a considerable part of the book. This isn't the Washington that's our nation's capitol, really. None of the characters visit any of the monuments or memorials, let alone government buildings, much. The main character in "Shame the Devil" had lunch at the Supreme Court's cafeteria. Apparently this is an insider thing to do: the food there is very good, and it's open to the public. Beyond that though, none of the characters I've encountered so far are government employees in any serious fashion. There's no FBI investigation or anything like that. The city the author deals with is more crime-ridden, and at the same time more mundane, than the one we think of.

I really enjoyed "The Turnaround" in case you couldn't tell. I've already gone looking for more of Pelecanos' books. If they're anything like "Shame the Devil" instead, it's not so bad, but this was a really good book. Highly recommended.

The Turnaround is the 15th Washington DC based novel authored by George Pelecanos. Critical acclaim for his novels as well as for his writing on HBO's The Wire has been fairly easy to come by for Mr. Pelecanos. Commercial success, on the other hand has somewhat escaped him. His peers and coworkers on The Wire, Richard Price and Dennis Lehane have both experienced sales that have, to date, eluded Pelecanos. Someone that has read all three authors for any amount of time would tell you that this fact is a damn shame, for Pelecanos writes with just as much power and emotion as Price or Lehane. With The Turnaround, George Pelecanos may finally be poised to break big.

In his early novels, Pelecanos wrote mostly hard-boiled/crime/detective stories and while these books were examples of great genre writing, they were just that, focused on the genre. With each book the writing of Mr. Pelecanos has progressed. As of late, while he has used some type of crime as a jumping off point, his writing has become more focused on people and their place in society. The Turnaround continues in this sociological vein.

The Turnaround begins on a hot summer day in 1972 when three white teenagers drive into a black neighborhood and come across three young men who were born and grew up in the neighborhood. Two of the boys in the car, full of youth, testosterone, booze and weed make decisions that have dire results. Their words and actions leave Billy Cachoris shot dead. Peter Whitten makes a running escape while the third boy, Alex Pappas, is left beaten and scarred due to his indecision. The three local teens also make decisions that they will carry with them for their lifetimes. James Monroe ends up a convicted murderer, Charles Baker beats Pappas and Raymond Monroe is left with psychological baggage that he will carry with him for 35 years.

Fast forward thirty-five years and we find that Pappas has taken over his father's diner business. He is married with a teenage son of his own. He also has a recently dead son, lost to the war in Iraq. James Monroe has served his time plus some and is trying to get his life on track as a small time auto mechanic. Raymond Monroe is a physical therapist working in DC at Walter Reed. Charles Baker has been in and out of prison. He is currently out of prison and looking to improve his life, mostly by illegal means. A chance encounter on the grounds of Walter Reed brings the men back into contact with one another.

Pelecanos develops a strong background for each character. His writing is purposeful and strong yet it lets the reader decide on their view of the character. The writing is never so overbearing that it leads you to a conclusion. That is the true beauty of Pelecanos' writing, he lets the reader develop an opinion, it is never forced upon them. In the Turnaround he sets the stage for the reader to develop their opinions on each of the characters, their life choices, the work being done at Walter Reed, the war, even their musical tastes.

The magic of the writing of George Pelecanos is in his subtle yet powerful descriptions of every day events that we take for granted. Pelecanos writes like a well-trained boxer, every word is used for maximum impact and no energy is ever wasted. His choice of words always seems correct and often his descriptions of mundane every day events hit with a subtle yet powerful force that leaves the reader near tears. Pelecanos also has a rare gift for writing authentic dialogue. He does not use over the top tough guy posturing, instead he develops the characters through dialogue that one could overhear on the street in any city. In other words, his writing has an aspect of believability that is often lacking in the fiction of today.

In the end, the bulk of The Turnaround is about the randomness of life, decisions, choices and repercussions from those choices. Choices get made, and they impact one man differently from another. Some of these choices are made in haste, some are well thought out, but all have a definite end result at some point in time. What Pelecanos shows in The Turnaround is that the result of a decision does not have to have end on the date that it was made. The Turnaround illustrates that sometimes you can still make things right and correct years after a decision has been made.

Mr. Pelecanos has gained some mainstream name recognition with his work on The Wire and there is no reason why he should not join Richard Price and Dennis Lehane on the best-seller list. His writing combines the easy and accurate character development of Price with the eye for attention and detail of Lehane. Of the group of three, my money is on Pelecanos as the strongest and most entertaining storyteller.

I am a massive fan of George Pelecanos and regard his work highly but this book was perhaps his weakest.

The story begins with a racial incident that results in a death then we fast-forward 35 years to today. The participants have continued on with their lives be it prison or working.

Through the actions of one of the characters, they meet up again.

Now, I am all for the sins of the past being revisited and it is a common theme in detective/crime fiction but this novel just didn't really click with me.

The characters tended not to be very well fleshed out and certain events tended to be too pat. The ending was too perfect for my tastes as well.

Maybe I am being too critical, but the author has sent the quality benchmark in his books so high, I feel this book is a "turnaround" from that benchmark.

Let me first say that I love George Pelecanos. He wrote some of the best episodes of "The Wire" and I read "The Night Gardener," "Soul Circus" and "Hard Revolution" with great earnestness. No writer that I'm aware of captures urban America with as much detail and flair as he does.

He gives you a great feeling of "being there" - in this case D.C. - and he does it through the details of what people wear, the music they listen to, the cars they drive, the booze they drink, the look of the buildings. I love it how he captures the brand names of the products people consume and what it says about them. He's great at that. This is familiar to anyone who's read one of his novels and its almost instantly winnable.

And perhaps that's why "The Turnaround" was, well, too familiar in a way. Pelecanos does not seem to change up the archetypes in his novels too much. There's always pot-smoking wayward youth, a foolish and violent ghetto villain, and the middle-aged, hard-working blue collar heroes who claw their way through the twisted world to find justice.

Unlike his other novels, much of "The Turnaround" is not set in the hood. He doesn't seem preoccupied with society as much in this one as he is with how individual characters respond to and process events. In that sense, it's refreshing and different and perhaps more humanistic. But, come on, can he write one character that does not praise '70s R&B and soul?!? I just feel that he could benefit from changing it up a bit more. The dialogue was too similar to his other stories.

Also, I wasn't happy with the ending. The ending of "The Night Gardener" by comparison was very raw and striking and powerful, but this one was well.... you'll see. I thought the writing in this one was just a touch off too.

Pelecanos is very clear in his stories about who he likes and doesn't like. It makes the story appealing and straightahead, but again, I've been down this road with his other novels. After you read this one, you're gonna wanna head to your nearest grease-spoon diner and just marvel at the people around you. See, not many writers can make you want to do that can they?

Anyways, it's a good read, but I didn't find it as compelling or memorable as his other works. If you're gonna read one of his books, get "The Night Gardener."

The Turnaround chronicles the lives of two sets of men, all residents or former residents of the same Washington D.C. suburbs, chronicling the tragic effects of a confrontation the men had in 1972 when they were teenagers, when one group, consisting of three white boys, strayed onto the turf of another, consisting of three black youths.

The story fades to black before those events completely unfold, but readers slowly learn about what happened that day as Pelecanos shifts the action to the modern day, as he describes the activities of the men, now adults, as they try to make their way in a world that has drastically changed. The thrust of the remainder of the novel centers on what happens when these men once again cross paths; what happens is in some ways predictable, but, in other important ways, remarkable.

The Turnaround is a crime novel, at least in the sense that it centers on the commission of an act of violence, but it is much, much more than that. Pelecanos brings his characters to vivid life through his prose, effectively conveying their worldviews and emotions to his audience. That he does this so effortlessly, considering the disparate natures and environs of the members of his cast, pays testament to his considerable talents--Pelecanos has skills, and they're all on ample display in this affecting, surprising, and poignant book.

I've always enjoyed the music references in George Pelecanos' work and "The Turnaround" starts strong in that department--references to Humble Pie, Wilson Pickett, Led Zeppelin, Funkadelic, T-Rex, Argent, Martha Reeves, Roberta Flack are sprinkled throughout the opening stretches along with many, many more. So are other period details. Esso. Mannix. Jet Magazine. Shirley Chisholm. But for long sections of "The Turnaround," those details drop away and the novel also fades into a yawning gap. It's fairly lifeless and flat.

The concept is strong: the impact on the lives of grown men who once tangled and were involved in tragedy as youths. The scenes capturing the clash of youths are powerful. But the energy goes poof in this book. It felt like Pelecanos mailed this one in. If you've read and liked the earlier Pelecanos stuff for its grit and tension, you may be disappointed here. The overall feel of the book is reflective. The characters are looking back over the 35-years that separate them from the flashpoint of their lives. That sense of deep contemplation drags the energy down, too.

When the music and cultural references disappear it's as if the scenery is yanked away and the characters are left to fend for themselves on a bare stage. It doesn't work. This one is for Pelecanos completists only.

My introduction to George Pelecanos dates back many years ago when I saw him at a book signing with his friend Michael Connelly. At the time, he had just written Right As Rain, which was a real departure from his Nick Stefanos' series. I'm guessing I've read at least seven of his books so my review is not coming from someone who is new to this author.

So many of his books have pieces of him in them. He once worked in an appliance store and characters in his previous books have also done so. His father owned a cafe and he used to work at the lunch counter as does Alex in this book. He was known to play around with his father's gun when he was young as does Raymond with his brother's gun in this book. The Turnaround is probably his most autobiographical work so far. He vividly describes his hours working with his father and uses a similar theme I have seen in many of his books where your upbringing is everything...it's the beginning and end of who you are and what you do.

Set once again in D.C., it's always about the journey with Pelecanos and not the actual crime. He's a historian so every book is a learning experience on the history of D.C. At this point, I feel I probably know more about where he grew up than I do about where I did. On the one hand, I understand that Pelecanos is trying to create accurate pictures of the way things were in the eras he's writing about but at times I want to say, "enough is enough". I grew up in Brooklyn and perhaps if he was writing about Brooklyn, I'd be so into going down memory lane with him. He develops his characters and they always have the same interests as his....cars, sports, music, music, music, music...until I can't take it anymore.

Family is always lurking in the background of each of Pelecanos' offerings as he writes about race, crime, social issues and morality. Looking back at the characters' family usually gives you an edge into how the book will turn out.

In life, you find that there are two kind of turnarounds...the one you get stuck in and the one you come out of. This story is one of three kids out for an afternoon summer joyride and driving through an area they shouldn't be in and exacerbating the situation by having words with some of the other kids living there forcing a racial altercation that will have dire ramifications. The driver of the car feels he can just drive in, do his damage, go through the turnaround and leave. But, he will find out too soon that this is the turnaround you get stuck in. In Pelecanos' world, there usually aren't any cops as the justice is dished out right on the streets. And on this day, justice will be dished out on a silver platter or should I say silver "gun".

The book centers around what happens when the characters, who are now in their 50's, come upon each other again some thirty years later. A few have been in jail, some have been disfigured while others live in their own kind of hell with the knowledge of what really happened. If you've read as many of Pelecanos novels as I have, it will be easy to see that what you're reading really isn't what really happened if you remember how much morality and family plays into his stories. So, for this reader, there weren't too many surprises.

When I had read the premise of this story, teenagers doing something bad in their teens, being punished for it and then meeting up again later in life, I had dreams of another "Sleepers" by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

Listen, I love Pelecanos and feel an affinity to him but after so many novels, I think he owes his fans "the book"....the one that's going to push him over the top. I'm not even going to mention the other novels I'm thinking of that separated their authors from the mainstream because any real reader knows who and what I'm referring to. I'm just dying to read this from Pelecanos. And I want him to be able to drop all of his security blankets and leave out the music and sports references completely. Well, perhaps he can add a few. I know certain authors have certain things they must add in each book even if it's just a one line mention. Carcaterra needs to have a St. Jude and Yankee's shoutout while Irving needs his bears and Vienna shoutouts. I get it that Pelecanos needs his music shoutout but he has to know that many of his readers are tiring of it. I understand how it's supposed to set the stage for the time and place but this reader feels he overdoes it.

After I finished this, I actually said to myself that I'm done with Pelecanos. Then I remembered that I had recently bought The Way Home and it was too late to return it. I also have one or two more of his Nick Stefanos' series here waiting to be read. So I guess I'm not done. I'm in my own "turnaround" and hoping one of these days he's going to enter the turnaround that you don't get stuck in and come out with the novel we've all been waiting for.

Many prominent critics consider George Pelecanos to be the equal of great crime writers like Michael Connelly, Richard Price, and Dennis Lehane. Although he hasn't achieved the commercial success of those writers, Pelecanos has slowly been building an audience over the past decade. THE TURNAROUND should continue that trend -- this book is a very well done effort.

Unlike many crime novelists, Pelecanos does not construct tightly wound thrillers. Instead, he takes his time in telling his stories, and focuses a great deal of effort on developing his characters. Pelecanos is also unflinching in his desire to realistically portray street life in the District of Columbia, one of the least glamorous urban areas in the United States. His novels aren't light entertainment, but explore issues related to race, drugs and class in a head-on, uncompromising manner.

THE TURNAROUND deals with the modern-day consequences of a racial incident that took place in the early 1970s. This novel presents six major characters, three white and three black. Pelecanos, as usual, does a fine job of making these people come alive as flesh-and-blood human beings. The first half of this book is rather slow, as Pelecanos introduces his cast of characters and sets the stage for the story. But once the plotline gets moving, this novel becomes a very gripping read.

If I had one problem with THE TURNAROUND, it's the ending, which is a little more predictable and sentimental than I expected. The ending also contains a twist that an experienced reader will spot a mile away. But these are minor flaws, and the book is very effective overall.

I've read two other Pelecanos novels (RIGHT AS RAIN and THE NIGHT GARDENER) and I thought this was the best and most accessible of the three I've read. If you've never tried Pelecanos before, THE TURNAROUND is definitely a good starting point.

Who among us hasn't done something dumb and lived to regret it? Hopefully none of our blunders have been as blindly, irrationally stupid as the act of three young white men, Alex Pappas, Pete Whitten, and Billy Cachoris. Their decision sets the stage for one more haunting, richly configured story by George Pelecanos (The Night Gardener).

Alex is in the backseat when Pete and Billy decide that a sure cure for their boredom is to go over the tracks into the black area of Washington, D.C., and cause some trouble. They get more than they bargained for when they find themselves in a dead-end facing a tough trio - Charles Baker and brothers Raymond and James Monroe. Perhaps the devil-take-the-hindmost interlopers didn't know that they'd been preceded by other white boys who got their jollies by shouting racial epithets and tossing garbage at residents. Tired of this treatment one of the black boys had something new - a gun. It was fired and lives were irrevocably changed.

Skipping ahead decades we find Alex, still bearing the facial scars of that night, has married and taken over his father's lunch business. Raymond had served time for the shooting but is now employed as a Walter Reed Hospital physical therapist. Life had not been kind to Charles nor was he kind to life - he became a full-time dangerous criminal. Pete is now an attorney, and Billy who died that night is long in his grave.

Some are trying to forget the past, one wants vengeance. What happens when two who were once enemies meet again?

Dion Graham, whom we know from HBO's The Wire, delivers a powerful narration, artfully relating the dreadful night as well as what the years will bring.

- Gail Cooke

This book was not what I expected at all. It was not the usual murder mystery, but the story of how one afternoon, 6 hotheaded teenagers and drug and alcohol can change many lives forever. The story follows the families of everyone involved in "the incident". It exposes hatred, anger, love and immense sacrifice. It was only the ending that felt wrong to me. It felt unnatural and forced like the author got to a certain point and just wasn't sure what to do from there.