What It Was [Paperback]

George Pelecanos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2012

Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn, is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered, shot point-blank in his apartment. Soon both men are on the trail of a ruthless killer: Red Fury, so called for his looks and the car his girlfriend drives, but a name that fits his personality all too well. Red Fury doesn't have a retirement plan, as Vaughn points out - he doesn't care who he has to cross, or kill, to get what he wants. As the violence escalates and the stakes get higher, Strange and Vaughn know the only way to catch their man is to do it their own way.

Rich with details of place and time - the cars, the music, the clothes - and fueled by non-stop action, this is Pelecanos writing in the hard-boiled noir style that won him his earliest fans and placed him firmly in the ranks of the top crime writers in America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

a taut, lyrical, nostalgic look at times gone by and the morality which remains. CATHOLIC HERALD --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

George Pelecanos is the author of several bestselling novels set in and around Washington, D.C. He is also an independent-film producer, an essayist, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, and a producer and Emmy-nominated writer of the HBO hit series The Wire. He currently writes for the acclaimed HBO series Treme. www.george-pelecanos.com.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books; First Edition edition (January 23, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780316209540
• ISBN-13: 978-0316209540
• ASIN: 0316209546
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,959 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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What it Is January 25, 2012

By PTD

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've long been a fan of Pelecanos' work, my initiation starting with his novel RIGHT AS RAIN, and continuing along after that joyride to include his other works. I was struck from the beginning by the authenticity of his characters, the rhythm of his writing, and his powerful handling of violence. His work has a verisimilitude often absent in genre fiction. He isn't a crime novelist, he's a NOVELIST, period. I'm of the opinion that Pelecanos never makes a wrong note. I've read SHOEDOG, one of his lesser known novels, more than a handful of times. Now, to his latest work. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a new Pelecanos shortly on the heels of THE CUT, his hardcover released late last year (another gem, by the way). The surprise was then elevated upon learning that this newest novel would return to the world of Derek Strange, a character I've grown to love. But then, I love all of the characters in Pelecanos' world, from Nick Stefanos, to Terry Quinn, to...well, you get the point. This newest novel gripped me from page one and never let up steam. Written in scenes both cinematic and rhythmic (vignettes)told from the points of view of several characters, WHAT IT WAS is a study in how a crime novel should be written. Violent but emotionally satisfying, poignant in its rendering of the human condition (here you have the criminal perspective, the police perspective, the private investigator perspective, the girlfriends riding shotgun with their criminal boyfriends perspective--all handled with aplomb). To say that Pelecanos is a master is an understatement. I'd read a new book every month from him. Kudos.

Phillip Thomas Duck
author of Triage: A Thriller (Shell Series)

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Blisteringly Good January 26, 2012

By Erin

Format:Paperback

Much of the attention around George Pelecanos' new book, WHAT IT WAS, has focused on the quite brilliant way that the good folks at Mulholland Books are publishing and marketing it. In case you haven't read about it, instead of the standard e-book and hardcover release followed months later by a paperback edition, WHAT IT WAS is available now as a 99-cent e-book, a trade paperback for $9.99, or a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35.

I think this is quite brilliant, but the reality is that it wouldn't matter a whit if the story contained on the paper or e-pages wasn't up to snuff. Luckily for us all, WHAT IS WAS is one of Pelecanos' best, second only to RIGHT AS RAIN in my estimation.

WHAT IT WAS is set in 1972. Derek Strange has hung out his private investigator shingle. His former partner, Frank Vaughn, is still on the force. Red "Fury" Jones, a villain for the ages, is wreaking havoc in Washington DC, which Pelecanos brings to life in a manner that makes the reader quite certain she was actually there.

Many have called WHAT IT WAS noir, and I'm sure the label fits, but for me, it's much more than noir. Derek Strange has been a favorite character for years and for him to remain surprising and engaging is testament to Pelecanos' awesome storytelling prowess. Pelecanos obviously respects his setting, character and stories because he shortchanges none of them. Even the ancillary characters--like Red's girlfriend and sidekick or Strange's mistress or mom--are so vivid that I wouldn't have been surprised to have any one of them knock on my front door (ok, a little surprised, but you know what I mean).

Pelecanos has always been unapologetic in his storytelling, both in his books and on TV shows "The Wire" and "Treme." WHAT IT WAS continues this tradition, and I hope he never gives this up. WHAT IT WAS doesn't flinch at violence or human frailty; on the contrary, it celebrates both.

This will sound frivolous to some, but I have to also commend Pelecanos for telling a complete and complex tale in less than 300 pages. In a world where publishers put authors under contract to deliver stories that run to 400 pages and more even when they don't need to be, WHAT IT WAS is exactly the length it needs to be. It includes not one extraneous word, scene or plot element.

If you've never read Pelecanos, WHAT IT WAS is a fine place to start. While the books featuring Derek Strange are a series, they're not bound by elements of surprise that make reading them in order necessary.

Come this time next year, I expect to have seen WHAT IT WAS on plenty of Best of 2012 lists. I know it will be on mine. It is blisteringly good.

41 of 57 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This is no George Higgins but ok for $ .99 January 25, 2012

By C. Brooks

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Not a bad story for the 99 cents I paid for it; would have been very dissappointed had I paid more. Reads fast like a television drama series with about as much depth. Parts of the story seem to be put there just to make it juicy; like an HBO series in that it has pops of gratuitous sex or sensuality that don't really do much for the story and seem kind of unnecessary. For example lines like this used to close out a chapter "...his thick, helmeted c*#k plunging in and out of her warm, wet box, a pure physical act, which was what both of them were there for." It seems that the sex is just put there to be there. None of the characters sexual interactions have anything to do with what's going on with the story.

I'm a fan of noir and crime fiction and this story does fit into the genre but not high on my list. I thought the dialogue was a little flaky and there wasn't much depth in any of the characters; I would say that there was almost no development on the female characters. Overall I found the story cliché. I suppose this story would work out on the big screen with a "Sin City" like vibe but didn't do much for me in print. I finished it feeling the story could have been much more than it was.

I wouldn't go out of my way to reccomend it to someone nor would I read it again; it was good for passing some time. If you want to read a gritty crime novel with real dialogue and characters check out "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" by Higgins or "Muscle for the Wing" by Daniel Woodrell. I guess I measure all books in this genre up against titles such as those. Based on my experience with this book I probably won't be spending money on any more from this author. If I find him in a thrift store for 99 cents I may give him another shot.