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Right as Rain Mass Market Paperback – February 1, 2002

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 570 ratings

Derek Strange is a black ex-cop in Washington D.C. who now makes a living running his own private detective agency. He is hired to investigate the killing of an off-duty black policeman by a white police officer -- a killing that was supposedly accidental, but that has opened difficult questions about racism on the force. In the course of that investigation the white officer, Terry Quinn, becomes Strange's friend and then his partner. Together they try to uncover what really happened that night, when Quinn came upon a confusing and treacherous crime scene. Along the way they confront the kingpins of a flourishing drug trade and some of the most implacable, dead-eyed killers ever to grace the pages of a novel.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

George Pelecanos is a screenwriter, independent film producer, award-winning journalist, and the author of bestselling novels set in and around Washington, D.C., where he lives with his wife and children. Pelecanos is also a writer and producer on the HBO hit series, The Wire.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Publishing (February 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0446610798
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0446610797
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1 x 6.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 570 ratings

About the author

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George Pelecanos
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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

4.2 out of 5 stars
570 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the plot interesting and well-thought-out. They appreciate the well-developed characters and flawed protagonists. The writing style is described as simple and easy to read. However, opinions vary on readability and pacing - some find it good and effective, while others find it hard to read or frustrating with the quality of the ebook.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

17 customers mention "Plot"17 positive0 negative

Customers find the plot interesting and well-thought-out. They describe the story as a thriller that starts slowly but delivers a satisfying ending. The language and flow of the story are calm, with plenty of tension and intrigue. The dialogue drives the narrative, making it an enjoyable detective procedural with local color. Overall, readers find the characters believable for their world.

"...and the racial tensions that exist there, I would say the story is nicely plotted and inhabited by real characters that give it a strong sense of..." Read more

"...The nooks and crannies of D.C. sparkle with intrigue in this book...." Read more

"...There's great tension in the narrative that keeps the reader glued to the page...." Read more

"...An enjoyable detective procedural with lots of local color thrown in for those of us familiar with DC and the surrounding counties." Read more

11 customers mention "Character development"9 positive2 negative

Customers find the characters well-developed and flawed. They also appreciate the reasonable plot.

"...exist there, I would say the story is nicely plotted and inhabited by real characters that give it a strong sense of legitimacy...." Read more

"...Right as Rain has a cast of well-defined characters, even the most secondary of them...." Read more

"...Derek Strange is a more well-rounded character for one thing...." Read more

"...Strange and Quinn are both very well developed characters...." Read more

8 customers mention "Writing style"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style easy to read and engaging. They appreciate the simple prose and dialogue that keeps the story moving along. The characters are well-developed and the mystery is well-crafted.

"He writes a great book, one you can believe and believe in. Reminds me of Elmore Leonard, and I’ll ed his work." Read more

"...While I think Strange is a well-drawn, complicated, feels-true character, I never felt the same about Quinn...." Read more

"Mr. Pelacanos shows why he is a great mystery writer and story teller with this book...." Read more

"...It is a well written book and the ends on a believable note...." Read more

16 customers mention "Readability"10 positive6 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability. Some find it an effective novel with good content, while others find the Kindle edition poor and the dialogue hard to understand.

"...It didn't stay at that lofty level, but it was an effective novel nonetheless...." Read more

"...Great, page-turning read for fans of the "gritty" detective fiction, and (Kindle edition) priced cheaper than what I could have bought it for at my..." Read more

"I'm currently about 2/3 of the way through the book. While the content is OK, I'm frustrated with the quality of this ebook...." Read more

"...Very interesting tale that spins and twists from start to finish. Great series and I continue to look forward to the next contribution...." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"2 positive2 negative

Customers have different views on the pacing of the book. Some find it well-executed and engaging, while others feel it's slow and boring.

"...As a dark morality tale with drugs at the root of all evil, this book works pretty well ... Except for a certain preachiness Strange displays in the..." Read more

"...This does not hold up. Slow, boring, not really about the case at hand, more the author grandstanding his views and trying to show he can write..." Read more

"...This is a simple story, simply told and wonderfully executed. Everyone is, by now, familiar with Pelecanos's writing credits in print and on TV...." Read more

"Starts out slow but delivers a good thriller in the end." Read more

3 customers mention "Hyphenation"0 positive3 negative

Customers are unhappy with the hyphenation. They say many words have hyphens in non-hyphenated words, and the software used to convert it could not distinguish dashes from hyphens.

"...What annoys me are the multiple hyphens and/or dashes between words that do NOT need to be hyphenated!..." Read more

"...Many words have hyphens in non-hyphenated words...." Read more

"...Whatever software was used to convert it could not distinguish dashes from hyphens. Thus a word like cut-off is written cut--off, with a hyphen...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2024
He writes a great book, one you can believe and believe in. Reminds me of Elmore Leonard, and I’ll ed his work.
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2008
This was my first Pelecanos novel. I became aware of him through his writing on "The Wire," which in my opinion is one of the best TV shows ever created.

When I first started reading this book, I thought I was going to be getting Richard Price without the beautiful language. It didn't stay at that lofty level, but it was an effective novel nonetheless.

The main characters here are an older black PI and a white ex-cop who shot and killed an off-duty black police officer, which caused a media mushroom cloud in D.C. (where the action takes place).

Strange, the PI, is hired by the slain officer's mother to clear her son's reputation and get his name on a memorial downtown for officers who have died in the line of duty. After Strange approaches Quinn, the ex-cop (he left the force after the storm his shooting caused, though he was found to be in the right), Quinn slowly starts to aid Strange in the investigation.

Unlike a lot of other reviewers here, I liked the story Pelecanos tells in "Right as Rain." It's not "The Maltese Falcon," but it's surely not an episode of "Scooby-Doo," either. Considering that Pelecanos clearly wanted to make this a story about what has become of D.C. and the racial tensions that exist there, I would say the story is nicely plotted and inhabited by real characters that give it a strong sense of legitimacy.

I think the one flaw of this book is that at times it deals with the racial tensions in mature, honest ways, and then at other times Pelecanos spouts off cliches and hits you over the head with a sledgehammer. I found that Pelecanos holds his white characters to an impossible standard. And he never examines the racism from the other point of view -- of blacks toward whites.

While I think Strange is a well-drawn, complicated, feels-true character, I never felt the same about Quinn. I don't think you get to know him that well. And constantly in the book people meet Quinn and say he's "disturbed," but where is the evidence of this? I just don't see what they see.

Overall, though, Pelecanos keeps his prose simple and his dialogue humming. Strange's eventual acceptance of Quinn is what this book is really about, and it's their relationship that I enjoyed the most.

There was definitely enough good in this book to make me want to read the next Strange/Quinn saga.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2013
As a District resident, reading this book was like walking down a familiar street but discovering something new every day. The nooks and crannies of D.C. sparkle with intrigue in this book. I was out last night, and ran into two persons who were "Geoscoping" or something like that - an urban scavenger hunt. That reminded me of this book, because you never know what kind of trouble, nonesense, or excitement, you'll find in D.C.
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2001
No doubt about it, George Pelecanos is a gifted writer. His particular skills lie in characterizations and in pacing. Right as Rain has a cast of well-defined characters, even the most secondary of them. The storyline of a bereaved mother seeking to clear her dead police-officer-son's name is entirely believable. But, really, this is a tale of innate racism--from both sides of the fence. The black, middle-aged PI Derek Strange is as prejudiced in his own way, as the young former cop, Terry Quinn, is in his. As a dark morality tale with drugs at the root of all evil, this book works pretty well ... Except for a certain preachiness Strange displays in the latter part of the book that reads as if the author is speaking and not his hero. Suddenly, Strange slides out of character to make a little speech about how to solve the US drug problem. Then, just as suddenly, he slides back into character and becomes his usual taciturn, non-revealing self. While I don't for a moment disagree with the central thesis--that making drugs legal would eliminate most of the peripheral problems connected with addicts' efforts to obtain them--it is a jarring note in an otherwise smoothly written narrative. The other, consistent, jarring note comes in the form of (mercifully) brief, unpleasantly graphic depictions of ugly sexual encounters--even when they're intended to be "romantic."
The thugs and drug addicts, the dealers, bent cops and everyone else in this book are well-conceived and come fully to life. There's great tension in the narrative that keeps the reader glued to the page. And everything seems to have been set in place for a sequel--which I would buy and read without hesitation. But I'll be hoping the author doesn't use another leading character as a vehicle for sermonizing, but rather allows the characters to speak for themselves, in their own voices. This detracted from an otherwise fine book.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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David
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 6, 2018
Good detective novel.
DAVID HUNT
5.0 out of 5 stars First rate novelist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2020
Mr Pelecanos is a first rate writer. After reading this book and King Suckerman, l cannot understand why he seems to have a low profile.
Cedric Randolph
5.0 out of 5 stars Another fine novel by George Pelecanos
Reviewed in Italy on October 1, 2017
The more I read by Pelecanos, the more I appreciate his sharp eye for a period when I also was growing up. His dialogue is natural to the ear and at the same time perfectly matched to the region where the action is taking place, the Washington DC area. His characters are clean in their being very normal in their being extraordinary fictional characters. He has few heroes who see themselves as such. Yet true heroism is often depicted in his writing. His plotting is spot on and keeps readers turning the pages and wanting more when the book has ended. No shortcuts here. No false signals. No situations that are unbelievable or out of the ordinary even if the entire book is clearly fiction. He knows that the narrative is driven by looking at all the pieces, good bad and indifferent, without judging them and letting them slide together like they do in real life. If you like one of his books, you can be sure that any book you pick up by Pelecanos will give you a satisfying read.
Christian Johann
5.0 out of 5 stars Derek Strange, P.I.
Reviewed in Germany on October 7, 2011
Vor langer Zeit war Derek Strange Polizist. In seiner Heimatstadt, Washington, DC, arbeitet er nun als Privatdetektiv. "Right as Rain" führt Strange und Terry Quinn zusammen. Quinn ist ebenfalls ein Washingtoner Urgestein; wenngleich ein jüngeres. Auch er ist ehemaliger Polizist. Quinn hing seine Uniform jedoch an den Nagel, nachdem er einen Mann erschossen hatte, der sich ihm gegenüber nicht als Polizist zu erkennen gegeben hatte. Strange ermittelt im Auftrag der Mutter des Erschossenen, die verzweifelt nach Gerechtigkeit sucht. Die Geschichte spielt im Washington, DC der Neunzigerjahre, das mehr Moloch als Machtzentrale ist. So weit, so klar.

Hier die zusätzlichen Informationen: Strange ist schwarz, Quinn weiß. Der Mann, den Quinn erschoss, war schwarz und beugte sich mit einer Waffe über einen Weißen.

Als Strange und Quinn sich besser kennenlernen, gewinnen sie so viel Vertrauen zueinander, dass Quinn schließlich bei den Ermittlungen Stranges mithilft. Ziel ist es nun, die Ungereimtheiten aufzuklären, die sich immer noch um besagte Todesnacht drehen. Zwar war Quinn von jeglichen Vorwürfen befreit worden (alles sei 'right as rain' gelaufen). Dennoch nagt die Nacht noch immer am Westernfan Quinn. Sein Gewissen scheint nicht rein zu sein.

Nebenbei werden Strange und Quinn immer weiter in die Tiefen der Welt der Drogenabhängigen und Drogendealer gezogen. Quinn und Strange kämpfen beide mit ihren jeweiligen rassistischen Vorurteilen. Sie leugnen sie, fallen ihnen zum Opfer und suchen einen Weg, damit umzugehen. Jede Seite dieses Buches nimmt ein Klischee auf, hält es dem Leser vor Augen und fordert ihn auf Stellung dazu zu beziehen.

Eingebettet sind all die Themen, die Rassismus, Drogen und Gesellschaft streifen, in George Pelecanos soliden Plot. Neben interessanten und tiefgründigen Charakteren hält die Geschichte auch glaubwürdige Schurken, hervorragende Schilderungen von Washingtons Problemvierteln und hintergründigen Humor für ihre Leser bereit. Schmankerl sind die Verweise auf Westernklassiker, sei es als Buch, Film oder Filmmusik. Am Ende ist auch dies wieder eine Variation des Westernthemas komplett mit erfahrenem Gunslinger, heißblütigem Cowboy und finaler Schießerei. Fünf ganze Sterne.
Filippo urbinati
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in Italy on November 16, 2017
Very good crime and investigation book. What I really like of Pelecanos is that he is able to construct very complex carachters without being boring. Good