One of "The Wire" writer George Pelecanos's earlier efforts, this doesn't quite demonstrate the stripped down dialogue that he developed later in his career. It does, however, have pace, and a narrative thrust that makes you want to consume the whole, slim, book in one sitting. Like a latter-day pulp writer (think Horace McCoy, James M Cain or, most especially, Jim Thompson) Pelecanos's hero's fate is entirely out of his habds once he makes a single choice (an this case, giving away his last cigarette to a man who gives him a lift). The hero is a drifter, amoral, emotionally disconnected, trapped by the circumstances of his earlier life. He hitch-hikes his way into the middle of a criminal endeavour where almost everyone's intentions are quite what they seem, and discovers his own moral centre and sense of purpose in a climax that is both bloody and Thompson-esquely bleak. What a wonderful movie this could make.
George P. breaks the rules - all this "Show, don't tell" nonsense is just that as far as he is concerned. If it saves time to tell you, that's what he does. he's like that. Direct. To the point. That's how he got to write for "The Wire".
Two ex-cons find a bag full of money. But they are trying to go straight, so they put it back. Someone else takes it. The owner wants it back. Will it all end badly?
No doubt.
Read it.
I picked this up because of Pelecanos' connection to "The Wire", another one of those drama serials that American TV now does so well, and his influence on the show is made evident by his writing in this novel. His style can be clumsy, and he is prone to ignore the "Show-don't-tell" rule, but I guess that's a habit you fall into when writing for TV. But if you can get past these stylistic aggravations, he plots and does dialogue like a master, and his characters are more than a series of vocal tics and social mannerisms; they have depth and they are capable of change, and of surprising the reader.
