Book Review

By Derryll White

Pelecanos, George (2009).  The Way Home.

I don’t put much faith in the cover endorsements of novels any more. Stephen King and Ian Rankin seem to have endorsed most of the mystery section in the Ystad, Sweden, Bibliotek. But Peter Robinson had Inspector Banks reading Pelecanos, and I am looking for new and different authors.

George Pelecanos is an American, but prominent in translation in Swedish department stores and the bibliotek, so I thought I would give him a try.

The strength of this author is in the story.  He is not an elegant writer, not inspiring with images created in words or dazzling with interchange in his dialogue. He tells a straightforward story in plain language. The story is interesting and Pelecanos has some sympathetic understanding of how young men make choices, and for what reason. I like the way he unfolds family dynamics – sensitive and believable. Pelecanos also displays some belief in this novel regarding our social responsibility to young offenders.

He makes some sensible arguments regarding the ability of young offenders to rehabilitate with the proper societal support. And he points out what the costs are to society when we fail to provide the supports. I appreciated this aspect of the novel.

But the endorsements that populate the back cover: ‘American crime writing at its finest’ and ‘Effortlessly gripping’ – I don’t think so. Pelecanos tells an uncomplicated story and the reader is often a little ahead of him. I believe anyone with questions about inner-city urban life in a large U.S. city should read this book. Any parents having problems with their teenage son might also find a little value here. But those looking for a suspense story masterfully told might look elsewhere. Pelecanos had enough to keep me reading to the end, but at the end I felt slightly shortchanged because I got there about 50 pages before the novel did.

I think it will be a while before I read another Pelecanos novel. He just doesn’t find room on my shelf alongside writers such as James Lee Burke, Patricia Cornwell, Äke Edwardson or Karen Fossum.

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Excerpts from the novel:

RELIGION – Amanda had by then welcomed Jesus into their lives, and Flynn found it increasingly difficult for the three of them to coexist.

CHANGE – It came to Amanda, when she was trying to “understand” Tom in moments of tension and conflict such as these, that it must be odd for her husband to have to act like an adult and deal with adult problems in the home in which he had grown up.

MEN – His aim was to instill values, work ethic and character in his son, and to see him through to adulthood, when he would become a productive member of society and in turn pass this along to his own children.  That was what he felt he was here for.  That was how all of this “worked.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The development was on the new side, the yards were still clean, and the several hundred homes that had been constructed here had replaced some problem-ridden projects that had been good for no one.  Houses here were still being sold for about three hundred thousand dollars, with low-interest loans and no-money-down offers in effect.

ARYAN BROTHERHOOD – “I wasn’t bad enough to be Aryan Brotherhood.  I’m not ashamed to say it.  I don’t even sub-scribe to their notions of race.  I don’t hate African American people.  Want you to know that.  This here ain’t got nothin to do with the color of your skin.  Truth is, the modern Aryan Brotherhood ain’t even about hating blacks, Mexicans, or Jews.  It’s about power, money and control.”

MEN – Like many men, Flynn did not care to talk about himself or, God forbid, his feelings.  He continued to go to their sessions because it made Amanda happy, but as a concession he made sure that he complained about the impending visit on the drive to the man’s office.  Predictably, he called the shrink ‘Dr. Peterhead’.

CHARACTER – He was challenging himself these days to take on reading material that was a bit more difficult. Ben knew who he was and where he wanted to go.  He was never going to be accomplished by society’s standards, or rich by anyone’s, but he was comfortable with his limitations.  For many, life was about the pursuit of status, but it was not so for him.  Ben’s was all about the quest for knowledge, and his vehicle was books.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The majority of the attendees were young, some in suits, others in T-shirts bearing Royalle Foreman’s likeness with mentions of love, the Lord, heaven and RIP.
In the lobby Chris took a program and looked up at the memorial wall adorned with more than a hundred photographs of deceased teenagers and young adults from across the city, victims of shootings and other violent acts.

DEATH – If the storytellers told it true, all stories would end in death.

– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them.  When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.

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