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Way Home
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Review
'his pitiless concentration on how minor decisions end up making huge differences, and how two generations of a family try, and fail, to understand each other, makes this a riveting read.' (THE GUARDIAN )
'a compelling social and domestic drama that's enhanced by Pelecanos' dynamic crime genre narrative style.' (THE LIST (Glasgow & Edinburgh) )
'a powerful tale of a wayward son and his disappointed father, with the hard-won redemption at the end staying with you long after putting it down.' (SHORTLIST )
'Eighteen years after his first novel, the diverting A Firing Offense, he has written a masterpiece ... The Way Home should confirm his status as one of America's great writers. ... he refines and underlines [his] themes to the point of perfection, until a final page that will have you gulping for air. Not just good. Great.' (Paul Connolly LONDON LITE )
'The Way Home, like The Turnaround before it, is a masterly study of fathers and sons. Pelecanos, who worked on the TV show The Wire, has a gift for characterisation and location - in this case Washington DC. The result is that rare thing: a gripping thriller that is also intensely moving.' (Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD )
'A typically assured performance ... notable for Pelecanos' mastery of teen talk'' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES )
'The most intelligent crime novel of the year. *****' (Boyd Hilton HEAT )
'as good a piece of modern crime fiction as there is ... a gripping study of the father-son relationship that just happens to stray into the justice system. Pelecanos has a gift for characterisation and conveying a sense of place. The result is that rare thing: a believable thriller that is also intensely moving.' (David Robinson THE SCOTSMAN )
'The Wire scriptwriter is known for his dextrous tales of corruption.' (OBSERVER )
'a compelling social and domestic drama that's enhanced by Pelecanos' dynamic crime genre narrative style.' (THE LIST (Glasgow & Edinburgh) )
'a powerful tale of a wayward son and his disappointed father, with the hard-won redemption at the end staying with you long after putting it down.' (SHORTLIST )
'Eighteen years after his first novel, the diverting A Firing Offense, he has written a masterpiece ... The Way Home should confirm his status as one of America's great writers. ... he refines and underlines [his] themes to the point of perfection, until a final page that will have you gulping for air. Not just good. Great.' (Paul Connolly LONDON LITE )
'The Way Home, like The Turnaround before it, is a masterly study of fathers and sons. Pelecanos, who worked on the TV show The Wire, has a gift for characterisation and location - in this case Washington DC. The result is that rare thing: a gripping thriller that is also intensely moving.' (Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD )
'A typically assured performance ... notable for Pelecanos' mastery of teen talk'' (John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES )
'The most intelligent crime novel of the year. *****' (Boyd Hilton HEAT )
'as good a piece of modern crime fiction as there is ... a gripping study of the father-son relationship that just happens to stray into the justice system. Pelecanos has a gift for characterisation and conveying a sense of place. The result is that rare thing: a believable thriller that is also intensely moving.' (David Robinson THE SCOTSMAN )
'The Wire scriptwriter is known for his dextrous tales of corruption.' (OBSERVER )
Review
'his pitiless concentration on how minor decisions end up making huge differences, and how two generations of a family try, and fail, to understand each other, makes this a riveting read.' THE GUARDIAN 'a compelling social and domestic drama that's enhanced by Pelecanos' dynamic crime genre narrative style.' THE LIST (Glasgow & Edinburgh) 'a powerful tale of a wayward son and his disappointed father, with the hard-won redemption at the end staying with you long after putting it down.' SHORTLIST 'Eighteen years after his first novel, the diverting A Firing Offense, he has written a masterpiece ... The Way Home should confirm his status as one of America's great writers. ... he refines and underlines [his] themes to the point of perfection, until a final page that will have you gulping for air. Not just good. Great.' -- Paul Connolly LONDON LITE 'The Way Home, like The Turnaround before it, is a masterly study of fathers and sons. Pelecanos, who worked on the TV show The Wire, has a gift for characterisation and location - in this case Washington DC. The result is that rare thing: a gripping thriller that is also intensely moving.' -- Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD 'A typically assured performance ... notable for Pelecanos' mastery of teen talk" -- John Dugdale SUNDAY TIMES 'The most intelligent crime novel of the year. *****' -- Boyd Hilton HEAT 'as good a piece of modern crime fiction as there is ... a gripping study of the father-son relationship that just happens to stray into the justice system. Pelecanos has a gift for characterisation and conveying a sense of place. The result is that rare thing: a believable thriller that is also intensely moving.' -- David Robinson THE SCOTSMAN 'The Wire scriptwriter is known for his dextrous tales of corruption.' OBSERVER
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Spurred on by Channel 4's 'The Book Club' I thought I'd choose another tome from their reading list and I'm glad I did. From reading the blurb on the back of the book it didn't really look my kind of thing at all but once I'd read the first few pages I was hooked. Plot wise it's the story of Chris Flynn a white middle class boy from Washington DC who goes off of the rails and ends up in a juvenile detention centre where he's the only white inmate on his wing. His father, Thomas Flynn, a hard working man with his own carpet business despairs of him whilst his pious mother Amanda tries to understand but turns to religion to fill the gap left by the family's strained relationship. Chris accepts his lot, makes some good friend inside and decides to go straight afterwards. Many years later whilst working for his father, Chris and another ex-con Ben find a holdall containing $50,000 under the floorboard of a house they're working on.
In many ways this is more of a man's book than a woman's but it was a gripping read anyway. Pelecanos weaves a convincing father/son element into the story and tries to understand why the lack of communication within families can cause great unhappiness in the long term which is clearly evident when mention is made of Chris' older sister Kate, who died in infancy. All of the male characters are incredibly well drawn, as well as Chris and Thomas there are Ben, Chris' colleague, Ali Carter, another ex-con who now works with juvenile offenders and Lawrence Newhouse whose actions rock the status quo. The street language and violence may be hard to understand sometimes, but I guess this is part of the package. All in all, if you're a fan of crime novels than you'll love this book and I'll be checking out some of Pelecanos' other novels as I've heard that he's a prolific author!
In many ways this is more of a man's book than a woman's but it was a gripping read anyway. Pelecanos weaves a convincing father/son element into the story and tries to understand why the lack of communication within families can cause great unhappiness in the long term which is clearly evident when mention is made of Chris' older sister Kate, who died in infancy. All of the male characters are incredibly well drawn, as well as Chris and Thomas there are Ben, Chris' colleague, Ali Carter, another ex-con who now works with juvenile offenders and Lawrence Newhouse whose actions rock the status quo. The street language and violence may be hard to understand sometimes, but I guess this is part of the package. All in all, if you're a fan of crime novels than you'll love this book and I'll be checking out some of Pelecanos' other novels as I've heard that he's a prolific author!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Less than 12 months after last book The Turnaround Pelecanos returns with another solid, enoyable read.
When Chris Flynn & co-worker Ben find $50,000 hidden in a cut-away floorboard while fitting a carpet in an empty house they leave it there, even though the temptation is there to take it. Both have been in trouble before & met in a juvenile detention centre but are trying to go straight. Ben fatefully lets their secret out to another ex inmate, the money is stolen & the people it belongs to come looking for it.
The book, though, is really about the relationship between Chris & his father, Tommy & how it is possible to change over time & earn a second chance. There is a lot of back story regarding Chris' time at Pine Ridge correctional facility & his day to day working life for his fathers floor laying firm after his release. This is the backbone of the book & balances the missing money plot nicely.
Pelecanos has a high profile at the moment due to his work on The Wire & well deserved it is, too. More mellow these days (the punky fizz of earlier Nick Stefanos books almost gone) he can still keep readers interested in the lives of his characters by making them plausible & real. Highly recommended.
When Chris Flynn & co-worker Ben find $50,000 hidden in a cut-away floorboard while fitting a carpet in an empty house they leave it there, even though the temptation is there to take it. Both have been in trouble before & met in a juvenile detention centre but are trying to go straight. Ben fatefully lets their secret out to another ex inmate, the money is stolen & the people it belongs to come looking for it.
The book, though, is really about the relationship between Chris & his father, Tommy & how it is possible to change over time & earn a second chance. There is a lot of back story regarding Chris' time at Pine Ridge correctional facility & his day to day working life for his fathers floor laying firm after his release. This is the backbone of the book & balances the missing money plot nicely.
Pelecanos has a high profile at the moment due to his work on The Wire & well deserved it is, too. More mellow these days (the punky fizz of earlier Nick Stefanos books almost gone) he can still keep readers interested in the lives of his characters by making them plausible & real. Highly recommended.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Chris Flynn comes from a good family, consisting of a hard-working father who owns his own business and tries to do right by his son, and a loving mother. Yet he still strays from the straight and narrow and gets involved in petty crimes as a teenager - larceny, drugs, some minor violence. He ends up in a young offenders' camp where he makes friendships and is taught life lessons.
A few years down the line we pick up his story. He's gone straight and works for his father's carpet-laying firm alongside a friend he made inside the camp. One day, whilst on a job, they discover a large sum of hidden money underneath the floorboards of a property. Although they resist temptation to take it, the find nevertheless sets events in motion that will have far-reaching effects on their lives.
The author once again provides a touching portrait of a father and son, unable at times to articulate their feelings for one another. He asks age-old questions, such as does incarceration work? Are those from a poor background who drift into crime totally beyond salvation? Pelecanos seems to say `no' - he believes in redemption, of people overcoming obstacles in their lives, and in the intrinsic goodness of the human spirit.
What more can I say? His dialogue is equal to, if not better than, any other crime writer you care to name and his characterisation is beyond great. He is a poet of the streets, a champion of the underclass.
`The Way Home' is excellent, but having said that, it's not quite as good as his other recent novels - `The Turnaround' and `The Night Gardener'. However, if you've never read anything by him before this is still as good a place as any to start.
George Pelecanos is criminally under-appreciated in this country. Perhaps it's because he doesn't write crime thrillers per se - you won't find a detective piecing together clues in his books, no rampant serial killers, no red herrings or brilliant twists. Or at least not very often. No, he largely writes crime DRAMAS, wherein he tackles sociological themes, examining cause and effect, brilliantly presenting the inner-city tensions and unease within a big American city - Washington D.C. He's not merely a superb crime writer, he's a brilliant writer, period.
He was an executive producer/writer on the superb American TV show `The Wire' and the publishers draw attention to this on the front cover - in the hope that it will boost sales. The manager of the bookshop where I picked this up lamented to me that he'd bought in a lot of George's back catalogue, but no one was interested in buying them. Pelecanos has many fans among the crime writing fraternity, and critics love him too. So why doesn't he sell in this country when he's easily one of the best writers around? It's a big mystery.
A few years down the line we pick up his story. He's gone straight and works for his father's carpet-laying firm alongside a friend he made inside the camp. One day, whilst on a job, they discover a large sum of hidden money underneath the floorboards of a property. Although they resist temptation to take it, the find nevertheless sets events in motion that will have far-reaching effects on their lives.
The author once again provides a touching portrait of a father and son, unable at times to articulate their feelings for one another. He asks age-old questions, such as does incarceration work? Are those from a poor background who drift into crime totally beyond salvation? Pelecanos seems to say `no' - he believes in redemption, of people overcoming obstacles in their lives, and in the intrinsic goodness of the human spirit.
What more can I say? His dialogue is equal to, if not better than, any other crime writer you care to name and his characterisation is beyond great. He is a poet of the streets, a champion of the underclass.
`The Way Home' is excellent, but having said that, it's not quite as good as his other recent novels - `The Turnaround' and `The Night Gardener'. However, if you've never read anything by him before this is still as good a place as any to start.
George Pelecanos is criminally under-appreciated in this country. Perhaps it's because he doesn't write crime thrillers per se - you won't find a detective piecing together clues in his books, no rampant serial killers, no red herrings or brilliant twists. Or at least not very often. No, he largely writes crime DRAMAS, wherein he tackles sociological themes, examining cause and effect, brilliantly presenting the inner-city tensions and unease within a big American city - Washington D.C. He's not merely a superb crime writer, he's a brilliant writer, period.
He was an executive producer/writer on the superb American TV show `The Wire' and the publishers draw attention to this on the front cover - in the hope that it will boost sales. The manager of the bookshop where I picked this up lamented to me that he'd bought in a lot of George's back catalogue, but no one was interested in buying them. Pelecanos has many fans among the crime writing fraternity, and critics love him too. So why doesn't he sell in this country when he's easily one of the best writers around? It's a big mystery.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable
This is an author I have known about for a while but never got around too. I am pleasantly surprised that I did. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Vegar
Way Too Good
I really enjoy Pelecanos when he decides to write his family life books. He gets down to the real Washington and how blue collar families live their lives. Read more
Published 3 months ago by nickyb
Not as described
I did enjoy this book however it isn't a thriller it is a story of a young man growing into adulthood and accepting and moving on from the mistakes of the past and trying to mend... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Alex Eavis
A modern tale
The basic skeleton of this book is, a good boy gone bad, and can he go good again. With the background cast of a caring family, and friends barely keeping on the straight and... Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. McGhee
Drug-free cure for insomnia
It's not often I give up on a book half way through, but this was one that I simply couldn't finish. Read more
Published 20 months ago by The Writing Writer
Average at best
I was expecting good things from a writer on The Wire but this novel was a real let-down. There was little to no characterisation and it was all achieved by the narrator spelling... Read more
Published 20 months ago by AO
Enjoyable but not a crime caper!
This is my first Pelecanos outing and I'm not so sure I started with the best of his books. I thought the book on the whole was well written, yet I wouldn't class this book as... Read more
Published 20 months ago by CeeCee
Sharp fialogue and good character development
The 'hidden bag of cash' doesn't appear until half way through the novel. What the story is really about is the transition of Chris Flynn from young offender to a man making an... Read more
Published 24 months ago by C. Ryan
A cracking read.....
Chris Flynn is a troubled teenager from a good home. As the book opens he is incarcerated in a facility for young offenders in Maryland. Read more
Published on 14 May 2010 by Wynne Kelly
Bring it home!
The Way Home is a fantastic first foray into the world of Pelecanos. Believable characterisation and a well woven plot add up to a brutal and gripping story. Read more
Published on 6 April 2010 by C. Jackson
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