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Soul Circus
 
 

Soul Circus (Hardcover)

by George Pelecanos (Author) "THE chains binding Granville Oliver's wrists scraped the scarred surface of the table before him ..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Orion; First Edition edition (17 Feb 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 075285190X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752851907
  • Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 17.5 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 682,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
With Soul Circus, George Pelecanos brings his sequence of novels about black Washington private eye Derek Strange and his partner Terry Quinn to the late 1990s and some sort of closure. The city they grew up in has changed but, as Strange continues to point out to the angry white Quinn, not as much as all that. It is just that asking the wrong question in the wrong tone of voice can be more dangerous when young men have guns and drug-fuelled short tempers. Young gangsters such as Strange's client Oliver have poisoned their own communities with heroin, crack and an equally addictive cult of machismo. Strange's work for Oliver is sparked by opposition to the death penalty, even for a creature like him.

Even more than usual with Pelecanos, this is a thriller with an agenda--we watch close-up how the availability of semi-legal guns becomes the occasion for a sequence of bloody deaths. This is an intelligent, wistful book that tries to understand violence as much as to condemn it. Strange has become one of the most interesting detectives in modern crime fiction simply because his conscience, his sense of history and his love of sweet soul music are so tightly intertwined. --Roz Kaveney

Review
NATIONAL UK AUTHOR TOUR - CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW IN WASHINGTON Following 2 feet of snow poor George spent 9 hours on the runway at Washington airport waiting to fly over for his tour, then a chilly day and a half at an aiport hotelbefore we decided to cancel his tour. The bookshops who had events have beenvery understanding and George will be signing bookplates for them and their customers. The shops had done a great job too: OTTKARS in Clapham had taken 80 reservations and WATERSTONE'S in Manchester and Leeds had about 50 reservations each. The good news is his ticket is fully refundable and we only lost a50 deposit for the launch party. In total, cancelling his our at such short notice is only going to cost us about 350/400. The even BETTER news is that George was able to do the following interviews from Washington:Radio 4's FRONTROW on Friday 21 February, Radio 5's SIMON MAYO Show on Thursday 20 February;plus interviews for PUBLISHING NEWS (2,000 word interview), BOOKS magazine, WORD magazine, CRIME TIME, SHOTS, MOJO magazine and LEEDS GUIDE. Reviews havealso started to come in, highlights include: 'With each novel, Pelecanos hasbecome more sophisticated... It's full of tension and character and it makesyou think. It's hard to ask for more than that.' THE MIRROR 'Reading them (Pelecanos' novels) makes you realise how contemporary novels are obsessed withthe concerns of the middle class and how the poor have been marginalised andreduced to cliche...He writes with insight and anger about why young men aredrawn into gangs and violent crime..Pelecanos understands the lure of violence, the need for action. Soul Circus packs a powerful anti-gun message but hecan still communicate the thrill of holding a weapon in your hand'Simon Hinde, THE EXPRESS 5-Star review Don't Miss 'Soul Circus is Pelecanos' 11th novelin as many years - a teeming, brilliant book that confirms what long-term fans and Uncut regulars will already know - namely, that on this form, George Pis just about unbeatable, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporarycrime fiction, and a great writer in any genre.' UNCUT magazine 'The 12th novel by George P Pelecanos firmly establishes him as a prince of crime writerswho may one day become king...' Amy Raphel ESQUIRE 'Pelecanos has an mean ear for dialogue and a way of propelling the action through speech that's reminiscent of George V Higgins. His exploration of conflicting moral dilemmas, coupled with a refusal to make his villains all bad and his heroes all good, makes Pelecanos one of America's finest contemporary writers. TIME OUT 12/3/03 'This is Pelecanos's most outspoken, angry and political novel so far. At thesame time, it's a fast-paced, compellin detective story.' MORNING STAR 10/3/03 'Pelecanos is the ringmaster of one of the best big tops in crime fiction.' UNCUT (roundup) Reviews are also due in the following:FRONT magazine - reviewTHE GUARDIAN - reviewTHE SUNDAY TIMES 20/4/03syndicated review to all localpapers. Plus an interview with George appeared in METRO newspaper in Manchester and Leeds prior to his visit and George was 'Pick of the Week' in THE INDEPENDENT on 15 February. We have already confirmed that George will be comingto the UK to tour for his next book in February 2004. "Pelecanos has a mean ear for dialogue and a way of propelling the action through speech that's reminiscent of George V Higgins. His explorations of conflicting moral dilemmas,coupled with a refusal to make his villains all bad and his heroes all good,makes Pelecanos one of America's very finest contemporary writers." Martin Radcliffe, TIME OUT 12/03/03 'Powerful and moving novel...' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 16

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THE chains binding Granville Oliver's wrists scraped the scarred surface of the table before him. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A Confused Soul, 15 April 2008
By Sam "samueltyler" (Reading, Berkshire) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Soul Circus (Paperback)
Strange is a PI working the seedier streets of Washington. With his background as a cop he is willing to go into the areas that other investigators would choose to avoid. Over the years he has built up a reputation as a decent man, not to be messed with. Therefore, when a career criminal hires him to find a witness to aid in his defence, Strange chooses to help. With his new partner in tow Strange must once again enter the world of street gangs to find a girl scared for her life. Can they get the girl and her son out before the street gangs find out about what she knows?

I tried my hardest to enjoy `Soul Circus', but by the end I just could not. Pelacanos writes a very realistic feeling book with the gang culture feeling well researched. However, he overcomplicates the book by having multiple storylines and multiple character sets. By half way I was unable to know who was who and was also confused as to what case Strange and co. were investigating at that moment. This only gets worse towards the end when characters are dealt with and you are left wondering why. To top it all, the conclusion was particularly poor as by this time I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The blame must fall to Pelecanos who chose over complication when simplicity would have sufficed.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Murder Capital Once Again..., 12 May 2003
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
I've lived in DC for 20 years and Pelecanos is only the second author I've come across who writes about the DC that I know and recognize (the other is Edward Jones, check out his story collection “Lost in the City” if you can find it). The third book in the Derek Strange series picks up immediately where Hell To Pay left off. In the wake of drug lord Granville Oliver's arrest (as detailed in Hell To Pay), two street gangs are attempting to fill the void his departure has left on the drug market. Meanwhile, Strange is working for Oliver's defense team, gathering background information on various witnesses. This surprising assignment mainly involves the search for one woman, and it soon becomes apparent that someone doesn't want Strange to find her.

Here, Pelecanos weaves a critique of the city's treatment at the hands of Congress into the story. Despite the city's 1981 repeal of the death penalty, and a 1992 citywide referendum that rejected the death penalty by a 2-1 margin, federal prosecutors have sought the death penalty in high-profile D.C. cases (such as the "Starbucks murders") with support from Congress. Strange tells himself he's working for the ex-drug lord as a matter of anti-death penalty conscience, but as in all of Pelecanos' books, there's more to it than that (as readers of Hell To Pay will know). The one misstep in his treatment of this is the appearance of a "big brother" conspiracy element that threatens to push the story into the "24/X-Files" zone. Fortunately, this never becomes too overt, and the story is allowed to move at its own pace.

Even more than in the first two books, Strange and his fiery white partner, Terry Quinn find themselves tilting at windmills in a crusade to make just a tiny difference to their community. It's been ten years since the "Murder Capital" days of the early '90s, but little change is evident in the worst parts of the city as the city regains the dubious title. If Right As Rain was about racism, and the last one about hopelessness, this one is about how guns and hopelessness form a lethal brew that threaten entire communities. Pelecanos' other target in this book is guns, more specifically, the ease by which they can be bought in Maryland and Virginia and then transferred into DC. He's clearly talked to ATF people to get the lowdown on waiting periods, and how straw purchases work. It's remarkably simple, and there's no remedy in sight. Some readers may find Pelecanos to have too much of a personal agenda woven into the plot, but he's walked the streets of Southeast DC and seen what goes down and why.

This is easily the darkest and most depressing of the three Strange books to date, gushing humanity, anger, and frustration. Strange and his creator clearly feel that the only way to turn things around is one kid at a time (Pelecanos has adopted several children), and that's the one good message to take from the book. As always, the cast of characters is large and distinctive, although Terry becomes more of an enigma filled with demons that never quite make enough sense for the reader. For fans of Pelecanos' earlier work, Nick Stefanos makes a cameo appearance here and there's a hint that he'll have a larger role in the next novel. All in all, another solid entry in Pelecanos' D.C. sagas.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars More From The Master, 19 Mar 2003
By Steve Ball (London, England) - See all my reviews
Set in the deprived areas of Washington DC avoided by tourists and politicians alike, Soul Circus is George P Pelecanos 11th novel, and the third to feature Private Investigator Derek Strange and his partner Terry Quinn.

Strange is trying to save former drug overlord Granville Oliver from the death penalty, while rival gang factions battle to fill the gap in the market left by Oliver’s arrest. But someone in federal law enforcement is desperate to stop Strange from finding evidence, and enlists the help of the gangs to stop him.

Meanwhile Strange and Quinn locate a young woman in what appears to be a routine disappearance case. When the woman is later found murdered in a local park, and Strange’s family and livelihood are threatened, their guilt forces them to reassess the consequences of their actions.

In typical Pelecanos style, the action is peppered with references to popular culture, especially music. Events take place to a backdrop of Missy Elliott, Ennio Morricone and Marvin Gaye.

Throughout the book, Pelecanos explores the harsh realities of life on the streets, and the obstacles faced by honest citizens in their day-to-day existence. As the characters develop, we see them struggle to find redemption by “making a difference” in the lives of those around them.

Unjudgmental about his flawed characters, Pelecanos reserves his condemnation for the social policies which leave young men with no hope to grow up too fast, mere miles from the wealth of the country’s decision-makers on Capitol Hill.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars No need to send in the clowns
Other than a single, somewhat intimidating mistaken route through Baltimore many years ago, I have no experience of the world described by George Pelecanos. Read more
Published 3 months ago by G. M. Sinstadt

4.0 out of 5 stars Class Act
George P. is a class act , one of the finest writers at work today.If you've been reading his stuff for a while then you can rest assured that you won't be disappointed with Soul... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2004 by William Stephen Dalrymple

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing: too little, too soon
After the brilliance of its two fore-runners (Right As Rain, Hell o Pay), one would expect a little more from Soul Circus. Read more
Published on 7 April 2003 by Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Circus Delivers Just Like I Knew George Pelecanos Can
Soul Circus takes up where Hell To Pay Leaves off. You don't need Hell To Pay to read this book but I highly recommend you buy all three and read them, Right As Rain, Hell To Pay... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2003 by Clynn Lee

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