It’s the spring of ’86 in Washington D.C. and while Reagan may technically be in charge of the country, cocaine is ruling the streets.
Marcus Clay is tIt’s the spring of ’86 in Washington D.C. and while Reagan may technically be in charge of the country, cocaine is ruling the streets.
Marcus Clay is trying to run the record stores he owns and catch as many of the college basketball tournament games as possible on TV. Unfortunately, the record business could be better, he and his wife are separated, and his best friend and employee Dimitri Karras has a growing coke habit. When a drug runner wrecks his car right outside one of Marcus’ shops somebody snatches the money out of the car before the cops show up, and that kicks off a series of events that eventually find Marcus and Dimitri mixed up with drug dealers and dirty cops.
This is set 10 years after King Suckerman which also featured Marcus and Dimitri, but much like that one this isn’t just their story. In fact, they’re almost supporting players in this although much of it is filtered to us through their experiences. As always, Pelecanos manages to create an authentic sense of time and place by constantly working in the music, clothes, cars, and television shows of the time, but those are just the details. Where he really shines in telling us what it’s life is like for these characters whether it’s Dimitri going out for a drug fueled night of partying or a dirty cop struggling to deal with his wife’s mental health issues.
The story of the money is the connective thread that makes this a crime novel, but what Pelecanos is really doing is telling us the story of D.C. at a certain time and place. There’s a sense of impending doom over this one with many characters noting how the drugs and street crime are taking over the city, and crack was on the horizon. Pelecanos has characters casually mention rumors that the mayor is a drug addict as well as a local basketball star which are hints at how much worse things will get if you’re familiar with their true stories.
This is Pelecanos following his usual template, and he was already very good at using that to write compelling stories....more
My first George Pelecanos novel was King Suckerman which I bought after hearing a radio interview with him on NPR back in the late ‘90s. I didn’t realMy first George Pelecanos novel was King Suckerman which I bought after hearing a radio interview with him on NPR back in the late ‘90s. I didn’t realize it at the time but that was actually the second book in his DC Quartet series, and while I went on to read the rest of those as well as his Strange & Quinn series along with several of his stand-alone novels, I never went back and read his earlier Nick Stefanos novels or this one until recently. After finally working my way through those, I’m really regretting not having taken the trouble to track them all down and read them in order.
Forgive me, Oh Great and Mighty Pelecanos. I have sinned against thee and can only beg your mercy.
In addition to being the first book in its own arc this also functions a sort of prequel to the Nick Stefanos trilogy with a story that concerns his grandfather, also named Nick, back in the post-war 1940s. However, the story is more about Pete Karras who ran the streets of DC in his youth with his buddies and then went off to the Pacific during World War II in which he did his fair share of killing. Back in DC after the war, Pete hooks up with his friend Joe Recevo and they start doing some muscle work for a small-time gangster building a protection racket. However, Pete is mouthy and doesn’t like getting rough with other Greek immigrants so he gets a very painful beating as his pink slip from the gang.
Three years later and Pete is married with an infant son that he supports by working in Nick’s diner. A dissatisfied Pete drifts through his days by cheating on his wife and leaving his family home alone as he walks the streets of DC bumping into friends and enemies. Eventually storylines involving a young man looking for his sister, a string of vicious killings of prostitutes and an extortion scheme against Nick all collide into one big mess with Pete in the middle.
Pete is a typical Pelecanos creation in a lot of ways. He loves DC and spends most of his time haunting various spots in the city. He broods over the past and is dissatisfied with the present while having an idea that his inability to focus on the here and now is causing life to pass him by. He wishes he was a better husband and father, but can’t muster the will power to just sit at home and play with his son when the city’s night life calls to him. Pete seems trapped by his own lack of inertia and rejects any idea of trying to start his own business or otherwise do anything that might change his life.
These outsider characters that Pelecanos writes feel like they don’t fit into their own lives. They’re more comfortable making grand and dangerous gestures for friends that allow them to keep their self image of being loyal intact while they’re failing basic responsibilities in other areas. They’ve got just enough sense and gumption to avoid being labeled total screw-ups, but there’s a stubborn clinging to their idea of what used to be rather than ever trying to move forward. I’d call them tragic in some ways, but that’d be playing into their own romantic self-images and I don’t want to be an enabler.
This is a great story about a bygone era and Peleancos really makes you feel like you’re in post-war DC with a pack of smokes and a shot of rye on the bar in front of you. You could worry about the characters he makes you care about in this dark story, but it’d be pointless because they ain’t going to change. So just tilt your fedora back on your head and salute them with the shot glass before downing it. That’s the kind of gesture they’d appreciate as they go out looking for trouble....more
In the summer of ‘76 best buddies Marcus Clay and Demetri Karras are spending their free time playing pick-up basketball games while everyone in WashiIn the summer of ‘76 best buddies Marcus Clay and Demetri Karras are spending their free time playing pick-up basketball games while everyone in Washington DC is buzzing about the upcoming bicentennial celebration and a new blaxplotation flick called King Suckerman. As a Vietnam veteran and owner of a record shop Marcus is the more grown-up of the two while Demetri has no ambition beyond being a small time pot dealer. When Marcus accompanies Demetri to buy some weed the two end up in confrontation that makes them instant enemies of the dangerous Wilton Cooper and his gang of killers.
The two main characters are the strongest part with Marcus being the hard worker who has a sense of responsibility that doesn’t allow him to let things slide. Demetri is the flip side of this as the slacker who despite being a decent guy deep down can always find an excuse to take the easy way out. Despite their differences Pelecanos creates a believable bond between the two, and he often uses similar types of people in his other novels. He also builds up a great cast of supporting players around them including the murderous Wilton Cooper.
The other great aspect is Pelecanos’ ability to evoke the setting of Washington DC of a certain time. By using a mix of local history and geography combined with vivid descriptions of cars, clothes, food, and especially music, Pelecanos makes you feel like you’re driving in an Dodge Charger with the 8-track cranked up on your way to catch a late showing of King Suckerman.
It’s also incredibly patient novel that isn’t filled with action. It’s very easy to get caught up with Marcus and Demetri as well as the other characters as they just go about their lives with nothing huge happening. You can even forget that this is a crime novel at heart which makes the violence that much more shocking and awful when it does come.
This is the first novel by George Pelecanos I ever bought, and I got my old 1998 paperback copy of it signed a few months back when I got to meet him at a book singing. That prompted this long overdue reread, and it gave me a new appreciation for what he does in these books....more
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