A Smooth and Easy Miss

The Man Who Came Uptown - George Pelecanos - (Mullholland)

There is something smooth and easy about the lived in feel of a George Pelecanos book - no matter if it's the first time you're taking a ride with him or if you've been down this road before.

The latest outing from the Emmy nominated writer and producer; The Wire and HBO's The Deuce - and bestselling author - The Man Who Came Uptown - melds a handful of characters diverse life tales and the intersections and crossing of paths. Pelecanos is a master of an easy style of describing the settings that he places his equally comfortable characters in. Once again he treads on familiar ground dropping his folks into the neighborhoods in and around Washington DC.

As he has done in past outings, Pelecanos delivers a depth to even the bit players in every scene, that will have you wondering if there is more than meets the eye to their given piece of the story. Unfortunately here, Pelecanos' writing skills outweigh the story.

The Man Who Came Uptown, has all of the makings of something great; a heady brew of the once gritty streets of DC moving through gentrification, mixed with a crime story set against the back drop of redemption, revenge and unrequited love. At times it comes off as a series of short individual stories that Pelecanos tried to weave together to form a full length novel. The ending falls short, seeming like something that was tacked on in an effort  to pull everything together.

George Pelecanos – The Cut

Some writers have the ability to draw great characters; vivid portraits of the players who drive storylines. Others have the ability to paint great settings; the gritty underbellies of inner cities, the wide open spaces of suburban sprawl or even the tumbledown backwoods homestead.


Then there is the rare writer, who has the ability to capture not only great characters and locations but also the feel and the vibe that is the real heartbeat of the story. Think Elmore Leonard cool.

Or George Pelecanos.

His latest, The Cut, has its own cool vibe; a real, lived in, comfortable style. When Pelecanos writes about Washington, DC and surrounding communities, his economy of words reads as if he is leading you through a familiar, easy-going, but edgy hood.

Pelecanos’ characters, is this case, “investigator” Spero Lucas brings his own rhythm to the pacing of the story. The fact that the former Marine grooves to cool reggae and is even known to mix in a little percussive DC go go music and kick it old school, just seem to work with this complex, multi-layered character.

Lucas does his thing, working more like a modern day tracker, both people and things, more so than a typical fictional PI. The concept is simple; Lucas agrees to track down a clients stolen item in exchange for a 40% piece of the action…The Cut.

In this instance, the client is a drug dealer facing trial, the item are a series of missing FEDEXed drug shipments. Lucas tracks down the cash from the sale of the goods, takes his cuts and passes along the rest. And that’s where the story takes an interesting turn.

Pelecanos attracted a legion of new fans for his writing and producing of the HBO Series, The Wire; those fans and those of his Derek Strange series will want to submerge themselves in this very quick read.