The Turnaround by George Pelecanos Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Turnaround
Book Review: A Mystery Novel That Can Compete With Any Literary Fiction Bestseller
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big fan of mystery novelists like Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and of course George Pelecanos. But, I'm also in a book group that reads mainly literary fiction. Readers of literary fiction tend to look down at the mystery genre. But, The Turnaround contains such great story telling and character development, that it can easily hold its own with any literary fiction bestseller that I have read for my book group. I highly recommend this novel to everyone. By the way, I really liked Pelecanos' The Night Gardener, but The Turnaround is beyond comparison. I read The Turnaround in one sitting because I simply could not put it down. And I rarely if ever do that with any book. I wish I could give it six stars!Book Review: A compelling tale of dashed hopes and shattered dreams
Summary: 5 Stars
The Turnaround chronicles the lives of two sets of men, all residents or former residents of the same Washington D.C. suburbs, chronicling the tragic effects of a confrontation the men had in 1972 when they were teenagers, when one group, consisting of three white boys, strayed onto the turf of another, consisting of three black youths.
The story fades to black before those events completely unfold, but readers slowly learn about what happened that day as Pelecanos shifts the action to the modern day, as he describes the activities of the men, now adults, as they try to make their way in a world that has drastically changed. The thrust of the remainder of the novel centers on what happens when these men once again cross paths; what happens is in some ways predictable, but, in other important ways, remarkable.
The Turnaround is a crime novel, at least in the sense that it centers on the commission of an act of violence, but it is much, much more than that. Pelecanos brings his characters to vivid life through his prose, effectively conveying their worldviews and emotions to his audience. That he does this so effortlessly, considering the disparate natures and environs of the members of his cast, pays testament to his considerable talents--Pelecanos has skills, and they're all on ample display in this affecting, surprising, and poignant book.
Book Review: Another classic from Pelecanos
Summary: 5 Stars
The Turnaround is the 15th Washington DC based novel authored by George Pelecanos. Critical acclaim for his novels as well as for his writing on HBO's The Wire has been fairly easy to come by for Mr. Pelecanos. Commercial success, on the other hand has somewhat escaped him. His peers and coworkers on The Wire, Richard Price and Dennis Lehane have both experienced sales that have, to date, eluded Pelecanos. Someone that has read all three authors for any amount of time would tell you that this fact is a damn shame, for Pelecanos writes with just as much power and emotion as Price or Lehane. With The Turnaround, George Pelecanos may finally be poised to break big.
In his early novels, Pelecanos wrote mostly hard-boiled/crime/detective stories and while these books were examples of great genre writing, they were just that, focused on the genre. With each book the writing of Mr. Pelecanos has progressed. As of late, while he has used some type of crime as a jumping off point, his writing has become more focused on people and their place in society. The Turnaround continues in this sociological vein.
The Turnaround begins on a hot summer day in 1972 when three white teenagers drive into a black neighborhood and come across three young men who were born and grew up in the neighborhood. Two of the boys in the car, full of youth, testosterone, booze and weed make decisions that have dire results. Their words and actions leave Billy Cachoris shot dead. Peter Whitten makes a running escape while the third boy, Alex Pappas, is left beaten and scarred due to his indecision. The three local teens also make decisions that they will carry with them for their lifetimes. James Monroe ends up a convicted murderer, Charles Baker beats Pappas and Raymond Monroe is left with psychological baggage that he will carry with him for 35 years.
Fast forward thirty-five years and we find that Pappas has taken over his father's diner business. He is married with a teenage son of his own. He also has a recently dead son, lost to the war in Iraq. James Monroe has served his time plus some and is trying to get his life on track as a small time auto mechanic. Raymond Monroe is a physical therapist working in DC at Walter Reed. Charles Baker has been in and out of prison. He is currently out of prison and looking to improve his life, mostly by illegal means. A chance encounter on the grounds of Walter Reed brings the men back into contact with one another.
Pelecanos develops a strong background for each character. His writing is purposeful and strong yet it lets the reader decide on their view of the character. The writing is never so overbearing that it leads you to a conclusion. That is the true beauty of Pelecanos' writing, he lets the reader develop an opinion, it is never forced upon them. In the Turnaround he sets the stage for the reader to develop their opinions on each of the characters, their life choices, the work being done at Walter Reed, the war, even their musical tastes.
The magic of the writing of George Pelecanos is in his subtle yet powerful descriptions of every day events that we take for granted. Pelecanos writes like a well-trained boxer, every word is used for maximum impact and no energy is ever wasted. His choice of words always seems correct and often his descriptions of mundane every day events hit with a subtle yet powerful force that leaves the reader near tears. Pelecanos also has a rare gift for writing authentic dialogue. He does not use over the top tough guy posturing, instead he develops the characters through dialogue that one could overhear on the street in any city. In other words, his writing has an aspect of believability that is often lacking in the fiction of today.
In the end, the bulk of The Turnaround is about the randomness of life, decisions, choices and repercussions from those choices. Choices get made, and they impact one man differently from another. Some of these choices are made in haste, some are well thought out, but all have a definite end result at some point in time. What Pelecanos shows in The Turnaround is that the result of a decision does not have to have end on the date that it was made. The Turnaround illustrates that sometimes you can still make things right and correct years after a decision has been made.
Mr. Pelecanos has gained some mainstream name recognition with his work on The Wire and there is no reason why he should not join Richard Price and Dennis Lehane on the best-seller list. His writing combines the easy and accurate character development of Price with the eye for attention and detail of Lehane. Of the group of three, my money is on Pelecanos as the strongest and most entertaining storyteller.
Book Review: Author's Political Agenda
Summary: 1 Stars
Another blank slate for the author to give us a view of his politics. Tell me about it on the cover so I don't waste my money.Book Review: Better Than The Shack
Summary: 4 Stars
The Turnaround is a ultimately a novel of redemption and forgiveness; of getting past one's racial hangups and seeing others as persons. For that and that alone, Pelecanos does a much more convincing job than William Young's hit, "The Shack". The bad guy gets it in the end without all the conived "drama" that Young forces upon you. If you read the first part of the book carefully, the plot twist "discovered" by one character near the end, isn't surprising. I like Pelecanos as a writer and as someone who takes pains to get the cultural nuances right. The book has a great IPOD playlist for those who grew up in the 70s. In all a good quick read very suitable for a plane trip or as a sub for a night of reruns on cable.