The Turnaround by George Pelecanos Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Turnaround
Book Review: Story of redemption - not a "whodunnit".
Summary: 4 Stars
George Pelecanos strikes true with everything he has ever written. Whether it is a tale of true crime, a drama about racial conflict or screenplay for film or TV. "The Turnaround" falls into the area of redemption and racial conflict.
Three white youths, in the mid-1970's Washington D.C. area, drive into a predominantly black neighborhood to "raise some hell". What ends up happening is their being caught in a dead end 'turnaround' street that forces them to face the small group of black youths they verbally defamed (in addition to throwing a piece of pie in one of their faces). The end result is one of the white boys being shot to death and another permanently disfigured with a serious eye injury.
The story than jumps to present day. The injured youth now runs his family Greek Diner. Three of the black youths have taken different paths - one works as an Occupational Therapist for injured veterans; his brother spent 20 years in prison for the shooting and now works at a neighborhood auto shop, the third is a lifetime criminal in and out of trouble and still up to no good. The white man, Alex, runs into Raymond, the Occupational Therapist, and they work towards repairing old wounds. There is a meeting between Alex, Raymond and his brother, James the auto mechanic. The third person in the latter group, Charles, has gone his own way and this includes the prospect of black-mailing Alex and the other living white youth from the incident, Peter, by requesting 50K from each of them. Needless to say, all is does not end well for Charles.
Pelecanos handles race relations and the multi-ethnic areas of Washington D.C. with style and precision and really puts the reader there. If you've read all of his previous work you will pick up on many references to characters and locations from prior novels. The second part of the book is not nearly as interesting as the first part dealing with life in the 1970's. A fast and gritty read.
Book Review: Strong story with very few weaknesses
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked The Turnaround. It wasn't an effective mystery, but I don't think it was meant primarily as a mystery, and it succeeded pretty well as a tale of suspense. I cared about the characters and I wanted to see how things would turn out for them.
I especially appreciated the lack of stereotypically idiotic plot points that would have been in a book like this if a lesser author had written it. In dumb novels, smart, successful people do incredibly dumb things and will do even dumber things to cover them up, and it is trivially easy to take advantage of them. That does happen, but not normally. Successful people often earned their success by not being stupid and impulsive, and they have resources available to them that the would-be predator generally does not. Contrast this with Tripwire, which is full of such plot contrivances.
My only real complaint is that the characters are a little too simple. They're good or evil, or just plain dumb. There are shades of gray, but the author's moral view is a little too obvious and it gets in the way of making the characters real and complex. Still, it's not terrible in this regard, and it's well worth reading.
Book Review: The Turnaround is based on a real incident
Summary: 5 Stars
As I read Part I of The Turnaround, I got the uncomfortable feeling of familiarity. It wasn't just the DC setting. As a small child I lived in Shaw, then Glenmont, White Oak, Langley Park, Tacoma and Takoma Park. Pelecanos has an eye for detail and he makes all of those places + Southeast DC and PG County very real.
It was the story that was familiar. Then it hit me. In 1972, some white teenagers drove into in a small isolated Black section of Kensington, Maryland to harass and threaten the local people. When it was over one of the white teenagers was dead and several people faced serious charges. I was writing for an underground newspaper at the time and our paper covered the story and tried to keep it alive. My memory is hazy now about it all resolved in real life, but if I can find an old copy of those issues, maybe I can add some more detail.
Book Review: Tremendous book
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, what a book. I didn't want it to end and I want to read more about these characters hopefully in future books. Pelecanos is at the top of his game. Every new book is a cause for celebration. I tried to read this book slowly but that never works with my favorite authors. I have read all of his books, enjoyed his writing on "The Wire" and looked forward to getting this book...and now I am done. WAHHHHH.
He certainly understands so much about the nature of urban problems. I loved this book because it was ultimately about redemption, forgiveness, the stupidity of youth, and the balance of joy and pain.
On a personal note, it was kind of spooky for me to read because I remember 1972 so clearly growing up in NYC. I was 19. He captured the mood of the times. I loved it that he included the Stones in the book. I did see the Stones at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder in 1972. I remember that we had to send in postcards to be part of a lottery in order to be able to buy tickets. I believe "Exile" came with postcards in the album. I too sat and read the liner notes and studied the art while listening to the album. Pelecanos even described my situation at home. My mom died of breast cancer and my dad remarried and everything became hard for me. How can an author write so well that the reader relives their youth? Yet he does it and does it well. Then he segues to the present and the reader is now relating to the same character years later because the reader is also older. Another freaky moment is that his characters were the brothers Alex and Matthew and I have two art students who are brothers with the same names. Thank you Mr. Pelecanos. Not only did you write an amazing story with fantastic story arcs, believable characters who bring compassion to the reader, you hit some very personal nerves in this reader. Thank you. If I were the new president I would want you on my committee regarding urban matters. You really understand the problems and why they happen.
Great book.
Book Review: Uplifting Noir?
Summary: 5 Stars
'The Turnaround' is based on an actual event that occurred in the Washington DC area in the summer of 1972. Three white kids out partying take a turn down a road into a small black enclave looking for a little trouble. They tossed a firecracker into a crowd in front of a grocery store - and then sped off only to learn that the road was a dead end. One guy successfully skedaddled. One guy got shot and one guy was badly beaten.
Pelecanos takes this event and his characters' later fortunes as the focal point of his latest novel. He revisits these actors some 36 years later and creates a fascinating look at how their lives have gone since 'the incident'. His examination takes the reader into some of the seedier parts of life in DC, but also takes a look at the blue-collar world of black and white characters. Pelecanos also explores the human costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq partially through two characters' rehab work at Walter Reed. Pelecanos creates real characters that I cared about - both good and bad.
'The Turnaround' is all the things you expect from George Pelecanos: drug crime, violence, gritty, hard-boiled, and all that, but there is also an uplifting element to the story that suggests better possibilities exist. Highly recommended.