Although some of my mystery book club members have raved about George Pelecanos, this is the first book of his that I've picked up. He introduces a new protagonist in this one: Spero Lucas is a 30-year-old Iraq vet returned to his native D.C. area. He's picked up work as an unlicensed private investigator and specializes in finding things and taking a 40 percent cut of whatever he finds. But when he starts to investigate the burglary of some Fed Ex-ed marijuana for an imprisoned drug dealer, he finds things are more complicated than they seem.
While one of the book's promo blurbs touted Pelecanos as one of the crime thriller writers who elevates the genre into literary fiction, similar to Dennis Lehane (whose books I love), it didn't quite reach that level for me, although it was definitely entertaining and held my attention. Lucas seemed to have elements of Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Michael Harvey's Michael Kelley in him. Curiously enough, he also reminded me somewhat of Seth Quinn in Nora Robert's Chesapeake Blue, the fourth book in her Chesapeake Bay Saga.
For those interested in the local music and restaurant scene in D.C., this would also serve as an excellent travel guide.
The Cut by George Pelecanos (Hachette Book Group, 2011)
My rating: 3 stars
'The Cut' by George Pelecanos seems to be a captivating and fascinating book! I'm a huge fan of these mystery books with private investigators! can't wait to read it! thanks for this sharing, Erin! very lovely blog!
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