The Way Home

By: George Pelecanos

Narrated by: Dion Graham

After getting his life on track, a man with a troubled past finds temptation under the twisted floorboards of a house he's remodeling in this mystery filled with "wonderful dialogue" and "action that punches from the shoulder and hip" (John Weisman, Washington Times).

Christopher Flynn is trying to get it right. After years of trouble and rebellion that enraged his father and nearly cost him his life, he has a steady job in his father's company, he's seriously dating a woman he respects, and, aside from the distrust that lingers in his father's eyes, his mistakes are firmly in the past.

One day on the job, Chris and his partner come across a temptation almost too big to resist. Chris does the right thing, but old habits and instincts rise to the surface, threatening this new-found stability with sudden treachery and violence. With his father and his most trusted friends, he takes one last chance to blast past the demons trying to pull him back.

Like Richard Price or William Kennedy, Pelecanos pushes his characters to the extremes, their redemption that much sweeter because it is so hard fought. Pelecanos has long been celebrated for his unerring ability to portray the conflicts men feel as they search and struggle for power and love in a world that is often harsh and unforgiving but can ultimately be filled with beauty.

©2009 Little, Brown, and Company; (P)2009 Hachette

One of My Favorites

The characters are nuanced and multi-dimensional. The narration is excellent. This one will stay with you.

Fairly pedestrian plot; excellent narration

Pelecsnos us a fine writer, and his knowledge of DC's underworld and slang (think The Wire, on which he collaborated).unequalled. This is a somewhat sentimental, somewhat obvious story of a "troubled" youth who manages to transcend his problems, but whose less fortunate friends do not. Enjoyable enough for a quick read.

A Grind

This work by Pelecanos was a slow starter with fair character development and what was hopeful to work up to a fast paced and riveting end. That ending never cames, instead we have an ending that is little more than a flat narrative of the events that unraveled a poorly assembled story that is a grind to take in anyway. Not a good read, if it were a paper novel it would have hit the trash before I got through the first half.