What It Was - Softcover

Pelecanos, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1409139506 ISBN 13: 9781409139508

Publisher: Orion, 2012

Synopsis

The stunning crime thriller from one of the writers of THE WIRE.

Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank 'Hound Dog' Vaughn, is still on the force.

When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered, shot point-blank in his apartment. Soon both men are on the trail of a ruthless killer: Red Fury, so called for his looks and the car his girlfriend drives, but a name that fits his personality all too well. Red Fury doesn't have a retirement plan, as Vaughn points out - he doesn't care who he has to cross, or kill, to get what he wants. As the violence escalates and the stakes get higher, Strange and Vaughn know the only way to catch their man is to do it their own way.

Rich with details of place and time - the cars, the music, the clothes - and fuelled by non-stop action, this is Pelecanos writing in the hard-boiled noir style that won him his earliest fans and placed him firmly in the ranks of the top crime writers in America.

About this title

About the Author

George Pelecanos is an independent film producer, an essayist, the recipient of numerous international writing awards, a producer and an Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO hit series The Wire, and the author of a bestselling series of novels set in and around Washington, D.C. He currently writes for the acclaimed HBO series Treme.

Review

What It Was is a vividly imagined period piece, a latter-day Bonnie and Clyde account of two lovers on a murderous rampage ... As aficionados of The Wire will attest, Pelecanos is a peerless chronicler of the black urban underclass and his book is rich in detail about fashion and music and American muscle cars. ... The authors skilful evocation of a crucial moment in American history as seen from the street, rather than a more historical account, is entertainingly rewarding. SUNDAY EXPRESS 20120219 A sizzling flashback to the Watergate summer of 1972 ... What It Was features plenty of tough talk, hot cars, hotter women and keenly crafted social and racial observation, all set to a pumping funk and soul soundtrack. -- David Roy IRISH NEWS 20120210 This week we're grabbing a copy of George Pelecanos's thriller What It Was ... if only for it's cool-as-flip cover. Given Pelecanos worked on The Wire and has written some of the greatest American crime novels of the last two decades, we're confident this 1970s slice of noir will live up to it. THE HERALD 20120218 A lean but lethal thriller ... the world of muscle cars, teetering afros and scratchy soul records proves so intoxicating you'll devour it in one sitting. SHORTLIST 20120223 The Wire writer George Pelecanos has a way with words that only seems to be getting meaner and swankier -- Henry Sutton THE MIRROR 20120224 a well-written potboiler about vicious criminals and virtuous investigators in seventies Washington DC ... it's a mind-blowing trip SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 20120305 If you like your book fast and gritty, What It Was will be a real thrill ride/read. RTE GUIDE 20120324 Author of over 18 critically-lauded novels ... his reputation rests on a bedrock of tight, fast-paced prose, meticulous plotting, finely tuned characters and an incredible authenticity in depicting time and place. ... What It Was does not disappoint.This is a writer in full control of his material and fully understanding of his strengths. Lovers of crime fiction should not miss what he has to say. IRISH EXAMINER 20120317 i pretty much loved every sentance of this novel, both for the pacy, hard-boiled plot and for Pelecanos's non-stop grab bag of pop-cultural references. As Befits one of the leading wrietrs on The Wire, his descriptive prose is endlessly quotable. IRISH TIMES 20120324 A complex tale of drug-dealing and detection in Washington DC ... it manages to combine a fond trip down memory lane - dig those groovy clothes and classic hits - with an equally fond tribute to pulp noir. it moves so fast there is no time for schmaltz. -- Mark Sanderson EVENING STANDARD 20120705

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1409139506
• ISBN 13: 9781409139508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272