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A review by jimmypat
Right as Rain by George Pelecanos
3.0
This is the first book I’m reading in a series that I’m calling “quarantine life”. With all of our libraries closed due to the corona virus, I’m left to cull through my own shelves for books that I haven’t read yet.
This book has been on my shelf for 18 years, so it’s probably been that long since I’ve read a Pelecanos novel. Despite a rough start (more in that in a moment), I was pretty engaged with this novel- mainly due to Pelecanos’ gift with dialogue. It also reminded me of his other works, where much of the action centers around the relationship of two guys (white and black) where they talk incessantly about music.
This book stays firmly in 3 star territory due to a couple of reasons:
- When reading, I’m not interested in commercials. However, Pelecanos kept singing the praises of Craftsmen tools, Heineken beer, Pay Day bars, and Tabasco. Check out this example, where after listing all the Craftsmen tools in Strange’s trunk Pelecanos writes “When he could, Strange always bought Craftsman - the tools were guaranteed for life and he tended to be hard on his equipment.” What the heck is this crap? Did Sears pay for this product endorsement?
- Gratuitous and unnecessary sex scenes. A lot of them. That coupled with (pun intended!) the main characters casual disregard for the women in their lives was a bit much.
Despite those items, I’m likely to read the next book. There was enough going on to make me curious to see what happens next with these guys.
This book has been on my shelf for 18 years, so it’s probably been that long since I’ve read a Pelecanos novel. Despite a rough start (more in that in a moment), I was pretty engaged with this novel- mainly due to Pelecanos’ gift with dialogue. It also reminded me of his other works, where much of the action centers around the relationship of two guys (white and black) where they talk incessantly about music.
This book stays firmly in 3 star territory due to a couple of reasons:
- When reading, I’m not interested in commercials. However, Pelecanos kept singing the praises of Craftsmen tools, Heineken beer, Pay Day bars, and Tabasco. Check out this example, where after listing all the Craftsmen tools in Strange’s trunk Pelecanos writes “When he could, Strange always bought Craftsman - the tools were guaranteed for life and he tended to be hard on his equipment.” What the heck is this crap? Did Sears pay for this product endorsement?
- Gratuitous and unnecessary sex scenes. A lot of them. That coupled with (pun intended!) the main characters casual disregard for the women in their lives was a bit much.
Despite those items, I’m likely to read the next book. There was enough going on to make me curious to see what happens next with these guys.