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jmervosh 's review for:
The Double
by George Pelecanos
It's a lot of fun to read a crime thriller set in your city, and Pelecanos' eye for geographic detail is pretty great. Many of the routes that Spero Lucas bikes to get to and from interviews or pass hours thinking through a case are familiar to any DC resident, but it's his visits to local establishments that are a lot of fun. Lucas travels between the lines of native Washingtonians and newer transient gentrification, offering views of both sides of the city's physical and symbolic divide. His setting is true Washington, the city, and not the nation's capital and its touristy monuments and museums. The city is a living, breathing, complicated character that adds depth and color to Lucas' exploits and makes the read all the more enjoyable.
Which is much needed, since this is a book with some flaws. As in the past installment, Lucas takes a side job to supplement his work as a PI for a local defense attorney, running into some problems that require quick creative thinking and an easy willingness to resort to violence as soon as things get sticky. There is some pretty discomfiting misogyny in this volume that isn't just limited to the bad guys, written off as a metaphorical exploration of Lucas' double nature that includes a dark side embodied in one particularly distasteful bad guy. It's a little contrived and doesn't do much to endear one to the protagonist or his efforts to seek vigilante justice while remaining whole.
Though the main narrative and protagonist leave something to desire, it's the city that shines here, as well as the miscellaneous cast of Lucas' veteran friends (all male, unsurprisingly) seeking their way in a society that has largely cast them aside. For those moments, this is a series that still shows promise for future installments.
Which is much needed, since this is a book with some flaws. As in the past installment, Lucas takes a side job to supplement his work as a PI for a local defense attorney, running into some problems that require quick creative thinking and an easy willingness to resort to violence as soon as things get sticky. There is some pretty discomfiting misogyny in this volume that isn't just limited to the bad guys, written off as a metaphorical exploration of Lucas' double nature that includes a dark side embodied in one particularly distasteful bad guy. It's a little contrived and doesn't do much to endear one to the protagonist or his efforts to seek vigilante justice while remaining whole.
Though the main narrative and protagonist leave something to desire, it's the city that shines here, as well as the miscellaneous cast of Lucas' veteran friends (all male, unsurprisingly) seeking their way in a society that has largely cast them aside. For those moments, this is a series that still shows promise for future installments.