Nick's Trip

This was the first Pelecanos book I ever read, and it had me snared from the very beginning. This guy is so talented, so funny, and so adept at capturing the raw feel of average daily life for a simple bartender who occasionally plays private detective. I found myself in awe of the writing in this book; so original, so humorous...with characters so real that you can't help rooting for them. Pelecanos has now gone on to write books which are far more serious and not nearly as good, in my opinion. His first three books, featuring PI Nick Stefanos, are really fantastic and to me, this is the best of the three. A far cry from the usual tale of the down-and-out PI who drinks too much and cries in his beer all day. This book is truly original, a real gem, and fans of PI fiction (and blue-collar literature) will love it.

Another fine effort by Pelecanos. I had run across Nick in some of the author's other work, but I didn't really appreciate him until I read Nick's Trip. Nick Stefanos is a strong character in his own right - witty, versatile and resourceful. He handles a pretty tough situation in this well crafted story.Better than any other crime mystery writer I'm familiar with, Pelecanos knows how to develop characters, paint interesting word pictures of what's going on and produce a fine story. If he writes it, I'm reading it and I'd recommend you check him out. This book is as good a place as any to start.

The three Nick Stefanos mysteries (of which this is the second) follow the linear descent of their hero from rebellious career stiff to hard drinking private eye to hopeless alcoholic. Along the way, Nick bares his soul more completely than do most first person narrative P.I.'s. His stories are also among the most darkly violent and gritty that I've come across in the genre. "Nick's Trip" is better than "A Firing Offense," the first Stefanos book, if only because it is more plausible and more focussed. Along the way, Nick reunites with an old friend who has become an obnoxious yuppie and whose wife has disappered. He also manages to lose his girlfriend and become a surrogate father. The whole book has an overwhelming feeling of lonliness to it, like a late night country song. It is definately NOT for readers of light mainstream fiction. Overall, a must read for fans of authors such as James Crumley and Andrew Vachss and anyone else who likes their P.I. fiction truly hard boiled.

Pelecanos's pace, plotting, and ear for street talk are light years beyond most mystery fare with plodding dialog and flat characters. Like him or not, and like a lot of alkies, there's something about him ya gotta love, Nick's trip is one you want to tbe on. The DC locales are depicted with a neat folding in of history and the contemporary scene. The locales hum with etched characters and sharp dialog. The writing has restraint, dark humor, and a relentless complex and ultimately satisfying plot. The lesbian sex scene is a classic, anti-erotic but pinging on male and female sexuality and aspects of relationship that invoke something deeper. Everyman whose been with a woman whose interest was somewhere else can take something from it. Did I say it was funny as hell?

This is a better version of "Sleepers" but it has not been discovered yet. I recommend reading the first book in the series "A Firing Offense" as a prequel but that is not critical. This is a really good book.