George Pelecanos has his fingerprints all over this book. He has written 16 books and Right As Rain is the ninth. In this book Derek Strange and Terry Quinn are introduced for what turns out to be a three book series. He published his first novel in 1992; Right As Rain was published in 2001. As you can see, he writes about one book per year.You know it is Pelecanos because there are cars, music and location. Let’s check it out! Strange sat low behind the wheel of his white-over-black ’89 Caprice, listening to a Blackbyrds tape coming from the box as he cruised south on Georgia Avenue. Next to him on the bench was a mini Maglite, a Rand McNally street atlas, and a Leatherman tool-in-one in a sheath that he often wore looped through his belt on the side of his hip. He wore a Buck knife the same way, all the time when he was on a job. A set of 10 X 50 binoculars, a cell phone, a voice-activated tape recorder, and extra batteries for his flashlights and camera were in the glove box secured with a double lock. In the trunk of the car . . .And remember that you don’t want to ask Pelecanos what a detective has in his car unless you want to know and have a couple of minutes. You’ll have to read the book to find out what Strange has in his trunk!If you are a kid from the suburbs in the 1950s, you know about crime from Jack Webb and Harry Morgan on Dragnet. If you are a kid from the 1970s or 80s, one of your sources is George Pelecanos. And crime is not all he will tell you about.His street code: “What breeds respect. Not to walk away from a fight. Take a beating if you have to, but a beating’s never as bad as the feeling of shame you get when you back off.”About Prince and gays: [Strange] Maybe so but I listen to his music, I picture the way he’s licking his fingers to smooth down his eyebrows, crawling across the floor, wearing the makeup and shit . . . Can’t get past it I guess.[Quinn] Racism’s bad, but that kind of ism is all right?[Strange] Just being honest with you. You get to know be better, you’ll see; I tell it straight, whether you like what I’m say or not. All I’s saying is, your generation, y’all can deal with that homosexuality thing better than mine can.[Quinn] It’s black men in general who can’t deal with that homosexuality thing, you ask me. If you were really honest, you’d admit it. Pelecanos can also pack a lot into just a few words: “Strange had been thinking of Terry Quinn all night. Quinn was violent, fearless, sensitive, and disturbed…all of those things at once.”Pelecanos has his PG sex: “Ray was on the short side, but he did make her damp down there when he took off his shirt at night. She liked that bulldog look.”Society and culture: People came here because they were told to come here, knowing full well that it was a rip-ff, too. Same reason they read the books their friends read, and went to movies about convicts hijacking airplanes and asteroids headed for earth. Didn’t matter that none of it was any good. No one wanted to be left out of the conversation at the next cocktail party. Everyone was desperate to be a part of what was new, to not be left behind. Sociology:Half the couples, some of’em had babies in strollers, were interracial. Fifteen years ago, when I was hanging out up at the Plaza, you wouldn’t have seen it. It’s just natural for these kids now. And it made me think, the way my generation is, it’s our hang-up, man. It’s something we’ve got to get over, ‘cause the world’s changing whether we like it or not. Law changes: ”Two things I would do,” said Strange. “First thing, I’d legalize drugs. …Legalization, it works in some of those European countries, right? You don’t see this kind of crime over there. The repeal of prohibition, it stopped a lot of this kind of thing we got goin’ on right here, didn’t it?” And second “Make handguns illegal, nationwide. “ So why haven’t these changes happened in the U.S.? Derek Strange is glad to tell you. “Cause you put all those politicians down on the Hill in one room and you can’t find one set of nuts swingin’ between the legs of any of’em.”Since Right As Rain is about halfway through Pelecanos’ list of novels, you might imagine he gets even better on his following efforts. And I say you would be right. But 4 stars for this page turner is not a bad place to start.If you are a Pelecanos fan or think you might be, here is a link that you should check out:http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/03...
RATING: 3.5Here’s the situation in a nutshell. On a dark side street in Washington, DC, a black man is holding a gun to the head of a white man lying on the ground. When the police arrive, there’s a lot of noise and confusion. The black guy is yelling something at the cops, but they can’t hear him. When he sweeps his gun in their direction, the white cop, a guy by the name of Terry Quinn, shoots him down. It turns out the black “assailant” is also a cop named Chris Wilson who had been screaming out his badge number. Question: If Wilson had been a white man, would Quinn have been so quick to shoot him? The killing is declared righteous, but the issue remains: does a white cop see skin color first when in a dangerous situation? Isn’t he programmed to react that way in our society?Derek Strange is an ex-cop has been a private investigator for over 25 years. He’s a black man who’s done well and likes to serve as a role model in the troubled community in which he operates. He is hired by Wilson’s mother to see if he can find anything that will ennoble his character after his death. As it is, he has been portrayed by the press as being drunk and out of control, holding a gun on an innocent man. She doesn’t dispute anything about his killing, just hopes to salvage his name somehow. In an interesting twist, Strange investigates Quinn and gets him involved in chasing down the truth as well. The investigated becomes the investigator. The two men play off each other well. At the same time, we follow a parallel story of two white trash drug runners, Ray Boone and his father, Earl. At first, they appear almost comical—the son compensating for his lack of height with high-heeled boots, the father with his inexplicable lust for a strung-out black drug addict. The journey into their world is dark and disturbing. They are two nihilistic rednecks dealing in drugs and death, and the fact that they are so realistically portrayed is completely frightening. The reader is led deep into the drug trade and sees the chain of distribution close up. It isn’t obvious at first, but somehow we know that their story is interconnected with the Wilson saga. I had 2 major problems with this book. The first is the fact that the narration is viewed through racially tinted glasses. Everything in the book has some kind of black or white twist to it, and Pelecanos kept hammering it in. Black people do this; white people do that. I really objected to the premise that white people judge black people primarily on the basis of their skin color and only secondarily on other aspects of their character. My second problem was that all the female characters in the book were defined in terms of their sexual relationships with the various male characters. There was not one fully realized female character who stood alone and apart as a non-sexual object. The one with the most promise was Strange’s assistant at the agency, Janine. But then again, she’s sleeping with the boss, so that dissipated her individual effectiveness.In spite of these obstacles, the book was almost redeemed for me by the sheer strength of Pelecanos’ writing. The revelation of what actually happened in the primary situation was totally surprising, and the resolution of all the plot lines was totally credible. He is a master at drawing the DC setting, particularly in depicting life on the street and the activities of the drug dealers. When he describes a visit to a crack house, you feel like wiping your shoes at the end of the scene. And just as in his Stefanos books, there’s a strong reliance on music to add to the ambiance. His male characters are tough and hard. It was the treatment of the racial theme and the sexist attitudes towards the female characters that made this book less than satisfying to me.
What do You think about Right As Rain (2015)?
I suppose the risk of creating characters who border on antiheroes is that particular flaws may be insurmountable for some. It took me a long time to warm up to these two, and I still have reservations (do not discount that this is likely his very intent). But my bigger problem with this debut of a new serial slice of D.C. is that it is absolutely perfect Pelecanos - when every facet is there, and flawlessly polished, well... maybe it's like the difference between a technically perfect rendition of a musical score and an inspired one. It just didn't take me anywhere new. And thus concludes my glowing review of a fantastic work.
—grundoon
(#1 in the Strange Series)- Derek Strange is an ex-cop who now runs his own private detective agency. The mother of a young police officer killed by another cop hires him to clear up the lingering doubts surrounding her son's death. Although Terry Quinn, the other cop, has been cleared in the official investigation, his guilt torments him. After Strange interviews him, Quinn joins the investigation, even though in part he is investigating himself and whether his own prejudices led him to pull the trigger. Strange and Quinn seek their answers in the darkest sectors of Washington, D.C., where racism and ruthless capitalism create a lawless world. Excellent first to a series.
—Kellie
this is a real-deal page turner. i can't remember the last time i read a book this quickly. i flew through all of its 360-ish pages in a day and a half.beyond that, it was the perfect remedy for the withdrawl i've been feeling since hbo's the wire (which pelecanos wrote for) came to its conclusion. like the wire, this novel is full of complex, three-dimensional characters dealing with complex, three-dimensional circumstances. it also shares the tv show's sensitive (but not touchy-feeley sensitive) handling of race. the plotline even mirrors the story arc concerning prez in season 3, if there are any wire fans reading this.at times, the cinematic nature of the story threatened to override its realism. some of the bursts of violence felt a bit forced to me. its otherwise realistic universe didn't seem like the best fit for shoot-outs and cold-blooded killers. but there isn't much along those lines, and the characters more than make up for it. it ends on a nice, morally-ambiguous note, pulling back from the potential hero-mythology that could have enveloped one of its main characters. i'll definitely read more from this series.
—Dan
