-
Access our Top 20
Books of 2024!
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:Cops and robbers" plots are two-a-penny. What raises Pelecanos
above so many others writing in this genre are his sub-plots and characterization. While the main plot has a beginning, a middle, and is more
or less tied up at the end, a number of the sub-plots that are so exceptionally
weaved into the main are left dangling, either we don't quite know where
they start or we don't know how they will end - this isn't frustrating,
it's just realistic. One such story-line is about Diego, Ramone's son, who
struggles to gain respect in the predominantly white suburban school his parents
have snuck him into (showing that Ramone, while definitely a "good cop" isn't
above bending the law when it comes to doing the best he can for his children).
As for his characters - Pelecanos's Washington is not the glamorous side of
politics and money but the other side of the city, which is so often portrayed in one
dimension; Pelecanos shows us the usual aspects, such as the
inner city schools, the garbage and the guns, but he takes us deeper to meet the
parents who care for and worry about their children; and children who, despite their
outward appearance, want to respect their parents.
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in August 2006, and has been updated for the
August 2007 edition.
Click here to go to this issue.
If you liked The Night Gardener, try these:
by Tim Garvin
Published 2021
Two investigations start at the same time in Swann County, North Carolina, one by the FBI, the other by the sheriff. The feds want to know who stole three Stinger missiles during a helicopter crash. The sheriff wants to know who hanged a black ex-con in a well.
by Alan Drew
Published 2018
What Dennis Lehane does for Boston, Alan Drew does for Southern California in this novel of psychological suspense about an idyllic community rocked by a serial killer - and a dark secret.
.png)
It is among the commonplaces of education that we often first cut off the living root and then try to replace its ...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
