{"id":1497,"date":"2009-06-07T21:20:01","date_gmt":"2009-06-08T01:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2010-06-14T00:42:07","modified_gmt":"2010-06-14T04:42:07","slug":"the-way-home-by-george-pelecanos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=1497","title":{"rendered":"The Way Home by George Pelecanos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Way Home <\/em>was released in hardcover last month.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to Miriam with the Hachette Book Group, I was able to receive an advance reader copy.<\/p>\n

Some books are plot or character driven.\u00c2\u00a0 This one appears to be more plot driven than character driven.\u00c2\u00a0 The story is about Chris Flynn with a subplot about his relationship to his father, Thomas.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the first\u00c2\u00a0half of the book the reader meets Chris and his parents at a\u00c2\u00a0juvenile detention center.\u00c2\u00a0 Chris was a directionless teenager headed for trouble.\u00c2\u00a0 Until the last time, Thomas was able to bail Chris out.\u00c2\u00a0 Chris is now serving his time and deciding what direction to take his life.<\/p>\n

In the second half of the book, the adult Chris is\u00c2\u00a0working at his father’s business installing carpets.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Chris and his friends are moving forward with their lives.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of their\u00c2\u00a0old\u00c2\u00a0detention center\u00c2\u00a0buddies\u00c2\u00a0have not fared as well.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

While on a job, Chris and his friend Ben find something that will change their lives in unexpected ways.\u00c2\u00a0 A series of events set the rest of the novel in motion.<\/p>\n

Pelecanos does a wonderful job of creating the setting.\u00c2\u00a0 A juvenile detention center is not a pleasant place to be and it’s not a vacation resort.\u00c2\u00a0 For most of the teens in the novel\u00c2\u00a0it’s a tolerable place.\u00c2\u00a0 They learn to stick together against other housing units and some of the guards.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0In the latter half, the fancy suburbs and revitalized neighborhoods are recognizable to me.<\/p>\n

Some characters, like Ben and Ali, are genuinely nice people and the reader roots for them.\u00c2\u00a0 Others, like Lawrence, have a bit more backbone and sense of right than originally given credit for.\u00c2\u00a0 Amanda Flynn is never really present.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s mostly filtered through the eyes of her husband.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The heart of the novel is supposed to be the relationship between Thomas and Chris.\u00c2\u00a0 Thomas drinks a too much and he’s lost.\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t know why his\u00c2\u00a0son went down the wrong path\u00c2\u00a0or how to get close to him again.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s obvious Thomas loves Chris.\u00c2\u00a0 Chris loves Thomas too but\u00c2\u00a0 feels hassled by him.\u00c2\u00a0It seems to Chris that no matter what he does,\u00c2\u00a0Thomas\u00c2\u00a0will aways perceive Chris as\u00c2\u00a0the teen that messed up his life.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

For some reason I just couldn’t connect with any character for more than a moment or two.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the first book I’ve read by Pelecanos so I wasn’t sure what to expect.\u00c2\u00a0 The plot is well planned and Pelecanos lets it unfold at a leisurely pace.\u00c2\u00a0 The Way Home<\/em> might make a fantastic movie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Way Home was released in hardcover last month.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to Miriam with the Hachette Book Group, I was able to receive an advance reader copy. Some books are plot or character driven.\u00c2\u00a0 This one appears to be more plot driven than character driven.\u00c2\u00a0 The story is about Chris Flynn with a subplot about his… Continue reading The Way Home by George Pelecanos<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[150,149],"class_list":["post-1497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-george-pelecanos","tag-the-way-home","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t