I'd been curious about George Pelecanos- mysteries set in Washington, D.C., a town I've got a soft spot for.

This either was not the right entry to the series, or the author is not for me. I was interested in the fact that one of the main characters is a former convict, and I was interested in the scenes with the reading group at the prison. But- if you haven't actually read "Of Mice and Men" or "The Deep Blue Goodbye", then you're not going to get a lot out of the reading discussion. Frankly, I'm not sure that John MacDonald is the best choice for men who are already likely to have issues with women.

While I was sympathetic to the main character's moral struggle, I was not enamored with the shady character who drew him into their scheme, and the body count and violence did not enthrall me.

Synopsis/blurb......

In best-selling and Emmy-nominated writer George Pelecanos' "Taut and suspenseful" new novel, an ex-offender must choose between the man who got him out and the woman who showed him another path. (Booklist, starred review)

Michael Hudson spends the long days in prison devouring books given to him by the prison's librarian, a young woman named Anna who develops a soft spot for her best student. Anna keeps passing Michael books until one day he disappears, suddenly released after a private detective manipulated a witness in Michael's trial.

Outside, Michael encounters a Washington, DC, that has changed a lot during his time locked up. Once-shady storefronts are now trendy beer gardens and flower shops. But what hasn't changed is the hard choice between the temptation of crime and doing what's right. Trying to balance his new job, his love of reading, and the debt he owes to the man who got him released, Michael struggles to figure out his place in this new world before he loses control.

Smart and fast-paced, The Man Who Came Uptown brings Washington, DC, to life in a high-stakes story of tough choices.
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My take....

The Man Who Came Uptown is the 21st book from George Pelecanos and according to my Goodreads stats the 18th that I have enjoyed, and my first since March, 2012.

From what I recall from a lot of his earlier books, the latest lacks the complexities of some of his earlier work. There's not as much criss-crossing of characters and varying timelines, which previously had me marvelling at his story telling prowess. That said this was a quick read and I enjoyed it.

Our main man is Michael Hudson and we are concerned with his efforts to go straight after a surprising release from prison. The release has been engineered by a PI, Phil Ornazian after some witness tampering. The release comes at a price. Michael will be the wheelman for Ornazian and his ex-cop partner when they carry out their next shakedown of a Washington pimp, though Hudson doesn't know this. Drive or maybe the witness suddenly remembers Michael's part in a robbery. Hobson's choice pretty much.

In his life outside prison, Michael is endeavouring to reform and go straight. He has a steady job as a dishwasher and the respect of his boss and his peers. He's reliable and already making plans for his next step. He has a determination not to let his mother and siblings down again and continues to enjoy his reading. Reading being his new found passion, a discovery made in prison and all thanks to the librarian, Anna. That they cross paths in DC is inevitable and with a flicker of attraction between the pair an added complication neither of them need given her married status. Ornazian knocking on his door is an obstacle to his plans.

Anna enjoys her job, connecting with the prisoners in a positive fashion through the book club she has instigated. She's relatively content with her lot in life, but not totally on the same page aspirationally as her husband. There's an emotional connection with Michael through their shared love of books, and an attraction acknowledged by both but not acted upon.

Pelecanos also uses this story thread to provide a hat-tip at various authors and books and also to emphasise the power and benefits of reading. Elmore Leonard, John D. MacDonald, Don Carpenter and Willy Vlautin are among the familiar names dropped. There's a certain irony in the pimping of Capernter's Hard Rain Falling, as my shelved copy includes an introduction by none other than Pelecanos himself. Willy Vlautin's Northline is the other book given the hard sell.

After impressing with his driving skills on the first job, unsurprisingly Michael is press-ganged into another by Ornazian. During the course of the book we spend some time with Ornazian and get to know him and see his love for his family, and like he does, we wonder where he took a wrong turn and crossed the line into his dangerous sideline. He feels guilt at forcing Michael to participate in criminality, but not enough to desist from using him.

Great setting, interesting characters, lots of action and a fair bit of violence as our strong arm robberies go down. I enjoyed the tension which Pelecanos created throughout and was keen to discover whether Hudson escaped with his freedom intact.

4 from 5

I'm looking forward to enjoying the other three remaining books in his canon that I haven't got to yet - The Martini Shot, The Double and What it Was.

Read in January, 2019
Published - 2018
Page count - 202
Source - Net Galley courtesy of publisher Mulholland Books
Format - ePub file read on laptop`

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2019/01/george-pelecanos-man-who-came-uptown.html

I love every book that Mr. Pelecanos has written. I fell in love with him while first discovering The Sweet Forever.
The main strength of these books are the characters.
Michael Hudson is released from Prison. He so desperately wants to get on the straight and narrow. He moves in with his mom, finds a job. While he was in prison, the prison librarian Anna, shows him the joy of reading. I love through out this book that reading is ever present.

Michael finds out that the reason he was released from prison is that someone made a witness change their statement. Now this person wants Michael to help them with other crimes. The dilemma is heart tugging and one reads quickly to find out if Michael has the strength to resist the lure.

Nostalgia bomb

If you need to buy a gift for anyone who lived in DC in the 70's, this is it. A nostalgia bomb with a healthy dose of literature love.

I doubt if Mr. Pelecanos will read this review but these two comments are for him: A friend of mine used to say of 14th street – "By the time I got far enough up 14th street to afford it, I didn't want it any more". And "Valdez is Coming" is a book I give to foreign friends to explain the USA national myth.

This book is long on setting. The city and how it has changed is the story. The people are the furniture. There is a bit of a thriller, but we are looking at people making their lives as best they can. I liked it and I am sure it will be a huge seller. But for those of you who like violence or sex every second page will be disappointed.

It's so good to have George back in the game. This swirling, multi-viewpoint slice of DC life captivates and charms, even as it seriously fucks with the characters' lives -- and those of their families. Those who subscribe to big bang theories of violence may be disappointed there isn't more of it, but dig deeper -- Pelecanos' aim has never been truer, and the heart and soul in this ode to the power of books and the possibility of redemption are hard to deny. And damn inspiring.

For all the testosterone flying around and all the attempts of characters trapped in hard choices to do the right thing , the true hero may be the young woman who works the prison library and runs book discussion groups with the inmates.

Makes me think maybe I should be giving something back, too. Makes me think we all should.

Michael Hudson makes some bad choices as a D.C. youth and ends up in prison. There he meets Anna, the prison librarian who changes his life. She engages Michael in reading, the classics primarily, which make him want to be a better man.

Michael is suddenly released from prison when a P.I., Phil Ornaizon intimidates a witness into withdrawing his testimony against Michael. Michael returns to his D.C. neighborhood, finds a job washing dishes, and becomes a voracious reader. Coincidently, Anna lives in his neighborhood and continues to recommend books to support his new found hobby. Ornaizon, however, has other plans for Michael. The P.I. runs a criminal side business where he robs crooks of ill-gotten gains and continually pesters Michael to join him. Michael feels some loyalty to Ornaizon but truly wants to go straight.

I love the way Pelecanos brings out both the good and bad in his characters. They are all flawed but have many redeeming qualities that make you root for them and hope they make good choices… such an honest and intimate view of humanity. No one does this as well as Pelecanos.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance look.

In the narrative, characters arrive at a few crossroads, there are bad moves and good moves, within there are bad guys and good guys, two flawed characters with plenty of ability and potential in finding their feet. Michael out of jail early, had a second chance dealt to him that will be called in as a favour by a private investigator Phil Orzanian in due course.
Michael Hudson had found a love for words and books in jail.
The whole reading through his situation was empowered by Anna, a good lady, a jailhouse librarian, and in charge of a book reading group and growing library, she tackled many great reads, the social questions and psychological significances they posed for readers.
The commentary on some novels proved to be some enlightening reading with a slant of humour at times.
This an avid book readers mystery, with the books talked of in the tale.
Spot on dialogue, vivid to the point scenes unravelling, no words wasted succession of terribleness and greatness, a redemptive tale  with memorable characters coming off the page, crossing the boundaries of life and possibly coming back with second chances, finding some hope, road out, lessons learned and success.

This turned out to be quite different from what I was expecting. I was curious about the prison library element and I did enjoy the chapters set in prison. The book discussions by the inmates brought a smile to my face. I liked seeing just how books can transform lives. I can’t imagine being locked up but I can see just what an escape books can provide to prisoners. Anna, the prison librarian was my favorite character in this story. I did like Michael Hudson too and enjoyed seeing how books made a way into his life. I didn’t agree with most of his decisions but I still enjoyed reading about him. Overall, this was an interesting read.

Once again Pelecanos describes a side of Washington that few are aware of.
His knowledge of the geography resonates as knowledgeable.
Great plot and satisfactory summary.
Loved reading this book!

Pelecanos's work is decoding masculinity. In this case, he follows two men, one who makes excuses for things he probably shouldn't do, another who's doing what he can to go straight without letting go of his morals. Books are a savior, and so is work and respect. As usual, the setting is DC. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, frankly. I've been a long-time Pelecanos fan, but this one didn't grab me as thoroughly as some - which probably says more about me than about Pelecanos.

Michael Hudson is the good guy gone bad, down on his luck central character; nothing new there. Yet as the story unfolds his choices are influenced and contrasted by the cast of characters that surround his own story.

I have never read anything by this author basically because some of the reviews turned me off but thanks to NETGALLEY I took a chance on a great story. It is one of love, of choices, and that no good turn goes undone or un-turned perhaps. I especially enjoyed the way the author paid a homage to the magic of reading and in this story he provides fine magic for all to enjoy. The ending is not shocking but a welcome unexpected angle that is enjoyable too. Try this one.

I'm between 4 and 4.5 stars.

I know I ask this of certain authors from time to time, but why isn't George Pelecanos a star?

In addition to being the author of some pretty terrific crime novels, he's been a writer on television shows like The Wire and Treme, and co-created the series The Deuce. I've often heard about his books becoming movies, but nothing ever seems to come to fruition, and I just don't understand it. This man should be a household name. His books should be seen in people's hands wherever they read in public.

With his newest book, The Man Who Came Uptown, Pelecanos shows that he is a master at creating characters who are more comfortable veering from the straight and narrow, but often have the best of intentions, and he flexes his suspense and action muscles like nobody's business. But at the same time, he shows off a more introspective side, as this book is also a tribute to the love of books and the transformational power of reading.

Michael Hudson is a young man in prison, determined to serve his time without making any enemies or causing trouble. The bright light during his sentence is his interaction with Anna, the prison librarian, who introduces him and his fellow inmates to books and authors they might never have read or even heard of otherwise. Michael, in particular, is tremendously appreciative of Anna's attention and her book recommendations, as she is opening his eyes and his mind to the beauty and power of words and images.

When Michael's sentence is overturned thanks to the manipulations of a private investigator, he is ready to start again. He knows he made some foolish mistakes, but he wants a new life—he wants to find a job, take care of his mother, and find time to read. Even though the Washington, DC he knew before he went to prison has started to change, with gentrification and newer stores, restaurants, and houses popping up everywhere, it still feels like home to him, and with a book in his hand, he feels even more secure.

When the man who saw to his release from prison comes to collect the debt Michael owes him, Michael knows he has a choice. But what path is the right one: doing what is necessary to square your obligations like a man, or running the risk of having to go back to prison again, and destroying everything he has started to build? As the crooked private investigator gets more and more enmeshed in trouble, Michael isn't sure whether honor is worth the risk.

I'll admit, when I started reading this I expected another of Pelecanos' crime novels, so I didn't understand why it was taking so long to get to the action and suspense, why he was laying out so much of the story. But when I realized what he was doing, I let myself enjoy the beauty of his writing and his characters (something I always do when reading his books, although my pulse is usually pounding at the same time), and thought about just how important reading has been to me all my life.

When the criminal elements of the plot kick in, Pelecanos goes at them full throttle, and you don't realize just how much you've gotten invested in these characters, so you're hoping the age-old battle fought by the man trying to start his life anew won't end the same way here. This book isn't one of his most explosive, and that's totally fine, as long as you know to expect that.

Pelecanos is one of those authors that needs to be read. Whether you're a fan of crime writing, suspense, beautiful storytelling, or like to read about Washington, DC in the 1970s and 1980s, you can find one of his books to match your desire. And don't miss this one—especially if you're like me, and your life has been changed by reading.

NetGalley and Mulholland Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Michael Hudson recently released from jail struggles to stay free among the ever changing DC landscape. Bringng your pad and paper for all the reading suggestions coming your way. A wonderful urban crime drama only Pelecanos can do. Highly recommended!

Pelacanos is a master at his genre, and the new book, once again proves it. His economy of words, is powerful, and his characters pop off the page in violent, beautiful ways. He's at the top of his game once again, and it's a definite reason to rejoice.

Pelecanos has written another great thriller. The Man Who Came Uptown is an engrossing read and a suspenseful thriller.