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    The Cut
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    The Cut
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    The Cut
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Cut

    Written by George Pelecanos

    Narrated by Dion Graham

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Crime fiction writer George Pelecanos introduces Spero Lucas, an anti-hero making his place in the world one battle at a time. Includes a bonus work of short fiction focusing on Spero's early life.
    Spero Lucas has a new line of work. Since he returned home to Washington, D.C. after serving in Iraq, he has been doing special investigations for a defense attorney. He's good at it, and he has carved out a niche: recovering stolen property, no questions asked. His cut is forty percent.
    A high-profile crime boss who has heard of Lucas's specialty hires him to find out who has been stealing from his operation. It's the biggest job Spero has ever been offered, and he quickly gets a sense of what's going on. But before he can close in on what's been taken, he tangles with a world of men whose amorality and violence leave him reeling. Is any cut worth your family, your lover, your life?
    The first in a series of thrillers featuring Spero Lucas, The Cut is the latest confirmation of why George Pelecanos is "perhaps America's greatest living crime writer." (Stephen King)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateAug 29, 2011
    ISBN9781609417925
    Unavailable
    The Cut
    Author

    George Pelecanos

    George P. Pelecanos is the author of nine richly praised crime novels set in and around Washington D.C., including Hell to Pay, Right as Rain, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, King Suckerman, and The Big Blowdown.

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    Reviews for The Cut

    3.5/5

    172 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      George Pelecanos’ “The Cut” is a crime novel that is sure to please readers who prefer a literary as opposed to commercial approach to fiction. His approach reminds me of Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series. Pelecanos’ emphasis is on character development and the creation of a fully realized physical and social milieu. Spero, his protagonist, is not without flaws and some of his villains have redeeming qualities. The plot moves forward at a leisurely pace as Pelecanos focuses on the details that bring each scene to life. For example, as Spero heads for a local bar with a killer lying in wait, we learn about the houses and business he passes, the surface of the church parking lot, and Spero’s familiarity with the area. Atkinson gives greater attention to the quirks and attitudes of her characters, and her characters are far more eccentric. However, Pelecanos has a superior understanding of male thought processes and the behaviors that result. While Atkinson has difficulty crafting a competent male character that is little more than window dressing, Pelecanos’ female characters are slighted in a similar manner. Spero is a genuinely interesting character and the leisurely development of the plot is not so exaggerated that it spoils the reading experience. I would enjoy spending more time with Spero.
    • 5/5
      I like the character -- Spero Lucas, a Marine who served in the Middle East and now a "finder of things" and quasi-private investigator -- and I like the storytelling of George Pelecanos. Good, entertaining read. Some elements seem a throwback to older mystery writing.
    • 4/5
      Solid, gritty story of the streets of Wash. D.C., the dangers of getting in over your head, and the meaning that family brings to a young man's life. Spero Lucas is an easy protagonist to root for.
    • 3/5
      I had a problem grading this book. I really enjoyed reading it. It had Pelecanos usual simplicity of style and very clear sense of place. When I was in Washington earlier this year, I felt I knew it partly at least from this writer's books. As always there is moral ambiguity at the core of the book, with our hero (?) Lucas Spero doing very nasty things to people who are a lot nastier than he is.
      But he did not attract any empathy from me, which is unusual in Pelecanos' books. I saw that it was listed as the first in the series. Even as I finished it I was not sure whether this was a good idea( and I felt that the author was leaving his options open).
      On the plus side. I loved the many foodie references, another Montalbano, and I have already auctioned one of the books recommended by Lucas.
      So. It's 7/10 rounded down and I will still read every Pelecanos book I find, as I have done since the beginning. I was expecting to cement yet again on the bias against genre authors, but this book did not send me down that path again.
    • 4/5
      Opening a new series which I hope will last a long time, George Pelecanos introduces Spero Lucas, a young Iraq War vet still learning who he is while working as an unofficial investigator in Pelecanos's well-known District of Columbia. I like Pelecanos's characters because they are seldom wholly good or wholly bad. I listened to this as an audiobook and the reader, Dion Graham, who also read the other Pelecanos audiobook I've heard, is one of the best readers out there. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Spero Lucas is a former military man, who served in Iraq. He is now working as an investigator for a criminal defense attorney who gets high profile cases. He also takes on his own cases, where he recovers stolen property, charging 40% of the amount recovered as his cut.After successfully finding the evidence that helped acquit the son of a marijuana dealer, the dealer hires Lucas to recover some merchandise (or the cash proceeds) that was stolen from him. The pot was being delivered to unoccupied residences, but it was stolen from there before his men were able to pick it up. This turns into a dangerous, even deadly assignment.The book is the first in a planned series from PelecanosI found it annoying that there were frequent description of the brands of clothing being worn by Lucas and others. What difference did it make? Also, he explained the usage of a back room in the auto detailing shop more times than was necessary. And, at one point when it was particularly dangerous at Lucas's residence, he takes a woman there for sex.There were several references to specific music, movies, books, which I liked. I wrote down some names to check them out.We meet other characters who will likely be returning in the other books in the series. His brother, Leo, who teaches at a school. His mother, who is drinking a little too much wine, which bothers Lucas but his brother tells him to cool it on that issue. Some old army buddies.The morality of Lucas's actions is questionable. But, his training and experience in Iraq serve him well in this book. No one who is innocent gets hurt anyway.A high school boy from the neighborhood where one of the packages was lifted witnessed some of what happened, and he helps Lucas, but then he gets endangered for doing so. His brother knows that something is going on there, but is not told the details.Lucas's father died of cancer while he was in Iraq, and he could not come home, which is nagging on him. He visits the grave often.He has sex with two women and loses one of them because he is not faithful, which he regrets. She was a law student working for the lawyer as an intern. She probably won't be back, at least not in the same capacity.
    • 4/5
      Good but not great. The Cut doesn't stand out like some of Pelecanos' work, thinking of The Night Gardener in particular but it is a fast and enjoyable read. This is similar in style to his Nick Stefanos or Derek Strange novels. Lucas Spero is an interesting character and given his military background he is more convincing in physical confrontations than maybe some other fictional characters. Given that I read nearly everything by Pelecanos I'm sure I'll read more in this intended series but I'll be expecting more.
    • 4/5
      I liked The Cut; I didnt love it. I have read many other titles by Pelecanos that I DID love, but this one was a litte more superficial and felt more like a TV or movie script than a novel. Lucas is an interesting character, and the author develops his motivations, but I just wanted to know more. The action is primary, which is typical of this genre, and all of the loose ends are tied up-but I just don't think this is his best work. I will read the sequel though.
    • 5/5
      I await every George Pelecanos book with eager anticipation. This first in a new series was great. Spero Lucas is a great new character with encyclopedic knowledge of DC and its eateries. I also like the fact that he is a cyclist. Bring on the next one.
    • 4/5
      Along with Richard Price and James Lee Burke, George Pelecanos is setting the bar for American crime fiction. Like the fore mentioned he also uses the setting as much as a character as any of the people. In this case its the city of Washington D.C.. Spero Lucas is a gulf war vet that finds things for people. In this case its a package of marijuana thats been stolen from an incarcerated drug kingpin. as to be expected, things are not exactly as they seem and things get a little complicated. In Spero, Pelecanos has created a character that he can base a series on. If they're all this good, you can count on my reading them.
    • 5/5
      Spero Lucas will find things for a fee. Forty percent of the recovered item's worth, no questions asked. If you think the fee is steep, then find another way of locating your missing or misplaced whatever. As a side job, Spero is more than capable as working part-time as an inspector for a defense attorney, it pays the bills. His real niche is the ability to see the details, backed with dogged determination, and a sense of personal morals that don't always see eye to eye with the written law.When this attention to detail cements a verdict on a stolen vehicle, clearing a noted drug dealer's son, the incarcerated dealer asks for Spero to help him locate missing drugs. Utilizing Fed-Ex for shipping the drugs to unsupervised homes, the packages have recently been intercepted. It's worth the fee to discover the whereabouts of the shipment, until two young men, highly trusted, and second in command in the small organization are killed. Now the dealer no longer wants Spero to find his missing shipment. Spero has other ideas, since the case has become personal, and he's going to follow the trail to the end. He's trying to turn a wrong into a right, all the while struggling to come to terms with his own inner demons, and personal losses. He's a man with a lot of unanswered questions and no clear idea how to confront them. Pelecanos gives the reader a great sense of place, introducing the DC neighborhoods and their denizens in rich colors and depth, deepening the main character's past and present with his surroundings. I thoroughly enjoyed the start of this series and am anxious to add more of his writings to my library.
    • 4/5
      George Pelecanos, writer and producer of The Wire, certainly knows his way around an edgy, noir-ish crime story. In The Cut, he introduces Spero Lucas, a former Marine back from Iraq, who makes his living finding lost things for people. He's taken a new job that's led him deeper than he ever intended.The Cut is a mostly well-written crime novel. It's not the most original story, but that's not detrimental since the writing's good. Pelecanos keeps the action moving, and Lucas is an interesting lead character. My two quibbles with the book are the lack of depth in most of the characters beyond Lucas and Pelecanos' obsessive need to prove he knows DC like the back of his hand. In the end, though, The Cut is a decent read, and a promising beginning to a new series.
    • 3/5
      A good book, a fast and enjoyable read, but I don't think it lives up to the glowing reviews and breathless pre-publication publicity I've read in The New York Times, The Millions and other online sources.The author is apparently a writer for television, and I think that explains the book's strengths and its weaknesses. On the plus side, is the author's easy writing style, knack for fast-paced action and excellent dialogue, as well as the book's strong sense of place and the interesting back story created for the hero, Spero Lucas.Admittedly, most of the characters are very thinly sketched and the plot is predictable, but I don't find that fatal for this genre. Less pleasing, to me, is the author's extreme specificity of description. Some might consider that to add to the book's realism, which is certainly a fair rebuttal. But to me it was simply wearing. Pelecanos describes Spero's feelings and even experiences with the lightest of outlines. But he details Spero's every outfit -- brand, color, even fit -- as well as every gun or other possession. Not to mention every Subway lunch or restaurant dinner. Spero's car is a 201 black Jeep Cherokee. His bike is an "aluminum frame gray Trek." And when Spero bikes or drives, which he does a lot, every street, sometimes every business passed, is name-checked. His workout routines are lovingly described, with every crunch counted, every bicycled mile noted, even his kayak-paddling technique outlined. Such extremes of detail does probably help many readers identify with, or even admire, Spero. And I'm sure that kind of detail is important direction to the behind-the-scenes people when putting together a television episode. But as a reader, it felt sometimes like I was reading a commercial. The emphasis on brands -- and just things -- made the author, or the character, seem like an embodiment of David Brooks's bourgeois bohemian, via the pages of the magazine Details. Which probably wasn't what he was going for.In a lot of ways, the book reminded me of those old Travis McGee books I read as a kid. Not really hard-bitten, but more like escapism; very well-done as a genre thing, and a good vacation read. I think the rapturous reviews made me expect more than that. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone looking for that kind of book, especially to men or teenage boys.
    • 5/5
      I had read several of Pelecanos' books so I was pleased to get a LibraryThing Early Reviewer's copy of his newest one, "The Cut". His books tend to be hard-boiled private detective stories set in gritty locations around Washington DC. This one follows that pattern.It is a very good book and very entertaining to read. The protagonist, Spero Lucas, is a fit young Marine veteran who has returned to his hometown of Washington DC. He works as an "investigator" for a prominent criminal attorney, and takes on freelance jobs "finding" things for people for a cut of the value. In this case, he is hired to recover some stolen cocaine which was delivered via Fedex to an unoccupied house. It was stolen before the drug gang could pick it up. The head of the gang wants the drugs or proceeds from their sale. The story is about Spero's search for the goods.The story is well-plotted and moves along briskly. Before long there's some killing, which really engages Spero into getting to the bottom of the mystery of who took the drugs. There's more killing and a kidnapping before things get resolved.Pelecanos shows an intimate knowledge of the geography of Washington and the surrounding countryside. There's some information overload as he goes into detail about the location of all the events.This is the first book in a potential Spero Lucas series and I look forward to the sequel to "The Cut". I've read that there's one in the works already.
    • 4/5
      The new book by George Pelecanos is said to be the first in a new series built around Spero Lucas, a young Marine veteran living back in his hometown of Washington, D.C.As usual, Pelecanos knows his way not only around a thriller but around the seamier side of our nation's capital. He introduces us to Spero, who tells people his job is "recovering stolen property," just as he is about to embark on a task for a lawyer. This leads him to a second job for a drug kingpin who claims he's not into violence, just moving product. PThe book moves quickly and is entertaining. Spero is likable and interesting and you can see how the author will be able to build more stories around him. What kept me from giving the book four stars is that the plot itself holds no surprises or real twists. Still, I would recommend the book to readers looking for an easy and pleasurable read.
    • 3/5
      I thought "The Cut" by George Pelecanos was a good book but not as good as the others by him I had read, including at least two from the Derek Strange series. This is the first in a new series featuring Spero Lucas, a Marine war vet who saw lots of action in Iraq. Spero does occasional freelance investigations for a highly regarded criminal defense attorney in D.C., and he also does some freelance work to "retrieve" property for his own clients. His new client is in jail awaiting trial on some heavy charges; this is not a good sign. Why would someone want to get involved with a guy like this? Anyway Spero goes about attempting to find packages that go missing soon after delivery, and its not long before bodies start dropping, dead. In the midst of this we meet Spero's family and follow his other interests like biking and kayaking.Here's where I started to have some problems with this book. Generally, I found that Spero was too.......everything. He's a nice guy - after wiping out a few of D.C.'s less reputable citizens he spends the night playing Scrabble with his elderly landlady (c'mon!), and he visits Mom, and he goes to Church regularly, and he's always politically correct, and.....This "too much" criticism extends to Pelecanos also in his descriptions of things (too many brand names), landmarks, restaurants, music, books, street names......Hey, I really like following some of the characters' city journeys from here to there, street by street on Google Maps and Google Earth more than most people but it was too much even for me. But it did a lot to fill what was a quick read, a very quick read. Two other issues I had with "Cut", one being a decision by Spero to initiate some action that could lead the story to only one conclusion, yet there is never any indication that this occurs to Spero. Secondly, the whole book reads like a screenplay to me - this is not a compliment. I doubt very much that I'll read the next Spero book. Completed 8/26/11, rated generous 2.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      I love times like this when I find a new-to-me author who has a long backlist for me to read as well. I won this book from LibraryThing. Since I hadn't read Pelecanos before, I was a little concerned, but all is well - I loved this book and this hero. Can't wait to find the rest of his books to read.The hero is Spero Lucas. Now all this may be familiar to you, but if not, Lucas is a Marine Corp vet who served in Iraq. Now he works as an investigator for a lawyer and, as in this instance, occasionally takes on a job independently. This one is, believe it or not, for a drug kingpin who is in prison awaiting trial. The title of the book comes from the fact that he gets a 40% cut in his work.Lucas takes umpteen showers a day, changes his clothes just about as often, but not for vanity; this guy is clean-cut and fit. He bikes, kayaks, does calisthenics in his apartment, anything to keep as fit as possible. I can just see his six pack and guns. Girls, this guy is sexy. And he loves women, even treats them very well. I'm reminded of Robert B. Parker's Spenser in many ways. However, he does goof sometimes or strike out with a woman, i.e., he's human. I love that in a hero.Pelecanos has a spare writing style with no long, flowery descriptions. I admire his ability to create a character or give the reader a scene without long descriptions. He shows what a person is like; hence the exercise and showers and women. His villains also are evil but three dimensional. One loves to learn the proper use of big fancy words to impress his friends, which just serves to convince them he's a dunce. One of the main rules of writing, one frequently ignored, is to show rather than tell. Pelecanos has mastered this technique.I highly recommend this book for mystery lovers. Now I'm off to the library to look for more Pelecanos books.
    • 4/5
      This is the first Pelecanos book I have read. I finished it in three days-a fast read for me.Obviously a writer about D.C., Pelecanos drips with authenticity with streets, neighborhoods and restaurants. I wish i lived there to check him out, but my guess is he's right on target. His euphemisms are delightful. a deuce is a table for two. I easily picked up on his many uses of his personal slang and the reality was great. The story moved swiftly and was quite believable. I must say I look forward to the next Spero Lucas novel and it is a crime novel rather than a thriller. That is , it moves along fast but not because it's a cliff hanger, because the story moves you along. Great book, but not a fantastic book.
    • 5/5
      Like most George Pelecanos novels, "The Cut" features damaged people in perilous situations. But unlike some characters in recent books, Spero Lucas seeks out danger. He's an Iraqi war vet who saw terrible things that he doesn't like to talk about, unless he's with other Marines. Now that he's home, he feeds his craving for adrenaline by recovering stolen property for dodgy people. His "cut" for taking on these assignments is 40% of the value of the recovered items. When Lucas agrees to recover lost marijuana for a local crime boss, he finds himself battling some nasty, nihilist characters, holdovers from the days when DC was the murder capital and drug lords ruled neighborhoods that have since been gentrified. As always, Pelecanos depicts DC with unerring accuracy. If you want to discover a city that's overlooked by the tour buses, read this book. An additional bonus of "The Cut" is its exploration of DC restaurants and diners; Lucas likes to eat well and he knows where to get a good meal,My one problem with this book was Lucas. Pelecanos' style is show, not tell, which means his novels are fast-paced and great reads, but there's not much introspection. At times, Lucas feels more like a comic book hero (he's ripped, smart and a sex machine) than a real man. This is the first part of a series featuring Lucas, and like a true crime novelist, Pelecanos leaves us wanting more.
    • 4/5
      I love the vernacular and sense of place. I've read all his books
    • 4/5
      Pelecanos’ The Cut is the first of two novels in his Spero Lucas series, which follows in many of the footsteps of his Strange and Quinn series. Here, too, Pelecanos focuses on a DC investigator, although an unlicensed one. Lucas, however, is a bit like a modern day Travis McGee. He’s back from years of fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, and uncomfortable talking about ironic things in fashionable bars, and working to retrieve things that people have lost or have taken from them for a forty percent cut.
      In doing so, Lucas skirts the edges of the law. He’s not grounded in society as Derek Strange is. Rather, he’s been out in the desert, poised for violence, for many years and his many contacts include other veterans in DC American Legion posts. At once, this crime thriller is about the history and neighborhoods of DC, the DC the tourists never see, and about a war veteran coming home and trying to adjust, not wanting to work at a desk or a 9-to-5 job, trying to do his own thing.
      One of the great things about Pelecanos’ writing is the attention to every little detail that he provides from the music playing to the cars and the neighborhoods and, like his other books, this one brings to life a place and time. This is a rock-solid thriller without pause, culminating in a true explosion of violence as Lucas does what he does, but finds that there are others skirting the law without any morales or scruples. It is such an intense book that you have to take a deep breath when you finish almost like sitting in the movie theater watching the credits roll down and not ready to yet stand up and walk out.
    • 4/5
      George Pelecanos isn't tough to figure out. He writes great crime novels set in Washington DC and its environs, he creates great characters (black, white- usually Greek-American, multi-ethnic), the bad guys are really bad and the good guys usually have major flaws, he loves music and uses it to create atmosphere, and he develops very ambiguous situations where his good guys have to do bad things in order to have something positive happen at the end. It's a great formula and it's had me hooked on his novels for a long time.

      "The Cut" introduces us to Spero Lucas, Iraq war veteran, member of a 'blended' Greek family, investigator for a defense lawyer who handles cases for some pretty nasty people, and a guy who has found a niche by "finding" things for people and taking a 40% cut of what's found. It's not a normal job. Without spoiling the plot, Spero tries to recover a missing package of marijuana for an incarcerated drug dealer, and in the course of events people are kidnapped and killed. We meet good cops, bad cops, inept drug dealers, killers, Spero's family members (especially his brother, who's a teacher and is also of a different race- it's a long story.....), and high schoolers. It's a typically fine Pelecanos story line with a satisfying ending.

      George Pelecanos will never be mistaken for LeCarre, but his writing style is very economical and quickly paints a picture for the reader of the environment and characters. Spero Lucas, who I expect will be around in future books, isn't as fully developed as his other major characters, but that's typical after one book. As with his other protagonists, he'll become more fully defined in subsequent novels. This isn't the Mr. Pelecanos' best work, but it's very good and I look forward to future installments of the Spero Lucas series.
    • 3/5
      Overall, I liked this book. I liked the plot, the action, and the pacing. However, I was very bored by the detail given to the Washington D.C. area. If I lived there, I bet I'd love this, but I don't, and I found I didn't care. I also didn't like the frequent detail of every character's clothing! The author started to sound like a label whore! Almost every time, I got to find out the brand name of the shirt, pants, shoes, and sunglasses that each character wore! Geez, and the name dropping of the bands they were listening to too! I got it - Pelecanos knows a lot of obscure music! Enough already! And they're Greek! Got that too! I really felt like he beat me over the head with this! Sheesh!
    • 3/5
      Spero Lucas, ex-marine and part time private investigator, has a talent for finding lost items. His investigations gain the notice of Anwan Hawkins, a drug dealer awaiting trial whose traffic has recently been interrupted by a series of product thefts. Spero agrees to help retrieve the product or the value of said bundles, on the condition that he gets his usual 40% cut of whatever is retrieved.

      Fans of HBO show "The Wire" will find similarities between it and creator Pelacanos' novel, he utilizes the crime thriller format to explore themes of generational relationships, responsiblity, and ethics. Literary and cultural references flesh out Spero's character. As Spero traces the missing drugs, the reader is taken on a detailed trip through the Washington DC area Spero knows and loves. Readers will solve the 'mystery' of the missing packages quickly but will continue to read as they ride the increasingly violent wave Spero is on because of the strength of the novel's characterization and sense of place.

      Major Appeal: Character and/or Setting

      Further reading options: The Hunter - Richard Stark; Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane

    • 3/5
      Vague memories of favorable reviews for some earlier work caused me to pick this up, and although I glimpsed enough real talent to explain the reviews, overall the book disappointed me.The book stays well within the standard thriller constraints, with a slightly damaged combat veteran protagonist (though not the usual special ops. Guy, in a slight departure), Spero Lucas, struggling through a mean, violent world in which women find him irresistible (they only want to use him for their sexual pleasure, in another slight twist), everyone has lots of idle time, bad guys are stupid and never hit what they’re aiming at, and the police never show up in time to matter.The unlicensed investigator wreaking havoc through a seedy urban landscape reminded me immediately of Mosley’s Easy Rawlins — if you’re going to be influenced, that’s a damn fine way to go — but Spero, at least in this first crack, fell way short of Easy’s depth and complexity.Bothersome to me were extravagantly detailed navigation descriptions, as detailed as anything you could get from Google maps. I skipped large blocks of it because they didn’t establish a sense of place (maybe they would if you’re from D.C.) and were irrelevant to the characters.Likewise the careful descriptions of meals and frequent mention of brand-names became distracting.All that said, there’s still some promise, for me, and I’ll pick up the next volume in the series, when I can. I like that the character has family that he values, that he depends on his friends and hires them when he can, that he skates the edges of moral behavior but is able to find his center when he needs to. I also very much like stories where everything important takes place around fenced light-industrial complexes, run down neighborhoods and loading docks. Places that smell like diesel and old garbage.
    • 3/5
      Spero Lucas is a 29-year old Iraq war vet who has adapted his Marine training to his current lifestyle as an investigator for a criminal attorney in Washington, D.C. On the side, he has a business finding stolen property, whether legal or not, for a forty percent cut of the value. As the story begins, Lucas agrees to see what has happened with a drug shipment scheme gone bad: drug dealers are fed-exing packages to houses that are empty during the day, and then the distributors pick them up. It’s a great system, but some of the packages have gone missing before the pick-ups have been made.When not occupied with work, Lucas is very focused on his family. He is part of a blended family of natural and adopted siblings headed by Greek parents. The much-loved father is now dead, however, and two of the siblings are out of touch. He, his black brother Leo, and his mother remain very close. But he “visits” his father frequently in the graveyard. He also visits with fellow vets, and contributes to their care. He eats a lot, and walks and bikes a lot, and works out in his apartment, especially when he can’t obtain a sex partner with whom to work off his energy:"As he often did after a good ride, he wanted a woman. Instead he did several sets of push-ups, normal and wide stance, and then did chin-ups and pull-ups on a bar mounted inside the door frame of his bedroom.”But generally, he is pretty successful at finding women, and sometimes, they just show up unbidden at his door. The main tool of his trade is his iPhone (one wonders how this will seem to readers in ten years), but when necessary, he has access to and skill with a number of lethal weapons.His status as a vet enables Pelecanos to incorporate a plot line about problems faced by those who served in Iraq, including the let-down of quotidian life compared to the constant adrenaline rush of battle. Lucas’s flirtation in the borderlands of criminal life helps him reach the highs he felt in Iraq, for which he knows he is “lucky.”This exhilaration is fully activated for Lucas as he chases down the stolen drugs, navigating through the dangerous shoals of D.C.’s violent underbelly of crime.Discussion: Lucas is a Jack Reacher [of the Lee Child thriller series] who showers. He is bursting with testosterone, perfectly built, irresistible to women, trusted by black and white alike, and flexible on morality. (Killing is only done to bad guys as a means to a good end.) He is good to his mother, helps the needy with money, and respects the elderly. In short, he is a bit cartoonish. Moreover, like Jack Reacher, we don’t know much about what goes in Lucas’s head. By contrast, we know the brands of every outfit he wears, we know every dish he orders in restaurants, and every component of his exercise routines. We also get a street-by-street map of everywhere he walks, bikes, or drives. It was all a little too much detail for me – as if Pelecanos were setting up the scenes for a screenplay rather than adding meaningful information to the story.Women in this story are in all cases objectified: Lucas’s mother is saintly (in spite of a possible problem with alcohol), and younger women are either whores (used by bad guys) or outlets for testosterone excess (used by Lucas). Even though one of Lucas’s conquests is a lawyer and one a law student, their main function seems to be to show how irresistible Lucas is. Evaluation: I was disappointed in this book. I loved the author’s Drama City because of the characterizations. But Spero Lucas is too cartoonish for me, and the book is written too much as if it is meant to include set directions for a movie. The role of women in Spero's life gave me the creeps. Neverthless, some of the bloggers I consult regularly for book reading ideas all liked it very much.
    • 4/5
      I’ve been a fan of Pelecanos ever since I found out he was one of the creators of The Wire (I’m surely not the first person to tell you to watch that show), and I actually liked this book a little more than the last couple of his I’ve read. It’s still set in the Washington D.C. area, which he does such a great job bringing to life, but it’s not so focused on an "issue". I don’t mind a good issue-focused novel, but sometimes I just want a good crime story. Now don’t get me wrong; this crime story isn’t issue-free. Lucas is an Iraq veteran, and Pelecanos does have a lot to say about veterans and their post-war treatment. But at its heart, this is a story about drugs.Lucas is a private investigator who specializes in finding things that are lost. He’s also not very particular about which side of the law he’s working on. When the client of a lawyer he normally works for needs some help recovering some "property", Lucas agrees to help. Soon he finds out that the story is much bigger than he could have imagined, and not only is he in danger, but people that have helped him are too.I liked the character of Lucas. He’s an adopted kid in a mixed-race family, and I liked seeing those dynamics as much as I enjoyed seeing him in the weeds. It’s hard to dislike a man who loves his momma. There’s a strong theme of family relationships throughout the book, whether it’s Lucas and his family, the young man who helps him and his absentee mother, or the father & son crime duo.I think one of Pelecanos’s strengths is his ability to create complex characters, and Spero Lucas is one I am anxious to read more about.
    • 3/5
      I have a friend who performs what I call “drive-by shootings.” Actually, he motors through a neighborhood, points his camera, and shoots angles of specific passing houses—comps (comparable houses)—he needs in real estate deals. Although my friend uses a Canon, the hero in this novel, Spero Lucas, uses his iPhone to surveil a case. Once he uploads the photos, Lucas has visuals to map a strategy to cut to the chase.And a map is what might be needed to appreciate this novel. There are extensive routes detailed in this fiction and, unless a native of DC, the reader will need a map to judge any accuracy of these points of interest. Lucas is a former marine, returned from Iraq, who has placed his PI license at the disposal of an attorney, although he is not averse to taking side jobs. Lucas is a church-going, mother-loving adopted son, who has guilty remorse over his father’s funeral. He is charitable, donating time to veterans, helping the homeless, and visiting his comrades. He keeps in shape through calisthenics, biking and kayaking, and he reads a lot. Additionally, he can be a gourmet in fine restaurants or a gourmand in greasy spoons. On the darker side, he is not above tweaking the edges of legality; he is sex-crazed; and, he smokes a lot of weed. In fact, I wonder if the book’s multiple pokes at legalizing marijuana might not be evidence of the author’s personal crusade.Noting the book’s title, the cut refers to a percentage of the value of swag, or the value of the package—a finder’s fee—Lucas is hired to locate and return for a jailed felon. What begins as a simple tracking job spirals into murder, kidnapping, assaults on a drug enterprise.With good dialogues, fast-pacing, and believable characters, this novel might be a terrific invitation to pursue any of the author’s other dozen and a half titles.
    • 3/5
      Spero Lucas is an Iraq War vet trying to find his niche in life after seeing more than enough action. But the life he has chosen feeds his adrenaline rush and his need to work solo. He works for an attorney recovering stolen items. Hawkins, the attorney’s client, is in jail awaiting trial but still seems to be conducting business as usual from behind bars. Several packages of marijuana worth thousands are stolen from the front steps of three different houses. Lucas’ cut is 40% if he can locate the missing packages. Two youths who work for Hawkins are murdered right after calling Lucas with a cryptic message…just four numbers. Now Hawkins isn’t that interested in his missing packages but Lucas was hired to do a job so the hunt is on. This book is testosterone heavy with Lucas jumping in and out of bed with a couple women and it is constantly mentioned after riding his bike or exercising that Lucas “needs a woman.” While on surveillance the reader gets to hear how Lucas uses a bottle for a bathroom break…too much information, thank you. The friendly barbs exchanged with his brother are amusing but I found it ironic that Lucas is chasing down missing illegal pot yet fires up a joint every now and then. I am a stickler for laws so I have little patience when characters I am supposed to like break them. Yet I am a huge fan of Dexter. Maybe because Dexter kills those society is better without. Maybe because Dexter is so likeable I can forgive him. Lucas did kill some people that society is better without but for some reason I wasn’t that fond of him. The main theme of the book seemed to be that the drug wars aren’t working so we should just legalize them. Perhaps the author is showing reality, i.e., thirty-year-olds smoke pot. I had to ponder – if Dexter used drugs, would I still be that fond of him? I think not. Drugs are a major pet peeve of mine so I’m not the best judge to rate this book.