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    The Way Home
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    The Way Home
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    The Way Home
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Way Home

    Written by George Pelecanos

    Narrated by Dion Graham

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Christopher Flynn is trying to get it right. After years of trouble and rebellion that enraged his father and nearly cost him his life, he has a steady job in his father's company, he's seriously dating a woman he respects, and, aside from the distrust that lingers in his father's eyes, his mistakes are firmly in the past.

    One day on the job, Chris and his partner come across a temptation almost too big to resist. Chris does the right thing, but old habits and instincts rise to the surface, threatening this new-found stability with sudden treachery and violence. With his father and his most trusted friends, he takes one last chance to blast past the demons trying to pull him back.

    Like Richard Price or William Kennedy, Pelecanos pushes his characters to the extremes, their redemption that much sweeter because it is so hard fought. Pelecanos has long been celebrated for his unerring ability to portray the conflicts men feel as they search and struggle for power and love in a world that is often harsh and unforgiving but can ultimately be filled with beauty.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateMay 12, 2009
    ISBN9781600247323
    Unavailable
    The Way Home
    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 Way Home

    3.5/5

    144 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Characters felt real and human. Setting was accurate to the real DC and convincingly detailed. But the plot seemed like several I've seen on TV lately and there were a few moments of preaching on what must be issues of concern to the author. Prefer for the moral to arise organically from the story and not feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it.
    • 4/5
      Taking the synopsis at face value one would assume this was a fast moving tale of robbery and revenge, but as it turns out a fair chunk of it takes place inside a youth offenders' institution, and the main action described on the back cover is confined to the later stages. Not a criticism, but I found it difficult to concentrate in the early stages because of too many characters with names beginning with L or B that I struggled to keep track of. In terms of the incarcerated characters I assumed there were some we were meant to sympathise with and others who were frankly bang to rights, and though there was some handy signalling in this regard, I still had to go back and re-read some sections just to get all the characters straight in my head.What I admired most about this book was the portrayal of Chris's parents and their dismay at his wayward behaviour. As the parent of a troubled teen (though nowhere near this scale!) I appreciated it and felt it was done well. On the other hand I found the story less dramatic and more plodding than I had hoped at the start.
    • 4/5
      The main character of this story, Chris Flynn, is the son of a successful businessman in Washington DC. It details his problems with the law, prison time, and subsequent rehabilitation. It also talks about his relationship with his father and his fellow inmates. Also involved are two low life ex-cons out to retrieve the sack of money that Chris and his friend found in the floor of a house they were re-carpeting. This story reveals the underside of Washington DC, away from the halls of power and in the ghettos and projects.
    • 4/5
      I was expecting a gritty mystery. It was a mystery. It was real, and not always in a pleasant way. But more than that, it was a character study of a young man and his father. It was a look at the juvenile criminal justice system, and how it affects the young men who end up there.I was very much pulled into the story. The men in the book (and it was a book about men, the women were all peripheral to the story) all were completely foreign to me, and yet I understood Chris's youthful stupidity, and his efforts to turn his life around afterward. I saw the even harder path that Ben walked, trying the same turn around with no family, and only Chris to support him. I celebrated Ali's success, and attempts to help others. I mourned the young men that weren't able to make the transition.The bad guys in the second half of the book were two scary dudes, and I appreciated the suspense factor in the book.The biggest question, the one that kept me reading wasn't "What will happen to Chris?", but "What will Chris make happen to himself?". I wasn't disappointed in the path this took me on.
    • 4/5
      Pelecanos writes with remarkable style and draws you into caring about what happens to his characters. Even at times when not much may appear to be actually happening in terms of events to push the narrative forward I never felt bored or at a loss with this novel. I've been a long time fan of his work back to when I first read the Nick Stefanos novels but didn't enjoy the DC Quartet as much for some reason but recently having read both "The Turnaround" and "The Way Home" in quick succession I feel I've rediscovered a master with effortless prose with marvellous portrayal of the human condition so much so that I may be compelled to revisit some of his earlier work again.
    • 5/5
      Summary: Hidden beneath the floorboards in a house he's remodeling, Christopher Flynn discovers something very tempting-and troubling. Summoning every bit of maturity and every lesson he's learned the hard way, Chris leaves what he found where he found it and tells his job partner to forget it, too. Knowing trouble when he sees it-and walking the other way-is a habit Chris is still learning.Chris's father, Thomas Flynn, runs the family business where Chris and his friends have found work. Thomas is just getting comfortable with the idea that his son is grown, working, and on the right path at last. Then one day Chris doesn't show up for work-and his father knows deep in his bones that danger has found him. Although he wishes it weren't so, he also knows that no parent can protect a child from all the world's evils. Sometimes you have to let them find their own way home.My brief review: This is not a thriller or a traditional whodunnit but a story about a boy growing up and trying to find his way in the world and his place in his family. There's is a crime but it is more of a vehicle to illustrate several points including that of the role and result of punishment as doled out by the juvenile justice system. Arguably for some it is a deterrence, for others it is not.At the heart of this novel is a father son relationship. It's a fractured relationship that was once strong and invigorating to father and son. Thomas Flynn and Chris love each other but have lost respect for each other as Chris grew into a teenager and are no longer able to communicate. Growing up is a difficult time in a young person's life. There are a myriad of pressures to contend with from parents, friends, school and society. Chris rebels against the rules, authority and his father's expectations. Poor judgment and stupid decisions made under the guise of being cool eventually land him in Pine Ridge Juvenile Detention. It might end up being one of the best things that happens to Chris. But not his dad. Thomas Flynn is too concerned with what the neighbors will think and too blind-sided by his determination to make Chris into the son he thinks Chris should be. But even after Chris sheds his bad boy image, starts working for his dad and maintains a low profile, Thomas isn't happy. Chris doesn't understand his father and finds it easier to stay away from his family despite wanting to be able to talk to his father. But he's also thinking about starting his own family.The values and beliefs both Thomas and Chris hold tightly will be tested. They will be forced to reconsider their views of life, each other and human nature. Chris is still young and may be able to build a life he can be proud of that includes his mother and father. Thomas needs to reconcile the things that desperately upset him and come to terms with life before it is too late. And father and son will soon realize how important are the small and large decisions you make for yourselves, your family and your friends. George Pelecanos has given us a captivating story about life and relationships and how the decisions we make in our own lives will effect the lives of those we love.
    • 5/5
      George Pelecanos in his book "The Way Home" took me inside the hearts, heads and environments of young men in America. The story takes place in Washington D.C. The lives of Chris, Ali, Ben, Lawrence and the other boys is tough and raw. For one reason or another these boys end up in juvenile facilities. While locked up, life is unpredictable and grim. It's almost like living on the streets without anyone to help or protect you. After leaving this place, the boys continue a daily struggle to exist without meeting trouble again.In "The Way Home" most of the boys are blacks, Hispanics and only a few white boys. Only Chris comes from a two parent home. His father owns a carpeting business. Automatically, Chris has a job waiting for him when he gets out of Pine Ridge. Chris and his dad will give other boys a hand up to make money honestly and to learn a trade. Still, life is unpredictable. Temptation comes from the least expected places. Violence also doesn't always come in the dark, in a bar or in an alley. Violence, in this instance, takes a side route by way of two thugs named Sonny and Wayne in a house that is being redecorated.Also, there aren't just guys in "The Way Home." There are also girls and women. I think Amanda and Katherine make the hard places softer to land for Chris and Thomas Flynn. This book made me think a lot about the lives of some youths, what they go through every single day in order to survive. I thought about parents like Thomas and Amanda Flynn who try there best and still see failure ahead for their children.I also thought about Dorita, the young mother in the book. She lies on the couch watching tv, watching her kids and eating chips, drinking sodas. I thought a lot about her past, present and future, especially the future of her son Marquis who wants to grow up to be a scientist. Sadly, no one knows exactly how to get him out of the neighborhood before it's too late.George Pelecanos pulls no punches in this book. Without one judgmental word he showed me reality. At times I wanted to run from his book. Throw it down and not finish it. Other times I just wanted to cry and close my eyes to reality. Then, at the end, I wanted to act. I wanted to do something to change the ugly places of this world.I will never forget the characters in "The Way Home" because they are "real" people with different names living in different cities around the country. These people are our future, if we allow each other to live to see a future.
    • 4/5
      The Way Home by George PelecanosChris Flynn is a bad kid, always in trouble and disappointing his father. He steals, he does drugs, he skips school, any trouble he can get into. But then Chris gets caught and goes to juvenile detention. After Chris gets out, he tries to live a different life. He goes to work for his father, installing carpets with a friend from juvie, Ben. One day, Chris and Ben are replacing a carpet for a real estate agent that also flips houses. They find a bag hidden in the floor, it contains fifty thousand dollars. Ben wants to take it, but Chris says no. He's been working hard to get his life back on track and win the respect of his Dad. But Ben can't keep his mouth shut and the money disappears. That money belongs to someone and he wants it back. Chris is torn between who he has become and who he used to be.This was a really great read, well-written and moved quickly. Part suspense, part social commentary, and part father-son relationships.Pelecanos introduces us to Chris's world in juvenile detention and how he and his friends fare in the adult world. And how lucky Chris is to have a family waiting for him after he gets out of jail. Chris's father is disappointed in him, but refuses to give up and is always there for him. Chris is a well-rounded, likable character, and I couldn't help but root for him, hoping he will make the right choices. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it. I think I will be checking out other work by this writer.
    • 4/5
      Chris Flynn has had every advantage in life. His father Thomas wants him to succeed in life. But teen aged Chris seems determined to do everything in his power to make sure he doesn't. He winds up in a juvenile detention centre. Thomas cannot understand where he went wrong with Chris.When Chris is released, he tries to make a go of things. He's working for his father's flooring company, lives on his and has met a woman he believes he can spend his life with. When Chris and his partner Ben come across a cache of money during a carpet installation, things start to deviate from the path of straight and true.Although this is a crime story and a heck of a good one, the story of the relationship between Chris and his father was what intrigued me. Thomas is such a hard a**, expecting so much from his son, but unable to give Chris back the love and respect he craves. As Chris tries to do the right thing, he is constantly battling his father's notion of who he was, not who he has become. A really intense story of love between a father and son.Now when I say that this was the first Pelecanos I had read, I actually listened to the unabridged version on CD. It was read by Dion Graham , who won Audiophile magazine's 2008 best voice in mystery and suspense award. And what a voice. Deep and husky, harsh and grating, full of smoky mystery. I actually didn't like the character of Thomas very much. Graham conveyed the petulance and anger of Thomas through his voice. Chris' laconic drawl and slow burning resentment are captured in yet another voice that drew a perfect picture in my mind. Various other characters, including the boys in juvie jump to life as well. Graham uses his voice to capture the nuances of the conversations and narration.I enjoyed this very much. A good, gritty story that used the mystery as a vehicle to explore relationships between fathers, sons and friends.
    • 3/5
      I hate to admit that I was a little disappointed in this book after finishing it. It was a good read, and perhaps my expectations were a little too high, after a friend touted his series 'The Wire' as being true genius. I felt the story line became predictable. I also felt perhaps the author took the easy way out. The characters were likable, but I was a bit uncomfortable with everyone being called by their given name, while the father was called by his surname. I understand why, yet it was still a bit weird. I think it was written well enough however to make me want to still check out other works by this author.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book I've read by George Pelecanos. I'd have to read more to know for sure, but he seems to be a master of not only storytelling, but of atmospheric setting and character interaction. The Way Home was full of realistic characters and scenic description that put the reader smack dab in the middle of D.C. Beyond spinning a pleasant yarn, Mr. Pelecanos also captured a thoroughly modern tension: that for the first time, a generation is likely to stagnate or fall rather than climbing the socio-economic ladder. This question, of whether children can build on the success of their parents, is the undercurrent that separates the book from millions of other pulpy mysteries. In my experience, it's rare to find a crime writer who is not only prolific, but literary. What a treat it will be to read more by Mr. Pelecanos.
    • 5/5
      This is a story that happens all to often and yet is not told enough. Pelecanos does an amazing job of layering each character, each climax and solution into an awe inspiring story. The characters feel like real people who live down the road, you can really relate to at least one, if not all of them. Pelecanos tells his story in a raw, "take that" way where every twist in the plot or climax of the story is like a punch to the gut. I admit to being a bit too sensitive but this book had me crying in my car in front of all of my neighbors, more than once.Some of the things that come to light in this story are the "No Snitching" mentality, the poor shape the juvenile justice system is in (not just in D.C. but through out the U.S.A.), how even in a complete family structure young men can still suffer and struggle with the ideas of right and wrong. Pelecanos is one of the writers on the HBO series The Wire and if you have ever seen it, that is the DC you see in The Way Home. It is dirty, grimy and STREET.Who would enjoy this book? EVERYONE, go out and buy it NOW! This is the first time I have said this, THIS IS A MUST READ.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. I read a good review of this book that compared him to Richard Price. That and his credits from "The Wire" convinced me to take a chance on this book. He is not quite up to Price's standard, but then that is a high bar.Chris is from a good home in DC but he has become a delinquent. With several incidents already on his record, he attacks a man physically for no good reason and then starts a high speed reckless chase through the city streets, causing accidents and injuries. He spends time in a juvenile facility, where he is the only white boy, so that becomes his nickname. Then, the story jumps ahead about 8, 9 years. Chris is now working for his father's business, laying carpet. He is teamed with another former juvenile offender that he met inside. Another of them is now working with kids in DC, trying to set them up with employment to help them avoid lockup after they get into legal trouble. Another is a low life still using and up to no good, but also starting a little business for himself.One job, Chris and his partner find money beneath the floorboards. They decide to leave it there, at Chris's insistence. His partner tells the low life about it and he breaks in and steals the money. Predictable, the criminal who stashed the money there gets out of prison and goes to recover it. When it is not there, he tracks down Chris and his friends.I had some problems with the plot seeming illogical at times. Chris could have turned the money over to the police and if no one claimed it, or if it was not linked to specific crimes, he could have ended up with the money. But, Chris still has problems dealing with the police, so although this is not said, he could have decided not to consider that option for that reason. Also, there are some inaccuracies in the book with the law and legal issues, which always bother me when I see them.
    • 3/5
      Some books are plot or character driven. This one appears to be more plot driven than character driven. The story is about Chris Flynn with a subplot about his relationship to his father, Thomas. In the first half of the book the reader meets Chris and his parents at a juvenile detention center. Chris was a directionless teenager headed for trouble. Until the last time, Thomas was able to bail Chris out. Chris is now serving his time and deciding what direction to take his life.In the second half of the book, the adult Chris is working at his father's business installing carpets. Chris and his friends are moving forward with their lives. Some of their old detention center buddies have not fared as well. While on a job, Chris and his friend Ben find something that will change their lives in unexpected ways. A series of events set the rest of the novel in motion.Pelecanos does a wonderful job of creating the setting. A juvenile detention center is not a pleasant place to be and it's not a vacation resort. For most of the teens in the novel it's a tolerable place. They learn to stick together against other housing units and some of the guards. In the latter half, the fancy suburbs and revitalized neighborhoods are recognizable to me.Some characters, like Ben and Ali, are genuinely nice people and the reader roots for them. Others, like Lawrence, have a bit more backbone and sense of right than originally given credit for. Amanda Flynn is never really present. She's mostly filtered through the eyes of her husband. The heart of the novel is supposed to be the relationship between Thomas and Chris. Thomas drinks a too much and he's lost. He doesn't know why his son went down the wrong path or how to get close to him again. It's obvious Thomas loves Chris. Chris loves Thomas too but feels hassled by him. It seems to Chris that no matter what he does, Thomas will aways perceive Chris as the teen that messed up his life. For some reason I just couldn't connect with any character for more than a moment or two. This is the first book I've read by Pelecanos so I wasn't sure what to expect. The plot is well planned and Pelecanos lets it unfold at a leisurely pace. The Way Home might make a fantastic movie.
    • 4/5
      Tom and Amanda Flynn believed that if you raised a child in a comfortable home, good schools, church and with two loving parents, it should be what a child needs to be successful in life. It didn't seem to work for their son, Christopher. By the time Chris was sixteen his grades were down, he stopped playing sports, started shoplifting, fighting, smoking marijuana and was headed for jail.A stretch in a juvenile jail worked for Chris. He grew up and learned what he had to do to stay out of jail. He got his own apartment and a job working for his father's flooring business as a carpet installer. By his mid-twenties he was doing okay. Then one day he and his friend discovered a bag with a lot of money hidden under a floor in a house where they were laying carpet. They put the money back, laid down the carpet, and walked away. Unfortunately, Chris' friend tells someone. Unfortunately, the two crooks who originally stashed the money come looking for it. And then the story continues.I definitely want to read more of Pelecanos' books. I know this is classified as Crime Fiction but it didn't really feel that way. There was a little violence and some bad language but it fit the story. The characters were well developed. They each had flaws but that's what made them feel human.
    • 5/5
      Am constantly amazed by the depth of Pelecanos' writing. His characters are so real, their dilemmas so relatable. Anyone who has had a child who has ever gotten in any trouble will relate to the parents in this novel. And any person who has ever given their parents any grief will relate as well. SO, anyone who is a child of parents or a parent of a child should read this. (That means everyone, right?)
    • 2/5

      Redemption...A story of love between a father and son, but a sort of a clunker.

      Pelecanos’s fiction has for a while now been decidedly more upbeat, less bleak and, I dare say, a little too predictable.

      What's also getting on my nerves is his skewed syntax and more than a few strangely constructed sentences that stand out a mile away. And it's getting more pronounced with each book. Rush jobs for a paycheque?

      It was also very preachy (like some of his late books).

      While reading the book, I was expecting something to throw me off. Didn't happen. It also did not succeed in creating a memorable world full of interesting characters and a credible story-line.

      It was a bit of a bore for me.
    • 4/5
      Chris Flynn has gone of the rails and has to spend time in a juvenile centre. When he is released he goes to work for dads firm laying carpet. When on a job he discovers a bag of money under some floorboards, so what is Chris going to do. Will he take the money or will he walk away.I liked this book. I found it very easy to read and not too taxing considering it's storyline. The main character Chris is bought up in a decent home snd goes wild. His dad is disappointed in him but loves him all the same. I don't think there was enough of tbe father -son relationship for me in the book. The story for me was more about Chris snd how he trys to turn his life around.The story is a thriller because of the life Chris lived. I felt the two baddies were like those characters from 'Home Alone' and at times were quite laughable and didn't seem real to me. There wad plenty going on in the book to hold my interest till the end.First time for me with this author, and I have to say I haven't watched ' The Wire' . I wojld probably read more by this author as I felt it was an ok read.
    • 4/5
      I've only read one other book of Pelecanos's, Right as Rain. I liked the depth and detail of that one better, but this is a great quick read from an interesting perspective. While it definitely fits into the crime thriller category, about everyday people caught up in violence, it gives us a young man who went wrong, and is trying to do right as our main character. Chris Flynn is intriguing, as is his father, of similar stripe, who grew up in a more forgiving era.
      He says so much with his laconic prose, it is hard not to stand back and be impressed, as he also manages to tell a gripping tale and introduce us to enjoyable characters.
      Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I read this book because George Pelecanos is local to me, and, despite my aversion to crime fiction, I thought I should give this well-known author a chance. I must say that my experience reading my first book by Pelecanos was worthwhile. I didn't know what to expect, but what I found in this novel was a story that began with juvenile delinquents in a detention center and later ended with their experiences as adults after their release. The story centered especially on four friends: Chris, Ben, Ali, and Lawrence. What made Chris stand out from the others was that he was the only "White Boy" of this crowd and the only one who came from a fairly affluent background.What was most fun for me in this novel, and is probably the same for other DC area residents, is all of the name-dropping of streets and other locations in my very own metropolitan area. I laughed out loud each time some of the street names rang familiar. However I laughed most loudly when I just drove across the street (Veirs Mill Road) named by the narrator as I was listening to this book. I got great enjoyment from the author's knowing the DC area so well. Since I had once worked as a visiting nurse in DC and the Maryland suburbs of DC (Pelecanos does not talk about Virginia in this book), I felt almost as if I could jump into the pages and be there with the characters. However, I restrained myself! :)The book was good, not great. However, it was enjoyable enough of a read that I would not hesitate to pick up another Pelecanos novel. Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll become an avid crime fiction fan.
    • 4/5
      Chris Flynn is a middle-class white boy whose life goes off the rails after teenage bravado turns sour and he spends some grim time in Pine Ridge juvenile detention facility. When he’s released he starts working for his father’s carpet installation business and things are smoothing out for Chris until he and his workmate and friend Ben, another former inmate of Pine Ridge, find a bag of money in an empty house. What next?

      This beautifully narrated audio book seemed to me to be first and foremost an examination of the impact little decisions have on our lives. At almost every point in the story things could have gone one of two ways for someone but their decisions could not have appeared life-altering at the time. My heart was literally wrenched when Thomas Flynn realised that the things he did, and didn’t, teach his son Chris when the boy was small were reverberating in their lives many years later. I’m always intrigued by books in which the road not travelled plays a significant role.

      The other strength of the novel is its flawed but very human characters. Almost all of them are men of varying backgrounds, race and criminal status and as an exploration of what it means to be a man in urban America the book is fascinating. There were multiple occasions where my first reaction to an event or an action taken by one of the characters was to mentally scoff ‘as if’ before it would dawn on me that I was approaching things from the perspective of a carefree Australian woman whose only time in prison has been a couple of hours on a guided tour of Alcatraz while a boat waited to spirit me away to a seafood dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf. This is a point of view which shares nothing with the world seen through the eyes of the characters in this book. Many of the reviews and comments I’ve seen about the book and Pelecanos’ writing in general mention his undoubted grasp of the male psyche but I found the look into the American state of mind, a thing equally foreign to me, just as compelling.

      I wasn’t as taken with all of the writing. While there were some truly stunning passages, especially those describing the surroundings of and experiences at Pine Ridge, there’s also a heck of a lot of unnecessary detail for a relatively short book. It’s difficult to reference an audio book but an example of the kind of thing I mean is the point where Ben and Chris are getting ready to install a carpet and the narrative went something like “they untied the red flag from the roll of carpet, then they took the carpet roll from the van and took it to the porch, then they went back for the roll of padding and took that to the porch”. Yawn.

      I also had a bit of a gripe with The Message (capitalisation deliberate). Yes Pelecanos’ politics concerning young offenders and the way society deals with issues such as drug use is the opposite of most mainstream commentators but he’s no less ‘preachy’ about the subject than the average radio shock jock. The descriptions of the facilities and events at Pine Ridge demonstrated that locking kids up in awful surroundings and treating them like dirt is, at the very least, counter productive. I didn’t need to also be bludgeoned over the head with additional academic-style lectures about improving the system inserted clumsily into the narrative. I’m no less annoyed at being preached at by people whose views I concur with than those whose opinions make my stomach turn.

      Overall though The Way Home was a reading experience that took me outside my comfort zone and my enjoyment of it, despite being confronted several times by my own subtle prejudices and pre-conceived ideas, reminds me that I should do this much more often. I’d recommend the book fairly universally but especially to those who like character-driven narratives and anyone who is interested at all in the things that can go wrong, and right, between a father and his son. This was my first novel by Pelecanos and I’m keen to read more.
    • 4/5
      Although Thomas Flynn never attended college, he became a successful entrepreneur. All he wants for his son, Chris, is to see him go to college and succeed in life. But Chris has no interest in school and drifts toward a life of drugs and petty crime. Placed in a juvenile facility until 18, Chris takes a job with his father once he graduates high school. Although Flynn is disappointed in Chris and Chris resents his father’s plans for his future, the two learn to work together without conflict. Thomas begins to hope that Chris is maturing and leaving behind the past, but when one of Chris’s friends is murdered and Chris begins acting suspiciously, Flynn fears his son has slipped back into the past, to a place he can never leave behind.The predominant theme is a character study of two men in a contentious relationship, one not uncommon to many fathers and sons. Through characters and plot, Pelecanos relays his own message concerning juvenile detention centers and rehabilitating young criminals. He adds suspense to the story with the murder of Chris’s friend and nicely develops a back story reflecting on Chris’s time in the juvenile facility, touching upon the injustices Chris endures in that center as well as his relationship with the other young boys facing the same fate.
    • 4/5
      Shortly after they were married, Thomas and Amanda Flynn had a baby girl, Kate, who lived for two days. After a few more years of trying, they finally had a boy, Chris, who never could quite live up to the image of Kate that Thomas had in his mind. Thomas would always think about what Kate would be doing, had she lived. Chris quit trying to please his father and got into trouble for stealing, using and selling drugs, fighting and reckless driving. He was finally sentenced to Juvenile Detention where he remarkably made some good friends and decided to turn his life around.Upon his release, Chris and one of his friends from Juvenile Detention, Ben, went to work as carpet installers for Thomas’s flooring business. Things were going along great until Ben and Chris discovered some cash hidden under the floor of one of the houses they were working in. Chris and Ben decided to leave the money alone, but Ben couldn’t resist telling someone else about it. The thugs who hid the money came back for it and when they didn’t find it, they assumed Ben and Chris had it. When they come after Chris and Ben for the money, chaos ensues.The Way Home by George Pelecanos drew me in from the first paragraph. It is a fast-paced, action packed thriller. The characters are flawed, but so real - there were times I wanted to choke both Chris and Thomas. The story goes much deeper than that - for me, it was the story of a family and how the son lived up to his father’s expectations of him. It also made me think about the way our society treats it’s offenders and wonder if there isn’t a better solution. I thought this book was great! There are some mild sexual references and violence, but they are suitable for the storyline.