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What it Was (Derek Strange and Terry Quinn #5)

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 726 ratings · 167 reviews

Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn, is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published January 23rd 2012 by Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books (first published 2012)

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Oct 27, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: february-2012-list, mystery-thriller, noir, arc

"Red Fury he's the Man
Try and stop him if you can!"

This novel stemmed from George's novel The Night Gardener where a character Red 'Fury' Jones was planted as a fable, he wanted to give a whole story with him in as the bad boy.
And what a story it is, well done this is a throwback to the bygone days of Plymouth automobiles, Afro puffs, when single tracks were on 45 records needed of a spacer, no mobiles, social media, or CCTV. Good old detective work knocking down doors and shacking up perps.
He...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Kirk rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a lot like the decade in which it's set: the garish fashions tend to overshadow the substance, the plot feels loose and sprawling, everybody is collapsing into crass, and the specter of Richard Nixon stinks it up like the bad smell from your local paper mill. Even Amazon's strategy of selling the e-book for 99 cents for its first month makes it seem disposable in a pop way. All of these elements make for a fun, funky read. Pelecanos apparently dashed this off in the summer of 2011 (...more This book is a lot like the decade in which it's set: the garish fashions tend to overshadow the substance, the plot feels loose and sprawling, everybody is collapsing into crass, and the specter of Richard Nixon stinks it up like the bad smell from your local paper mill. Even Amazon's strategy of selling the e-book for 99 cents for its first month makes it seem disposable in a pop way. All of these elements make for a fun, funky read. Pelecanos apparently dashed this off in the summer of 2011 (over a summer! last summer! I'm still trying to find time to upload pictures from last summer!) and it reads like it was dashed-off. Which, again, is part of the charm. The story was inspired by the bloody spree of Raymond "Cadillac" Smith, heretofore known as the black guy in every History channel/Spike TV documentary on the Aryan Brotherhood who was stabbed sixty times in Marion by Tommy Silverstein, not your normal surname among Aryan Bros, but considering how many cats Tommy killed (he's been in solitary for 10,000 days), I wouldn't turn his membership application down either. Anyway, Pelecanos apparently came across a story on Cadillac from June 1972 juxtaposed against one from the Watergate break-in, and, voila, a narrative whose ironies lie in the reader's knowledge of what DC and the nation at large are headed for. Some readers may wish for a more twisty connection between the two crimes than what the book ultimately gives; others may just wish the one guy here didn't eat his own poo while in jail. Personally, I kept waiting for "Red" Fury (Cadillac) to have a bit more characterization or angst to vivify him a bit, but then again, I read the book in two hours, which may be slightly shorter than it took for it to be written. (Again, the fun of it). There's a lot of good action here, plenty of hookers, too, all kinds of cautionary tales about making sure you don't eat Mexican before you snort of coke trail cut with baby laxative, and music. The atmosphere of the music may be the most fun part. Any book where the hero and villain eyeball each other between rows at a Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway concert is awesome in my book. Plus Isaac Hayes makes a cameo. Bare-chested. Nuff said. What it was, my man. As Link from Mod Squad would say: "Solid."(less)

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Feb 15, 2012 Harvey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-read-in-2012, 5-stars-of-2012

"Once upon a time...in the Summer of 1972..."

This is the perfect bedtime story for those of us who like detectives, street hoodlums, and soul music. Pelecanos (whose writing I've enjoyed and admired for many years) is at the height of his powers as he gives us a fable of a brief murder spree by the outlaw Red "Fury" Jones.

The book features a 30-years-younger version of Pelecanos' PI character, Derek Strange, as he is just getting his agency off the ground. He is on a routine case...the hunt for...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-have-reviewed

Do you remember getting letters in the mail? Handwritten letters, words like precious gems, filling up sheets of paper with thoughts from friends, family, pen-pals. Do you remember the joy you had anticipating their arrival as well as the comfort you got in reading them? A new George Pelecanos novel is like getting a letter from a loved one and for me, his books are comfort food for the eyes and the imagination.

What It Was is the fifth novel in the Derek Strange/Terry Quinn series. This time Pel...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Rea Howarth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pelecanos is a DC crime writer with a reputation for gripping story-telling. He earned it.

The seismic shifts of history with cultural collisions that change the course of a nation are, to be honest, personal stories writ large. This is a crime story, but it is also a story about race and a story about poverty.

Pelecanos places Alex Pappas, son of a Greek immigrant with a breakfast and lunch grill on Georgia Avenue, Raymond and James Monroe, African-American boys in segregated DC, at the center of...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With this novel, Pelecanos delves into the past, using an interesting framing device which features Pelecanos' frequent protagonist Derek Strange, in a bar, reflecting on an old case with his friend and colleague Nick Stefanos. Strange's reflections take us back to 1972, when Robert 'Red Fury' Jones - a character alluded to in one of Pelecanos' earlier novels - blazes through Washington, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem. It's an era on the cusp of change, the race riots in the recent past an...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Nigel Bird rated it 5 of 5 stars

Given that George Pelecanos has been one of my long-time favourite authors, it came as quite a surprise to me to realise that I haven’t read anything by him for a couple of years. I have no doubt that this has something to do with my patterns of reading since I bought my kindle. I suspect I’ve become used to being attracted to cheaper options. ‘What It Was’ came as a great reminder that some things are just worth paying a little extra for.

Even the author’s note was interesting, a brief explanati...more Given that George Pelecanos has been one of my long-time favourite authors, it came as quite a surprise to me to realise that I haven’t read anything by him for a couple of years. I have no doubt that this has something to do with my patterns of reading since I bought my kindle. I suspect I’ve become used to being attracted to cheaper options. ‘What It Was’ came as a great reminder that some things are just worth paying a little extra for.

Even the author’s note was interesting, a brief explanation of the way the book came about. It reveals something of his researching and how the bigger stories aren’t always the ones to catch the attention.

Last time I did have a Pelecanos in my hand, I was with Nick Stefanos. He’s in the opening here, too, so I was immediately on familiar territory, though Stefanos only makes a cameo appearance in this book – it’s his drinking partner, Strange, who is telling the story.
It’s set in 1972 and paints a picture of a familiar yet faraway place.
Red ‘Fury’ Jones is based loosely upon the criminal Raymond ‘Cadillac’ Smith. Jones has had a hard life and, as a consequence, is a hard man, his philosophy: ‘Take what you want. Take no man’s sh#t. No police can intimidate you, no sentence will enslave you, no cell can contain your mind.’
He’s out to make a name for himself and to make sure that people remember him when he’s gone. He’s already half-way there – ‘Legend was, an ambitious young dude had tried to shank him in jail and the blade had broken in Red’s chest. It wasn’t a legend.’

To nurture the legend he’s creating, Red knocks off a herion taster. That’s when he gets the information he needs to move up the food-chain and also when homicide detective ‘Hangdog’ Vaughn (‘Dude got no quit’) gets involved. It’s also when Strange is employed to trace a gold ring that went missing during the killing.

From there on the book follows the different players – hookers, police, mobsters and killers – as their lives converge.

There are the trademark references to music throughout the book and cares are described in ways that even got me interested (not an easy thing to achieve). All the characters feel very real – they’re all flawed and capable of extreme acts. I was struck by the way he shows the impact of war on three different generations of Americans – it’s subtle but raises powerful questions.

The multiple perspective is handled brilliantly as Pelacanos always does and the plot is fully satisfying in the way that the grip is held all the way through and that the climax plays out with an honest feel without offering any hard-and-fast solutions. The story has been ‘What It Was’, just the way life is.

It was great to be back and I shan’t be leaving it for so long before my return.
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Jul 25, 2012 Ensiform rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The fifth Derek Strange novel. In this, he relates a tale from 1972, when the 1968 riots were still fresh in everyone’s minds. Strange, just starting out in his PI business, is hired to find a stolen ring. This puts him on the trail of a notorious killer known as “Red Fury” Jones and his madam girlfriend. Strange works alongside a tenacious white detective, Vaughn (a relic of the old days of cop work, but hiding a heart of gold under that un-PC exterior), to track down Jones as he grows ever bol...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

What It Was, by George Pelicanos, b-plus, narrated by J. D. Jackson, Produced by Hachette Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn,
is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads
him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered,...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Joe Flood rated it 4 of 5 stars

I live a block off 14th Street, the setting for much of George Pelecanos's gritty crime novel, What It Was. Set in 1972, it's a fascinating read for anyone who likes books set in the Washington "beyond the monuments." Watergate is briefly touched on, but this book contains no Senators, no wacky Masonic conspiracy theories and hardly any politics at all.

What It Was concerns the lives of real people, mostly cops and criminals, in a city scarred by riots. The popular conception of 14th Street is th...more I live a block off 14th Street, the setting for much of George Pelecanos's gritty crime novel, What It Was. Set in 1972, it's a fascinating read for anyone who likes books set in the Washington "beyond the monuments." Watergate is briefly touched on, but this book contains no Senators, no wacky Masonic conspiracy theories and hardly any politics at all.

What It Was concerns the lives of real people, mostly cops and criminals, in a city scarred by riots. The popular conception of 14th Street is that it was a wasteland, from the disturbances of 1968 to the start of gentrification in the 1980s. But life went on. Pimps, drug dealers and hustlers of all kinds moved in. And for a lot of them, and the cops that pursued them, it was a hell of a time, even a good one.

Red Fury wants to make a name for himself and is going on a crime spree across the city. He wants to remembered. Hunting him is Frank Vaughn, a dinosaur in the evolving era, someone not afraid to bend the rules to get the job done. Also mixed up in the case is his friend Derek Strange, a cop who has left the force to become a private eye.

Pelecanos has a great eye from the details of the time, from the tricked-out cars to the soul music of the 1970s. He also resurrects a lot of old DC haunts, legendary bars and restaurants that are long gone in this gentrified city. His knowledge of the city is encyclopedic. For example, Red hides out in Burrville, a neighborhood I didn't even know existed.

I wrote my own crime novel about the city, Murder in Ocean Hall. It's set in many of the 14th Street neighborhoods of What It Was but during a time of rapid change.

What It Was is a fast, involving read. Pelecanos's style is muscular, alternating perspectives as it advances towards an inevitably violent conclusion.

Interestingly, the novel is available on the Kindle for only 99 cents. It's a limited-time offer designed to generate new readers for this crime novelist. Forward-thinking publishers are experimenting with new strategies and promotions to adapt to the world of e-readers.

What It Was is also the first book I've read on my iPad. Using the Kindle app, set to sepia, it was a comfortable reading experience - though not as easy on the eyes as using an e-ink reader like the Kindle.

But the 99 cent strategy worked for me. After dipping into the gritty crime world of What It Was, I'm primed to read the rest of Peleconos's work.(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Gloria Feit rated it 5 of 5 stars

The year was 1972. Derek Strange was out of the Metropolitan Police Dept. for four years and struggling to build up his PI agency. Nixon was in the White House, but not for long. Watergate was just up ahead. The riots that tore the nation’s Capitol apart were some years ago, but unrest and attitude still ran strong.

Against this background George Pelecanos has written about Strange’s early career as a 26-year-old and his relationship with Detective Frank Vaughn. It all starts when Strange is reta...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-crime-detection

WHAT IT WAS. (2012). George Pelecanos. ****.
The author seems to be back on track with this new installment featuring Derek Strange, a black investigator in Washington D.C. Strange was once a cop in the D.C. police force, but resigned after the riots there after the Martin Luther King assassination. He takes on the job of finding a ring for a young woman who claimed it was stolen from her apartment. Although she told him was it only costume jewelry, it had sentimental value to her because it cam...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Much of the attention around George Pelecanos’ new book, WHAT IT WAS, has focused on the quite brilliant way that the good folks at Mulholland Books are publishing and marketing it. In case you haven’t read about it, instead of the standard e-book and hardcover release followed months later by a paperback edition, WHAT IT WAS is available now as a 99-cent e-book, a trade paperback for $9.99, or a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35.

I think this is quite brilliant, but the re...more Much of the attention around George Pelecanos’ new book, WHAT IT WAS, has focused on the quite brilliant way that the good folks at Mulholland Books are publishing and marketing it. In case you haven’t read about it, instead of the standard e-book and hardcover release followed months later by a paperback edition, WHAT IT WAS is available now as a 99-cent e-book, a trade paperback for $9.99, or a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35.

I think this is quite brilliant, but the reality is that it wouldn’t matter a whit if the story contained on the paper or e-pages wasn’t up to snuff. Luckily for us all, WHAT IS WAS is one of Pelecanos’ best, second only to RIGHT AS RAIN in my estimation.

WHAT IT WAS is set in 1972. Derek Strange has hung out his private investigator shingle. His former partner, Frank Vaughn, is still on the force. Red “Fury” Jones, a villain for the ages, is wreaking havoc in Washington DC, which Pelecanos brings to life in a manner that makes the reader quite certain she was actually there.

Many have called WHAT IT WAS noir, and I’m sure the label fits, but for me, it’s much more than noir. Derek Strange has been a favorite character for years and for him to remain surprising and engaging is testament to Pelecanos’ awesome storytelling prowess. Pelecanos obviously respects his setting, character and stories because he shortchanges none of them. Even the ancillary characters—like Red’s girlfriend and sidekick or Strange’s mistress or mom—are so vivid that I wouldn’t have been surprised to have any one of them knock on my front door (ok, a little surprised, but you know what I mean).

Pelecanos has always been unapologetic in his storytelling, both in his books and on TV shows “The Wire” and “Treme.” WHAT IT WAS continues this tradition, and I hope he never gives this up. WHAT IT WAS doesn’t flinch at violence or human frailty; on the contrary, it celebrates both.

This will sound frivolous to some, but I have to also commend Pelecanos for telling a complete and complex tale in less than 300 pages. In a world where publishers put authors under contract to deliver stories that run to 400 pages and more even when they don’t need to be, WHAT IT WAS is exactly the length it needs to be. It includes not one extraneous word, scene or plot element.

If you’ve never read Pelecanos, WHAT IT WAS is a fine place to start. While the books featuring Derek Strange are a series, they’re not bound by elements of surprise that make reading them in order necessary.

Come this time next year, I expect to have seen WHAT IT WAS on plenty of Best of 2012 lists. I know it will be on mine. It is blisteringly good.(less)

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Feb 08, 2012 Larry Hoffer rated it 5 of 5 stars

George Pelecanos, you are easily one of my most favorite crime writers around. I seriously don't understand why you aren't more of a household name given how talented you are. Your ability to evoke a specific time and place, to create tremendously memorable characters set you apart from so many of your peers, and I've found myself getting attached to a number of your protagonists over the years. Just promise me you'll continue writing this type of book, because you're at your best when the actio...more George Pelecanos, you are easily one of my most favorite crime writers around. I seriously don't understand why you aren't more of a household name given how talented you are. Your ability to evoke a specific time and place, to create tremendously memorable characters set you apart from so many of your peers, and I've found myself getting attached to a number of your protagonists over the years. Just promise me you'll continue writing this type of book, because you're at your best when the action crackles and some of your characters are up to no good.

It's 1972 in Washington, D.C. The city is finally getting settled again after the riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King. Derek Strange has recently set up shop as a private investigator after leaving the police force, and he is hired by a young woman to find a piece of costume jewelry she claims has sentimental value. His investigation connects him with a former police colleague, Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn, who is looking into the brazen murder of a local drug addict. They both discover they're looking for the same person, "Red Fury" Jones, so named because of his hair color and the make of getaway car his girlfriend, who runs a house of prostitution, drives. As Red becomes bolder and bolder, his crime spree leads Vaughn and Strange across the entire city and brings them into contact with the Baltimore organized crime syndicate. Red knows how it all will end, and he doesn't care, but Vaughn is determined to nab his suspect, and Strange wants to get to the bottom of his own case, and determine why the missing ring is so important to his client.

What It Was is a great example of George Pelecanos' writing at its best. He draws you right into the plot and gets you completely acclimated into 1970s-era Washington—the clothes, the cars, the lawlessness, and the still-slightly-uneasy relationship between the races. While there's not a tremendous amount of suspense in the book, the action and the many layers of plot he has created keep you plowing through the chapters. Honestly, if there's anything wrong with this book, it's that at 246 pages, it's a little too short. But it's great to get a glimpse of a younger Derek Strange, who was the main character in a number of Pelecanos' earlier books. This is a great addition to his already impressive roster of books. And if you've never read anything by Pelecanos before, and you're a fan of crime thrillers, get going. Pick one up now. Trust me.(less)

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Nov 25, 2012 Larry Bassett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

I have had this book on my shelf for nine months. Although most of my books are bought used, this one I got from Barnes & Noble new immediately when it was published because George Pelecanos has been one of my favorite authors for nearly fifteen years and I wanted to be able to read this book right away. It sat on my shelf unread because shortly after I bought it, Pelecanos slipped in my estimation. I have read every one of his books but all of a sudden I began to experience him as a three r...more I have had this book on my shelf for nine months. Although most of my books are bought used, this one I got from Barnes & Noble new immediately when it was published because George Pelecanos has been one of my favorite authors for nearly fifteen years and I wanted to be able to read this book right away. It sat on my shelf unread because shortly after I bought it, Pelecanos slipped in my estimation. I have read every one of his books but all of a sudden I began to experience him as a three rather than four star author. But now I see that it is about time for a new book to come out so it occurs to me that I should finally read the last one. This is the fifth in the Derek Strange series and the other four all got four stars from me. This book is like going home to me: I haven’t been there in a while and I am looking forward to it. Today is Thanksgiving 2012 so I guess that feeling fits! I will see if Pelecanos regains his four star status.

I was initially attracted to George Pelecanos because the setting for his novels is the metro DC area. I lived in Silver Spring, one of the common locales in his books and I liked the familiarity with the streets and businesses. I also had a passing acquaintance with Pelecanos because my daughter and his son went to the same day care center. He had not made his splash into writing yet. He was just a guy I chatted with as we ate pizza and sat on little chairs at the occasional parents’ night at Children’s Community Preschool/Daycare Center. We didn’t stay in touch.

This book is about Red “Fury” Jones:

After coming to the city from West Virginia at an early age, Jones had grown up in one of D.C,’s infamous alley dwellings, below the poverty line. No father in his life, ever, with huskers in and out the spot, taking the place of one. A mother who worked domestic when she could. Half brothers and sisters he barely knew or kept track of. Twenty-five dollars a month rent, and his mother could rarely come up with it. All of them hungry, all of the time. Being poor in that extreme way, Jones felt that nothing after could cut too deep. Take what you want, take no man’s shit. No police can intimidate you, no sentence will enslave you, no cell can contain your mind.

Red is the bad guy. Very early in the book, he kills someone who owes him drug money. And then he takes a gaudy ring and our hero, Derek Strange, is hired to recover that worthless costume bauble. But this is a book of characters with mixed personalities. For example, the hit man with scruples:

He’d have to do it a different way. Go up to the house, get in, and get it done quick. Better yet, coax the man outside. Most likely, Cochner’s wife was in that house, too. That was a problem for Bowman. He wasn’t one of those robot killers, what they called ice men. He took out the target, not the loved ones. He’d never finished a woman or a kid. He went to church on Sundays, sometimes. There was work he wouldn’t do.

Life for characters in a Pelecanos book is complicated often with a mix of the good and the bad. Vaughn is a detective with the MPD. Strange is an ex-cop and a current PI. They team up and they kill some bad guys. And then they do what all gunfighters do: they walk into the sunset:

Strange and Stefanos walked out onto Georgia Avenue. Strange buttoned his leather blazer and nodded toward his black Cadillac, parked on the street.
“Let’s go Greek. The clock ticks.”
“What’s your hurry?” said Stefanos.
Strange squinted against the dying light. “We’ve got a case.”

This is a short, enjoyable book. You could read it in a day if you didn’t have much else to do.

Nice to have Pelecanos back to four stars.
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May 03, 2012 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, police, mystery

This is not really a mystery - we already know "who dun it", but it was a very interesting and nostalgic read. Derek Strange (current time) recounts the story/legend of early 1970's outlaw Red "Fury" Jones (aka Robert Lee Jones) and his murder spree in June 1972. Coco Watkins, his girlfriend and very successful madam, has "red over white" Ford Fury car with vanity plates "Coco" - quite cool and quite noticeable. At the time, Strange is just getting his detective agency off the ground and is stil...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Stacy Bearse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Those old enough (and possessing sufficient residual brain cells) to remember the 1970's, will appreciate this story. The book opens with two buddies knocking down some beers. Derek Strange, a recurring character in Pelecanos' work, tells the story of his first major case as a private investigator. It's June of 1972 in Washington, DC, when "Red Fury", a local tough, decides to embellish his street cred. The plot is far too convoluted to explain here (and, why ruin the surprises?). Suffice it to...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-badness-noir

Solid crime novel featuring, once again, private investigator Derek Strange. Generally, I've enjoyed the novels in the series, but have always felt they were a bit uneven. On top of that, I've had trouble connecting with Strange. But that changes here. In What it Was, the reader encounters Strange as he's just starting out. My reservations about the character, what makes him tick, were pretty much answered in this novel.

The story itself is standard stuff. A local badass, "Red Fury," kills a pat...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Craig Pittman rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of George Pelecanos, and really looked forward to reading this one because he's so meticulous about recreating various eras in D.C. and because it marked a reappearance of his private eye character Derek Strange. That said, it was a little bit of a letdown. Although Strange is a player in the story, he's not the main focus. Instead that role goes to a weaker character, a white homicide cop named "Hound Dog" Vaughn. And while the villain, "Red" Fury, is interesting to watch as he wr...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Iain rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A short retro novel from one of the best crime writers around. The story is based on a reference from Pelecanos' novel The Night Gardener about Red Fury Jones a Washington DC criminal who achieved notoriety in 1972. This is the tale of Red and the men who pursued him.

The plot itself is slim telling how Red manages to attract the attention of the cops the mob and P.I. Derek Strange with bloody disasterous consequences for all. But Pelecanos makes this read better than it appears by dressing the p...more A short retro novel from one of the best crime writers around. The story is based on a reference from Pelecanos' novel The Night Gardener about Red Fury Jones a Washington DC criminal who achieved notoriety in 1972. This is the tale of Red and the men who pursued him.

The plot itself is slim telling how Red manages to attract the attention of the cops the mob and P.I. Derek Strange with bloody disasterous consequences for all. But Pelecanos makes this read better than it appears by dressing the plot in a heavy heavy dose of nostalgia and retro cool. All the cars are described in minutiae whether turbos soft tops or V8's, DC geography is exact, the clothing food and alcohol all lovingly described films of the day mentioned even down to the cinema they were showing. But most of all Pelecanos gets to really show off his music knowledge track numbers lead singers guitar solos and catalogue numbers all brazenly dropped in references to Isaac Hayes Curtis Mayfield Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway amongst others. There are also cameos from other Pelecanos characters as he creates his own world and history within Washington. Anybody who lived in Washington during this period will shake their head and smile at the memories Pelecanos is dragging up. Sadly I'm a white guy from the UK but I definately felt the vibes in this book.

Normally this stuff would iritate me I don't like authors showing off and filling the plot with extraneous stuff they've learned from books at the expense of plot and good characterisation but I'll let Pelecanos of for 4 reasons.

1) It' so obviously an exercise in nostaligia done to amuse the author and he was defiantely there, 2) The story itself starts with Strange reminiscing about 'what it was' telling the story to a younger man so Strange would naturally provide a little colour for his audience, 3) It's George Pelecanos one of my favourite writers so I'll give him some slack and 4) pulp crime novels are not high literary art they provide quick thrills, excitement and a vicarious feeling of being in a place thats cooler and more exciting than where you currently are and this is what Pelecanos has done.(less)

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Jun 04, 2012 Keith rated it 5 of 5 stars

What it Was - How it Is.
Like Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the inspiration for Apocalypse Now, George Pelecanos' short novel What it Was is a tale told by a narrator who is partial though he appears objective. Conrad's narrator, Marlowe, tells the story of Kurtz, who ventures into the African jungle and meets himself, and his fate. The hero of What it Was, Derek Strange, tells the story of his own journey into manhood and responsibility.

Readers of Pelecanos will know Strange from previous books, f...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Fred rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-espionage

A classic hard-boiled crime story with a 70s vibe: think Watergate, “Shaft,” muscle cars, and the Funkadelics with some Roberta Flack on the side.

The story revolves around the lives of Derek Strange — an African-American former cop and aspiring private detective — and his former partner, Detective Frank “Hound Dog” Vaughn who is “the type of man Strange’s mother would charitably call ‘a product of his time.’”

While Vaughn tracks down Robert Lee “Red Fury” Jones whose death-wish nature leaves a tr...more

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Jan 31, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to say first off that this sort of book really isn't my thing. I just thought that should be clear before I start talking. I mean, it had some good writing and a good story. It was well done, but I'm just not into the detective and/or action genre. I just didn't see it as much more than that, though well done for that sort of thing. It was kind of like a jive version of "The Rockford Files." There was a quote on the back from Yardley of the "Washington Post" that said "Pelecanos's novels...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Adele symonds rated it 2 of 5 stars

This novels 2 central characters – Vaughn and Strange are fairly well written but the characterisation of the minor characters could have been better. The plot was difficult to follow because I was being distracted from it by all the long, rambling descriptions.
There were too many descriptions of cars and too much general description, it felt like it was there to fill out the book rather than to build the characters. I prefer descriptions of characters to be a little more subtle than just readin...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Lakis Fourouklas rated it 4 of 5 stars

As we read in the preface, the inspiration for this book came from a conversation Pelecanos had with his friend and co-author of the cult, yet hugely successful TV series The Wire, Ed Burns. It’s been written at a feverish pace during the summer of 2011, and thus not long after the release of The Cut, that great crime novel, yet another book by this acclaimed writer hits the stands.
The main characters in this story, as in many others by Pelecanos, are: private investigator Derek Strange, the ci...more As we read in the preface, the inspiration for this book came from a conversation Pelecanos had with his friend and co-author of the cult, yet hugely successful TV series The Wire, Ed Burns. It’s been written at a feverish pace during the summer of 2011, and thus not long after the release of The Cut, that great crime novel, yet another book by this acclaimed writer hits the stands.
The main characters in this story, as in many others by Pelecanos, are: private investigator Derek Strange, the city of Washington, D.C. and music. A minor role falls to Nick Stefanos, yet another one of his famous creations.
At the beginning we meet Derek and Nick, now partners in a P.I. firm, as they sit in a diner eating, drinking and talking about things. But as one topic leads to the next, all of a sudden the former finds himself in a need to tell the latter a story from the distant past. The year was 1972, and back then there were a lot of things going on in the city; a lot of things, but not so strange. It was a time of change in everything; in politics, in fashion and in crime; in violent crime. However, the criminals that Derek is about to describe remind the reader of some infamous people from the past, Bonny and Clyde; a couple that modern day psychologists would refer to as sociopaths. The villains in this story are Robert Lee Jones, a trigger-happy psycho who’s known as Red Fury, and Coco Watkins, an impressive looking woman who owns a brothel.
Derek will cross paths with them while investigating a seemingly trivial case, and before too long he’ll come to realize that what started off as a walk in the park is going to turn out to be something completely different. So, all of a sudden he’ll find himself in the epicenter of a circle, or rather, a cyclone of events that will culminate in a crime spree, unlike any other, during which murder, in the lips of the killer, will come to sound just like any other word. This case however will also give him the opportunity to meet again with an old friend, police detective Frank Vaughn, a meeting that will bring to him a little bit of joy, but at the same time awaken in him some dreadful memories. Now the two of them have to put their heads and their individual talents together to stop Jones, who seems to be more interested in his every day glory and his future legacy, than staying alive or becoming the city’s crime boss. As the action will be heading for its peak the author will go on doing what he does best, which is, talk about the city and describe its neighborhoods and its politics and habits, through the music, the people and their interactions. Here we meet cross-dressers, hookers, drug-addicts and drunks; people who are trying to hold on to life and people who have nothing to look forward to; hopeless and hopeful.
A very good novel, well-written and with a fine story to tell but, in my humble opinion, not as good as The Cut. I’m sure the fans will love it though, not only for its action and pace, but also because it provides some useful info about the background of one of Pelecanos’ favorite heroes.
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Apr 01, 2013 Dan Pepper rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another good, solid Pelecanos novel, featuring the 70s iteration of Derek Strange. Red and Coco are great creations and it seems like a good balance between nostalgia and grit. It sorta fills in Strange's personality as a compulsive womanizer in a somewhat satisfying way and the relationship you see of the detective with his mom is nice for those of us who remember that part from Right As Rain.

He probably tries to get a little cute playing with the framing device with Strange telling the story...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, police-procedural

My first foray into the gritty streets of George Pelecanos's D.C. was a decent one. I usually prefer my crime fiction to lean a lot more on the noir side. Tales told from the perspective of the criminal or outlaw as opposed to police procedurals. That aspect of the book really slowed it down for me and was the dullest part of the whole thing.

What It Was jumps between the point of view of Red Jones, Red Fury as he is known on the streets, Detective Frank Vaughn and PI Derek Strange. I would have...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Karen Gygli rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a moving, funny and engrossing trip back to D.C. in the seventies, as Derek Strange, private eye, and Frank Vaughn, cop, join forces to find Red Jones, a badass drug dealer in bells and stacks who is starting to believe his own "untouchable" legend and make things uncomfortable for the Mob and a well-connected numbers runner. Strange and Vaughn must outrace two goons from the New Jersey Mafia, who are also on Red's trail because he stole some of their heroin. The writing style is spare;...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Ray Palen rated it 4 of 5 stars

George Pelecanos is the master of the modern D.C. noir. His novels take on a life of their own and the recurring characters he intersperses throughout all his books inhabit a universe created by him but as real as anyone you will meet on the street.

WHAT IT WAS enjoys the opportunity to 'throw things back' old school as the story steps back to a D.C. of the early 70's --- complete with afros, bad clothes, jive turkeys and some really bad dudes. The cops played by different rules back in the day a...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Kevin Kosar rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a shorter Pelecanos book (246 breezy pages). What It Was is not as elaborate or elegant as The Night Gardener, but it is a very enjoyable read. The structure has two present day chapters (1 and 23), with the intervening chapters devoted to doings 40 years prior. This allows Pelecanos to use Derek Strange (retired cop, now private investigator) to spin the tale of Red Jones, a violent hellion. This structure is a little contrived, but it doesn't really detract from the story itself---whic...more

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About George Pelecanos

George P. Pelecanos (born 1957 in Washington, D.C.) is an American author of detective fiction set primarily in the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer. He has worked extensively on the HBO series The Wire. His novels use an ensemble cast of characters, following their exploits across several generations. While there are...more

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What it Was (Derek Strange and Terry Quinn #5)

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