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Nick Stefanos #2
Nick's Trip
The private eye business is in a slump, and Nick Stefanos is keeping bar. It stops him drinking while at work, and gives him time to ask about the stabbing of a gay reporter. When a request to find a missing wife comes from an old friend, and we are promptly sidetracked into flashback city with an account of a speed-and-booze fuelled teenage jaunt around the Southland, it is clear that this is one of those elegies for friendship that are part of the Chandler tradition. Things are going to end badly, and they do; along the way, though, Pelecanos introduces us to some jauntily rough-edged characters and Nick applies intelligence, sensitivity and legwork to the puzzles before him. The picture of the slums of Washington DC and of the seedy roadhouses and country bars through which Nick chases the missing April is the right downbeat stuff. What stops this being just a good routine private-eye mystery, though, is Nick; it is partly his endlessly surprising back story and partly the extent to which he is a man on the skids, still not quite accepting that he cannot stay young and uncontrolled forever. --Roz Kaveney
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
George P. Pelecanos
59 books1,627 followersGeorge Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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June 30, 2020
Nick tends bar at a joint known as “The Spot”. He makes acrobatic love with his girlfriend, Lee. He also, agrees to impregnate his lesbian pal Jackie as a favor. Then a former road-trip buddy named Billy shows up at “The Spot” one night and announces that his wife is missing, as is $200,000 that belongs to a minor-league numbers runner. Nick trails the wife, April, to the backwoods south of the city, where a mean former lover of hers, bondage freak Tommy Crane, slaughters pigs for kicks and for a living. Then the father of the numbers runner gives Nick an unexpected lead in the unsolved murder of his journalist pal, William Henry. In between boozy car trips with Billy, present and remembered, Nick finds time to reopen the murder of William Henry, his reporter friend killed because he was learning too much about a trio of pizza kings The book features A cast of sharply etched cinematic characters one of whom is a liquored-up, burned-out cop.
Later, Billy is sentenced to two years in prison, while the now-pregnant Jackie and her lover leave town for San Francisco. Although Nick is lonely and tired and bitter after his experiences, he soon begins a promising relationship with a woman he really likes.
This first edition hard cover is signed by George Pelecanos. The book is 276 pages.
George Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films "Caught" (Robert M. Young, 1996), "Whatever" (Susan Skoog, 1998) and "BlackMale" (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, "The Killer" and Richard Bugajski's "Interrogation". Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, "The Wire", winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries "The Pacific", and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series "Treme", shot in New Orleans.
Series-Nick Stefanos:
1. A Firing Offense (1992)
2. Nick's Trip (1993)
3. Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995)
Later, Billy is sentenced to two years in prison, while the now-pregnant Jackie and her lover leave town for San Francisco. Although Nick is lonely and tired and bitter after his experiences, he soon begins a promising relationship with a woman he really likes.
This first edition hard cover is signed by George Pelecanos. The book is 276 pages.
George Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films "Caught" (Robert M. Young, 1996), "Whatever" (Susan Skoog, 1998) and "BlackMale" (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, "The Killer" and Richard Bugajski's "Interrogation". Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, "The Wire", winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries "The Pacific", and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series "Treme", shot in New Orleans.
Series-Nick Stefanos:
1. A Firing Offense (1992)
2. Nick's Trip (1993)
3. Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995)
June 30, 2018
In Nick Stefanos’ second outing, he is now officially a PI. Nick’s Trip has him taking on two cases, one of a friend whose murder had gone unsolved long enough, the other in the person of a childhood friend who walks through the door of the bar in which Nick supposedly works part time; he spends more time there than doing any actual investigating. While Nick’s world only touches the city life that Pelecanos has become known for exploring, he still finds new and refreshing ways to examine the complexities of living a powerless existence on the streets of Washington, DC while going virtually ignored by the transient powerbrokers who run a nation. Pelecanos creates an environment where cut-and-dried solutions are in no way feasible, then forces Nick to find other means. While not the pure detective story that was A Firing Offense, Nick’s Trip is still worth taking.
September 30, 2020
4.5 stars
"It's time for some ****ing justice." -- the hard-drinking homicide detective Dan Boyle, on page 263
Nick's Trip finds the lead character from A Firing Offense - the 30-ish Washington D.C.-based Greek-American private investigator Nick Stefanos - one year into his new job as an 'eye' after exiting his low-level advertising executive position. Although his inaugural case from the first book could be considered sort of 'personal' in nature, this excellent follow-up now doubles down on that angle with two affecting investigations. Stefanos is asked by an old high school friend - they haven't seen each other in fifteen years - to look into the disappearance of his wife in rural Maryland. He concurrently investigates a local 'cold case,' an unsolved murder of a well-liked former work colleague / friend who had been viciously stabbed to death in his apartment. Oh, and Stefanos is also asked by his lesbian friend Jackie to assist her and her partner in becoming parents ("You've got good genes. And you're . . . reasonably attractive" she explains in a half-serious/half-joking comment) in a plot thread that was notably handled with tact and humor for a book that was published and set in the early 90's.
What I especially liked in this sequel is that the character Stefanos is still a work-in-progress - he's not suddenly some hip superstar private eye with an implausible amount of career knowledge, a fancy car, and/or wisecracking line. His 'biz' is slow at times, so he takes a job bartending at a local dive - which provides a number of scenes with the colorful customers and/or staff - to help pay the bills, and also still drives a mid-70's Dodge Dart with an engine that likes to be a bit difficult in cold weather. There's also the increasingly noticeable reliance on drinking (great that he took a job in a bar, am I right?), which rears its head in several scenes when the character is stressed or doesn't even need an excuse for it. The two cases end in violence - either the threat of it, or fully-realized - and it did not feel like the plots were going on autopilot, but that there was sadly no other way for resolution. Although the character of Stefanos may still be finding his way in an off-kilter life Nick's Trip doesn't fall into the 'sophomore slump' - it was a confident and first-rate detective story.
"It's time for some ****ing justice." -- the hard-drinking homicide detective Dan Boyle, on page 263
Nick's Trip finds the lead character from A Firing Offense - the 30-ish Washington D.C.-based Greek-American private investigator Nick Stefanos - one year into his new job as an 'eye' after exiting his low-level advertising executive position. Although his inaugural case from the first book could be considered sort of 'personal' in nature, this excellent follow-up now doubles down on that angle with two affecting investigations. Stefanos is asked by an old high school friend - they haven't seen each other in fifteen years - to look into the disappearance of his wife in rural Maryland. He concurrently investigates a local 'cold case,' an unsolved murder of a well-liked former work colleague / friend who had been viciously stabbed to death in his apartment. Oh, and Stefanos is also asked by his lesbian friend Jackie to assist her and her partner in becoming parents ("You've got good genes. And you're . . . reasonably attractive" she explains in a half-serious/half-joking comment) in a plot thread that was notably handled with tact and humor for a book that was published and set in the early 90's.
What I especially liked in this sequel is that the character Stefanos is still a work-in-progress - he's not suddenly some hip superstar private eye with an implausible amount of career knowledge, a fancy car, and/or wisecracking line. His 'biz' is slow at times, so he takes a job bartending at a local dive - which provides a number of scenes with the colorful customers and/or staff - to help pay the bills, and also still drives a mid-70's Dodge Dart with an engine that likes to be a bit difficult in cold weather. There's also the increasingly noticeable reliance on drinking (great that he took a job in a bar, am I right?), which rears its head in several scenes when the character is stressed or doesn't even need an excuse for it. The two cases end in violence - either the threat of it, or fully-realized - and it did not feel like the plots were going on autopilot, but that there was sadly no other way for resolution. Although the character of Stefanos may still be finding his way in an off-kilter life Nick's Trip doesn't fall into the 'sophomore slump' - it was a confident and first-rate detective story.
April 18, 2013
Whe a high school friend of Nick's hires him to find his missing wife, Nick takes the case and quickly finds out nothing is as it seems. While Nick looks for the wife, he also looks into the murder of a reporter friend of his. Are the two events linked? Will Nick be able to solve the cases and escape with his life?
As Nick Stefanos' life continues to side downhill, pushed by a waterfall of booze, my esteem for George Pelecanos continutes to rise. Nick's Trip, much like the previous novel, A Firing Offense, sees Nick going on a drunken road trip. This time, however, it's with his client, Billy Goodrich.
The Goodrich portion of the novel is a trip into the countryside centering around checking April Goodrich's old haunts and going up against her old boyfriend, Tommy Crane. Nick consumes an inhuman amount of booze and gradually pieces together what is going on. The other portion, finding out killed William Henry, puts Nick up against dirty cops and organized crime alike.
Much like the last book, the greatest strengths of this one are Washington DC as a setting and the characters. Nick continues his plunge toward rock bottom and I love that he works as a bartender between cases. The regulars at the Spot help drive the story forward as Nick pieces things together. I also like the side plot with Nick and Jackie Khan.
The writing is even better than in the last book. It's pretty clear that Pelecanos holds James Crumley on a pedestal, or at least did at the time this was written.
Any complaints? Not really, apart from the structure being pretty similar to the last book and there not being several hundred more Nick Stefanos books out there waiting for me to read them. Four drunken stumbling stars.
As Nick Stefanos' life continues to side downhill, pushed by a waterfall of booze, my esteem for George Pelecanos continutes to rise. Nick's Trip, much like the previous novel, A Firing Offense, sees Nick going on a drunken road trip. This time, however, it's with his client, Billy Goodrich.
The Goodrich portion of the novel is a trip into the countryside centering around checking April Goodrich's old haunts and going up against her old boyfriend, Tommy Crane. Nick consumes an inhuman amount of booze and gradually pieces together what is going on. The other portion, finding out killed William Henry, puts Nick up against dirty cops and organized crime alike.
Much like the last book, the greatest strengths of this one are Washington DC as a setting and the characters. Nick continues his plunge toward rock bottom and I love that he works as a bartender between cases. The regulars at the Spot help drive the story forward as Nick pieces things together. I also like the side plot with Nick and Jackie Khan.
The writing is even better than in the last book. It's pretty clear that Pelecanos holds James Crumley on a pedestal, or at least did at the time this was written.
Any complaints? Not really, apart from the structure being pretty similar to the last book and there not being several hundred more Nick Stefanos books out there waiting for me to read them. Four drunken stumbling stars.
April 10, 2013
Nick Stefanos walked away from his job as head of advertising for an electronics retailer to become a private investigator. At least that was the plan, but with the detective business being slow, Nick is also working as a bartender in a dive that lets him regularly indulge in his main hobby of binge drinking.
You might think that getting hired by his old friend Billy to track down his missing wife would get Nick to put a cork in the jug, but you’d be wrong. Billy was doing business with a small-time gangster that Nick has a family association with through his late grandfather. When not drinking, smoking cigarettes or listening to music. Nick tries to find Billy’s wife as well as poke into the murder of a newspaper reporter who was a friend of his.
Nick is a character that I recognize since he’s essentially me in my early 20s. Minus the private detective thing. Probably a lot of us could see ourselves in him during that time where we realize that we’re about to wave goodbye to our younger selves and don’t have a clear idea of what we’re supposed to do next. The difference is that Nick is in his 30s and should have grown out of this by now. He sentimentalizes his younger days of running wild through DC like a much older man and clings to the memories of things like a drunken road trip with Billy as if they were the only good things he’d ever experience.
In the previous book A Firing Offense, it seemed that Nick walking away from a job he didn’t like to take up the private detective game was a guy having the guts to change his life. However, events here make that decision murkier. Nick doesn’t do much to make his new detective business work other than put an ad in the Yellow Pages, and when he tries to get a job at big agency, he walks out when he finds it’s full of guys in suits. You know, adults who have to stay sober and do their jobs all day. So his leaving his old job to be a detective now kind of seems like a kid running off to be a cowboy or join the circus.
Even if Nick’s occasional boozy irresponsibility and aging bad boy act sometimes make you want to slap him in the back of the head and tell him to grow the hell up, he’s still a good guy that you root for to get his act together and solve the case.
Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog.
You might think that getting hired by his old friend Billy to track down his missing wife would get Nick to put a cork in the jug, but you’d be wrong. Billy was doing business with a small-time gangster that Nick has a family association with through his late grandfather. When not drinking, smoking cigarettes or listening to music. Nick tries to find Billy’s wife as well as poke into the murder of a newspaper reporter who was a friend of his.
Nick is a character that I recognize since he’s essentially me in my early 20s. Minus the private detective thing. Probably a lot of us could see ourselves in him during that time where we realize that we’re about to wave goodbye to our younger selves and don’t have a clear idea of what we’re supposed to do next. The difference is that Nick is in his 30s and should have grown out of this by now. He sentimentalizes his younger days of running wild through DC like a much older man and clings to the memories of things like a drunken road trip with Billy as if they were the only good things he’d ever experience.
In the previous book A Firing Offense, it seemed that Nick walking away from a job he didn’t like to take up the private detective game was a guy having the guts to change his life. However, events here make that decision murkier. Nick doesn’t do much to make his new detective business work other than put an ad in the Yellow Pages, and when he tries to get a job at big agency, he walks out when he finds it’s full of guys in suits. You know, adults who have to stay sober and do their jobs all day. So his leaving his old job to be a detective now kind of seems like a kid running off to be a cowboy or join the circus.
Even if Nick’s occasional boozy irresponsibility and aging bad boy act sometimes make you want to slap him in the back of the head and tell him to grow the hell up, he’s still a good guy that you root for to get his act together and solve the case.
Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog.
May 2, 2013
This is the second installment in George Pelecanos's trilogy featuring Nick Stefanos, who lives in Washington, D.C. When last seen in A Firing Offense, Nick had left his job at Nutty Nathan's electronic store and had gotten his license as a P.I. Clients are few and far between, though, and so Nick takes a job as a bartender in a dive bar called the Spot where there's never a lack of clients.
There's no lack of booze at the Spot either, and Nick seems in danger of watching his young life slip away in a sea of whiskey and a cloud of cigarette smoke. He has his music and a girlfriend of sorts, but that's about the sum of his life at the moment. Then one day, a long-lost friend named Billy Goodrich walks into the Spot. Back in the day, Nick and Billy were tight and once took an infamous road trip that Nick has never forgotten. It seems that Billy's wife, April, has disappeared and Billy wants Nick to find her. He insists that he just wants to know that she's OK.
As Nick begins to dig into the case he discovers that April is not the only thing that's missing. She'd been seeing a small-time numbers runner named Joey DiGeordano who suddenly seems to be missing $200,000 that disappeared along with April.
The plot begins to thicken and soon Nick and Billy are on another road trip into a rural area south of D.C., hot on April's trail. In the meantime, Nick has also agreed to look into the murder of a newspaper reporter named William Henry. The cops have written off the crime, but Henry was a friend and Nick refuses to let the murder go unsolved.
As is always the case with a novel by George Pelecanos, the book is very atmospheric. All of the characters are well drawn; music infuses the story, and you can practically taste the liquor and smell the cigarette smoke. The search for April Goodrich is an interesting and colorful tale, and along the way, Nick learns a great deal about the nature and value of friendship.
If I have any quarrel with the book, it would be that the second case, involving the murder of William Henry, seems tacked on to the plot and does not flow as smoothly as it might. One also wonders how anyone, even a person as young as Nick Stefanos, could possibly function at a reasonable level, given the amount of booze, cigarettes and dope he consumes during the course of the book. But these are minor complaints; in this book, as always, George Pelecanos demonstrates that he's a master of the craft and Nick's Trip is a great ride.
There's no lack of booze at the Spot either, and Nick seems in danger of watching his young life slip away in a sea of whiskey and a cloud of cigarette smoke. He has his music and a girlfriend of sorts, but that's about the sum of his life at the moment. Then one day, a long-lost friend named Billy Goodrich walks into the Spot. Back in the day, Nick and Billy were tight and once took an infamous road trip that Nick has never forgotten. It seems that Billy's wife, April, has disappeared and Billy wants Nick to find her. He insists that he just wants to know that she's OK.
As Nick begins to dig into the case he discovers that April is not the only thing that's missing. She'd been seeing a small-time numbers runner named Joey DiGeordano who suddenly seems to be missing $200,000 that disappeared along with April.
The plot begins to thicken and soon Nick and Billy are on another road trip into a rural area south of D.C., hot on April's trail. In the meantime, Nick has also agreed to look into the murder of a newspaper reporter named William Henry. The cops have written off the crime, but Henry was a friend and Nick refuses to let the murder go unsolved.
As is always the case with a novel by George Pelecanos, the book is very atmospheric. All of the characters are well drawn; music infuses the story, and you can practically taste the liquor and smell the cigarette smoke. The search for April Goodrich is an interesting and colorful tale, and along the way, Nick learns a great deal about the nature and value of friendship.
If I have any quarrel with the book, it would be that the second case, involving the murder of William Henry, seems tacked on to the plot and does not flow as smoothly as it might. One also wonders how anyone, even a person as young as Nick Stefanos, could possibly function at a reasonable level, given the amount of booze, cigarettes and dope he consumes during the course of the book. But these are minor complaints; in this book, as always, George Pelecanos demonstrates that he's a master of the craft and Nick's Trip is a great ride.
June 13, 2014
Oh Nick, Nick, you crazy fool, you. I'm doing a sober month right now, but in July, let's totally hook up & do shots of bourbon & drink beers all night long, shall we? At least once all the bang-bang is done, because I'm happy to leave all bit that to you. And as much as I'd like to join you on the cigarettes, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on those too, because I am not going down that road ever again.
First off, I am absolutely mad for the covers of the Serpent's Tail editions of these books. Look how the space in the R is actually a little man with a bottle! Love it! I'm a big fan of the cover of Down by the River . . . as well - man. Going down. Beautiful! Second, these books stay the same but they never get old for me. Drink. Smoke. Listen to music. Avenge crime/right ostensible wrongs in D.C. Have shoot-out at someone's house. Drink, smoke, etc. I'll stay on this ride until it's ready to let me off, that's for sure.
First off, I am absolutely mad for the covers of the Serpent's Tail editions of these books. Look how the space in the R is actually a little man with a bottle! Love it! I'm a big fan of the cover of Down by the River . . . as well - man. Going down. Beautiful! Second, these books stay the same but they never get old for me. Drink. Smoke. Listen to music. Avenge crime/right ostensible wrongs in D.C. Have shoot-out at someone's house. Drink, smoke, etc. I'll stay on this ride until it's ready to let me off, that's for sure.
July 8, 2021
When his old friend Billy walks into the bar asking for Nick’s help in finding his missing wife, Nick finds himself reminiscing about a trip the pair took years ago where they had been tasked with towing a boat from Washington DC to the Florida Keys. Nick and Billy spent the majority of that trip high off their asses and swimming in booze and when the opportunity to take another liquor-soaked voyage with Billy arises, Nick jumps at the chance. Meanwhile, simmering on the back burner, is a case Nick is working pro-bono, where an investigative reporter friend of his had been found murdered and the trail had gone cold. Can Nick find the missing woman and uncover the culprit behind his friend’s murder?
Nick has a hell of a lot of talent when it comes to boots-on-the-ground hard detective work, but he seemingly isn’t ready to take a serious stab at it yet, judging by his lackadaisical approach to seeking out clients and finding work. He generally spends his days and nights slinging drinks at a dive bar in D.C. while getting loaded and goofing off. Nick is floating around in the space between carefree youth and adult responsibility, which I suppose is fine if you’re in your twenties, but Nick is knocking on the door to forty without much of an idea of what he wants to do. If Lawrence Block’s Matt Scudder series has taught me anything, getting blackout drunk isn’t something your body will ever get good at.
Nick is the kind of guy you just want to grab by the shoulders and tell him to wake up, but it’s hard to argue with his method. He gets results, although I sometimes wonder how much of it is luck. Like all the best detectives, Nick takes an absolute pounding when he makes the slightest headway but you can always trust him to do the right thing, regardless of how things threaten to shake out for those involved. He’s definitely smarter than he gives himself credit for, but we all are often our own worst enemies.
Oh, and I made another playlist for all the songs that appear in the novel.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75c...
Nick has a hell of a lot of talent when it comes to boots-on-the-ground hard detective work, but he seemingly isn’t ready to take a serious stab at it yet, judging by his lackadaisical approach to seeking out clients and finding work. He generally spends his days and nights slinging drinks at a dive bar in D.C. while getting loaded and goofing off. Nick is floating around in the space between carefree youth and adult responsibility, which I suppose is fine if you’re in your twenties, but Nick is knocking on the door to forty without much of an idea of what he wants to do. If Lawrence Block’s Matt Scudder series has taught me anything, getting blackout drunk isn’t something your body will ever get good at.
Nick is the kind of guy you just want to grab by the shoulders and tell him to wake up, but it’s hard to argue with his method. He gets results, although I sometimes wonder how much of it is luck. Like all the best detectives, Nick takes an absolute pounding when he makes the slightest headway but you can always trust him to do the right thing, regardless of how things threaten to shake out for those involved. He’s definitely smarter than he gives himself credit for, but we all are often our own worst enemies.
Oh, and I made another playlist for all the songs that appear in the novel.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75c...
July 31, 2016
”Now one of those sows – that one over there – she’s lyin’ back because she senses it’s her time to die. I haven’t fed her for twenty-four hours, for the reason of the mess the killin’ makes if there’s food in her belly …”
from www.lwcurrey.com
George Pelecanos’ second novel, published in 1993. This is the second of the three “Nick Stefanos” novels (the others being A Firing Offense (1992) and Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995).
Narrated by the main character (named – can you guess? … that’s right), who runs a private investigator service, but is getting most of his modest income tending bar. That cover shot above is a pretty good suggestion of the character – though it’s not entirely clear in this shot whether he’s serving a shot or drinking one. That’s accurate too. Stefanos has a serious drinking problem, his favorite drink perhaps a double shot of whiskey with a beer chaser. Nor is he shy about where he drinks his fill: could be at the bar he closes most nights; could be at his apartment; could be at another prowling place; could even be behind the wheel of his car.
This novel surprised me by not having any black characters that are close friends and supporters of the protagonist. Yes, a couple that are co-workers, casual friends, but not playing a major role in the story. This changes fairly quickly in the march of Pelecanos’ novels, most all later ones that I’ve read have serious black characters that are among the “good guys” in the story. So in this sense his second novel does appear to be still (like the first) a book in which the young writer is finding his way.
There’s plenty of music mentioned in the story: Steve Earle’s “I’m the Other Kind” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiO_Y... Richard Thompson’s Gypsy Love Songs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhILh... the “jugging rhythms” of Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABc8c... De La Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEzE...).
All in all it’s a good story, and you’ll learn a little something about butcherin’ a hog. I know you care.
from www.lwcurrey.com
George Pelecanos’ second novel, published in 1993. This is the second of the three “Nick Stefanos” novels (the others being A Firing Offense (1992) and Down By the River Where the Dead Men Go (1995).
Narrated by the main character (named – can you guess? … that’s right), who runs a private investigator service, but is getting most of his modest income tending bar. That cover shot above is a pretty good suggestion of the character – though it’s not entirely clear in this shot whether he’s serving a shot or drinking one. That’s accurate too. Stefanos has a serious drinking problem, his favorite drink perhaps a double shot of whiskey with a beer chaser. Nor is he shy about where he drinks his fill: could be at the bar he closes most nights; could be at his apartment; could be at another prowling place; could even be behind the wheel of his car.
This novel surprised me by not having any black characters that are close friends and supporters of the protagonist. Yes, a couple that are co-workers, casual friends, but not playing a major role in the story. This changes fairly quickly in the march of Pelecanos’ novels, most all later ones that I’ve read have serious black characters that are among the “good guys” in the story. So in this sense his second novel does appear to be still (like the first) a book in which the young writer is finding his way.
There’s plenty of music mentioned in the story: Steve Earle’s “I’m the Other Kind” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiO_Y... Richard Thompson’s Gypsy Love Songs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhILh... the “jugging rhythms” of Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABc8c... De La Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEzE...).
All in all it’s a good story, and you’ll learn a little something about butcherin’ a hog. I know you care.
November 24, 2021
In A Firing Offense, Nick Stefanos felt like an outsider trapped in the inside while working at Nutty Nathan's, an electronic retailer, until a violent end to a criminal conspiracy forced him into a new life: a private investigator.
Nick's Trip finds him licensed without many clients. He even considered a firm for steady work, but he might as well have stayed in the retail business if he wanted to jockey a desk and wear Johnston & Murphys all day long. Without many options, he tends bar at a dive called The Spot. He gets to make a little cash, play his favorite tapes every night, and pour drafts for the colorful regulars who frequent the bar.
Things are limping along until an old friend comes in with a job for Nick. He needs help finding his wife and is willing to pay. Nick accepts the job with the complications that come from picking up a friendship that had been frozen for 15 years. Plus, he's dealing with the haunting murder of an acquaintance. He got want he wanted though; work. But, he'll learn some things about himself and his buddies along the way that paint Stefanos's D.C. dark and dangerous.
This one was a slow burn. But I loved it. The best P.I.'s are outsiders, and Nick Stefanos is right out there with the likes of Matthew Scudder and Travis McGee. He's also a little more relatable as Pelecanos grants the reader an open view into his emotions and thoughts. What we see is an old school soul committed to honorable virtues that include friendship and community. This may sound at odds with Nick's drinking and drugging, but that's part of the life he carved out for himself.
Nick's Trip seems a lot less autobiographical than A Firing Offense; at least I hope so. However, the book reads in Pelecanos's voice. Authentic and less polished than the Derek Strange series, this raw grit has a punk tone that is among the many reasons why I look forward to Nick's next chapter.
Nick's Trip finds him licensed without many clients. He even considered a firm for steady work, but he might as well have stayed in the retail business if he wanted to jockey a desk and wear Johnston & Murphys all day long. Without many options, he tends bar at a dive called The Spot. He gets to make a little cash, play his favorite tapes every night, and pour drafts for the colorful regulars who frequent the bar.
Things are limping along until an old friend comes in with a job for Nick. He needs help finding his wife and is willing to pay. Nick accepts the job with the complications that come from picking up a friendship that had been frozen for 15 years. Plus, he's dealing with the haunting murder of an acquaintance. He got want he wanted though; work. But, he'll learn some things about himself and his buddies along the way that paint Stefanos's D.C. dark and dangerous.
This one was a slow burn. But I loved it. The best P.I.'s are outsiders, and Nick Stefanos is right out there with the likes of Matthew Scudder and Travis McGee. He's also a little more relatable as Pelecanos grants the reader an open view into his emotions and thoughts. What we see is an old school soul committed to honorable virtues that include friendship and community. This may sound at odds with Nick's drinking and drugging, but that's part of the life he carved out for himself.
Nick's Trip seems a lot less autobiographical than A Firing Offense; at least I hope so. However, the book reads in Pelecanos's voice. Authentic and less polished than the Derek Strange series, this raw grit has a punk tone that is among the many reasons why I look forward to Nick's next chapter.
November 3, 2015
NICK'S TRIP is a booze soaked road trip into the underbelly of greed and deceit. What looks to be a simple enough missing persons case turns complex when Nick's high school friend casually omits portions of the truth to travel with Nick down memory lane, all the while building lies and laying the foundation for murder.
Unlike A FIRING OFFENCE, Nick Stefanos is a fully fledged PI working in a bar to supplement his chosen career. This allows him to pick and choose his caseload. So when an old high school buddy shows up asking for help to track down his missing wife, Nick agrees.
The story largely centers around locating the missing wife, but is peppered with chunks of another case - the murder of one of Nick's friends. This additional case proved a little distracting at times and didn't seem like it was needed with the core case enough to sustain an entertaining narrative.
Other reviews liken the Stefanos books to James Crumley in style and I'd have to agree. The later books by George Pelecanos are much better but NICK'S TRIP is still worth a read.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Unlike A FIRING OFFENCE, Nick Stefanos is a fully fledged PI working in a bar to supplement his chosen career. This allows him to pick and choose his caseload. So when an old high school buddy shows up asking for help to track down his missing wife, Nick agrees.
The story largely centers around locating the missing wife, but is peppered with chunks of another case - the murder of one of Nick's friends. This additional case proved a little distracting at times and didn't seem like it was needed with the core case enough to sustain an entertaining narrative.
Other reviews liken the Stefanos books to James Crumley in style and I'd have to agree. The later books by George Pelecanos are much better but NICK'S TRIP is still worth a read.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
May 19, 2020
Nick Stefanos book No. 2: Another trek to Washington that's is so convincing, as was the author's writing in The Wire: A Dramatic Series for HBO. Nick Stefanos looks into investigating a case of a missing wife of an old friend, as well as an unresolved murder of reporter. Nick has to take a trip to search for the missing wife. Another solid Pelecanos book, although not as top drawer as his other books, that I've read. 6 out of 12.
January 22, 2011
Nick’s Tripwas originally published in 1993. It is also Pelecanos’ second published book. You will note that my links are leading you to the individual books on GR rather than the collected book Three Great Novels Down By The River A Firing Offense Nick's Trip that I am reading. I think the Three Great Novels book is a rather rare find. I think I just lucked out and found a relatively cheap one.
I thought that this book, the second in the trio, is much better than the first. For me, I found it to be a page-turner. There was plenty of cocaine snorted in A Firing Offense A Five Star Title but in “Nick’s Trip” the drug frequency is less. But there continues to be plenty of beer and bourbon, much of the beer consumed in bars and while driving. In fact, Nick is a bartender in this book as well as a newly licensed DC private investigator. Sex is still pretty common either looking back or in the present. And you wouldn’t say Nick has a steady girlfriend. In fact, as a rule there are rarely any women in significant rolls. Sex is about it for the women. Not that Nick doesn’t like women.
You see the marks of Pelecanos front and center right off in his books. Can’t miss them. Pick some of them out here:
Only thing missing in that paragraph is the naming of a tune or two that would have played on that eight-track. And this was Nick recalling his life as a teenager. In later books, the alcohol stays, the graphic sex lessens and drug use is less common for the principle characters. But all of those things are part of the usual milieu in a Pelecanos novel. He loves the ‘70s when he was a teenager himself.
Other Pelecanos staples are violence and smoking. Nick is never in a bar or home long without a lit cigarette. In the real world bars were exempt from the No Smoking laws that began in 1975. No smoking in bars became more unusual at the end of the 20th century. However, enforcement and enactment of No Smoking laws was slow to come to major tobacco growing states like Virginia and North Carolina. Pelecanos has nothing to say negative about smoking and only a bit of side criticism about alcohol. (Nick goes to a doctor in “Nick’s Trip” – a most rare occasion – and the doctor has some cautionary things to say about Nick’s smoking. But no enlightenment about what Nick does for health insurance here or earlier when he is taken to the emergency room on Christmas eve.) It is hard to see how Nick could be functional in real life with the amount of alcohol he consumes. AA doesn’t happen in Pelecanos. Nick stops drinking regularly but only briefly. It is interesting to note that another human necessity that is rarely in books, going to the bathroom, is relatively common in Pelecanos. With all the drinking the men have to pee regularly. And then, of course, there of the bathroom fights. Women don’t pee and nobody poops, except the occasional man after being fatally shot.
Drinking and smoking are rituals in Pelecanos:
Just as an aside, an event that has to be extremely rare in novels is when Nick is asked to father a child for a lesbian friend (Yes, there are homosexuals in Pelecanos.) through known donor artificial insemination. The process of asking Nick and Nick deciding to do it and Nick’s medical evaluation are covered in more than a cursory manner. In this case insemination is sex the “normal” way and not a turkey baster, also covered in more than a cursory way. Yes, as already mentioned, sex happens relatively frequently in this early stage of Pelecanos’ career. (I my case we actually used a cervical cap to contain the sperm rather than to keep it out! Not the normal way. Thus a baby happened for a man with a vasectomy with the help of a friend who is now a part of the family, a known donor.)
There are also pets in Pelecanos: cats and dogs. A cat for Nick and a dog in later books. Nick almost fatally neglects his one-eyed cat but is very tender with her when she survives. Someone else will have to tell me what that was all about. Is the cat about Nick’s women?
My six word review of Nick’s Trip is: Much better than A Firing Offense!
I thought that this book, the second in the trio, is much better than the first. For me, I found it to be a page-turner. There was plenty of cocaine snorted in A Firing Offense A Five Star Title but in “Nick’s Trip” the drug frequency is less. But there continues to be plenty of beer and bourbon, much of the beer consumed in bars and while driving. In fact, Nick is a bartender in this book as well as a newly licensed DC private investigator. Sex is still pretty common either looking back or in the present. And you wouldn’t say Nick has a steady girlfriend. In fact, as a rule there are rarely any women in significant rolls. Sex is about it for the women. Not that Nick doesn’t like women.
Lyla watched me think things over. When I looked up, she was looking into my eyes, and her mouth was open, just a little. I felt something happen between us, but I moved on.
….
After that we sat without speaking. Her homemade tape was playing Richard Thompson’s Gypsy Love Songs. The time went by like that, and the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. I liked her looks, and her honesty, and her intelligence. I liked everything about her.
You see the marks of Pelecanos front and center right off in his books. Can’t miss them. Pick some of them out here:
The details of those years are unimportant and certainly not unusual. Billy had a ’69 Camaro (the last year that car made any difference) with a 327 under the hood and Hi-Jackers in the rear. There was a Pioneer eight-track mounted under the AM radio and two Superthruster speakers on the rear panel. On weekend nights we drank Schlitz from cans and raced that car up and down University Boulevard and Colesville Road, trolling for girls and parties. On the nights when we got too drunk the cops would pull us over and, in those days, simply tell us to get on home. Our friends enacted roughly the same ritual, and amazingly none of us died.
Only thing missing in that paragraph is the naming of a tune or two that would have played on that eight-track. And this was Nick recalling his life as a teenager. In later books, the alcohol stays, the graphic sex lessens and drug use is less common for the principle characters. But all of those things are part of the usual milieu in a Pelecanos novel. He loves the ‘70s when he was a teenager himself.
Other Pelecanos staples are violence and smoking. Nick is never in a bar or home long without a lit cigarette. In the real world bars were exempt from the No Smoking laws that began in 1975. No smoking in bars became more unusual at the end of the 20th century. However, enforcement and enactment of No Smoking laws was slow to come to major tobacco growing states like Virginia and North Carolina. Pelecanos has nothing to say negative about smoking and only a bit of side criticism about alcohol. (Nick goes to a doctor in “Nick’s Trip” – a most rare occasion – and the doctor has some cautionary things to say about Nick’s smoking. But no enlightenment about what Nick does for health insurance here or earlier when he is taken to the emergency room on Christmas eve.) It is hard to see how Nick could be functional in real life with the amount of alcohol he consumes. AA doesn’t happen in Pelecanos. Nick stops drinking regularly but only briefly. It is interesting to note that another human necessity that is rarely in books, going to the bathroom, is relatively common in Pelecanos. With all the drinking the men have to pee regularly. And then, of course, there of the bathroom fights. Women don’t pee and nobody poops, except the occasional man after being fatally shot.
Drinking and smoking are rituals in Pelecanos:
I closed my eyes and felt the bourbon numb my lips and gums and the back of my throat. I waited for the warmth to fill my chest and followed it with a deep pull of beer. The beer was cold and good, and a chip of ice slid down the neck and touched my hand as I drank.
…
I shook a cigarette out of Boyle’s pack. Boyle produced a Zippo from his jacket pocket and thumbed open its lid. I leaned toward the flame, hit it, and took a drag that burned deeply into my chest. My smoke found his and drifted up through the misty cones of light that opened out from the lamps above.
Just as an aside, an event that has to be extremely rare in novels is when Nick is asked to father a child for a lesbian friend (Yes, there are homosexuals in Pelecanos.) through known donor artificial insemination. The process of asking Nick and Nick deciding to do it and Nick’s medical evaluation are covered in more than a cursory manner. In this case insemination is sex the “normal” way and not a turkey baster, also covered in more than a cursory way. Yes, as already mentioned, sex happens relatively frequently in this early stage of Pelecanos’ career. (I my case we actually used a cervical cap to contain the sperm rather than to keep it out! Not the normal way. Thus a baby happened for a man with a vasectomy with the help of a friend who is now a part of the family, a known donor.)
There are also pets in Pelecanos: cats and dogs. A cat for Nick and a dog in later books. Nick almost fatally neglects his one-eyed cat but is very tender with her when she survives. Someone else will have to tell me what that was all about. Is the cat about Nick’s women?
My six word review of Nick’s Trip is: Much better than A Firing Offense!
May 22, 2017
If I had a dollar for every beer or Jim Beam the protagonist Nick Stefanos takes during the course of this novel, I could retire today. There is some seriously hard drinking going on in this book about a bartender who earns money on the side as a private detective. This time the case involves an old friend but as it turns out, the case is much more complicated than it appears. Nick's trips with his buddy Billy Goodrich, both past and present, collide in a denouement that will determine their future friendship. Excellent writing, and interesting subplots involve the women in Nick's life. All in all, this is a modern day detective story set in Washington D.C. of the last 20 years and yet has all the airs and tone of a classic noir novel. Recommend.
November 20, 2017
(3.5) Didn't like this as much as the first one (two cases for the price of one took the wind out of its sails) but its still an entertaining look at an alcoholic slacker stuck in early 90s DC with nothing better to do than to solve crimes. Pelecanos writes these books with a verve that I wish was in his later work. And perhaps that's the issue: his later work lacks the personal connection clearly felt in these novels.
June 27, 2016
Again, a fun, energetic romp through the early Pelecanos series featuring the obviously semi-autobiographical bartender/electronics salesguy/private eye, Nick Stefanos. Although it was an enjoyable read, I became increasingly annoyed by all the "magical" business. Not literally supernatural, thank God, but annoying none-the-less.
For instance, we've got this magic dog, one that never needs to be fed, watered, walked, groomed, or paid attention to. This is the kind of dog who, the one time he is let out to "do his business" in the forest, (while Nick checks out a suspect's house) immediately re-appears from the forest the minute Nick starts to get into the car. Yeah, because dogs are so considerate that way. (As an aside, the worst magical dog EVER is in the much-loved, but not by me, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.)
I have to mention that Nick does get a dose of reality when he tries to similarly neglect his apparently not-magical cat, and things end up badly for said animal. Nick appears to learn his lesson and actually starts feeding the cat on occasion, and gives it water a couple of times.
But then there is the magic booze. You know, the kind of hard liquor and can after can of beer that a normal-sized man can drink gallons of, literally day and night, and never pass out, puke up his guts in public, get into a car accident, or even get a single DUI. There ARE hangovers, but they are the magical kind where there is still no throwing up, and the headache cure is to jump rope for an hour to "sweat out" the booze.
And all of the crazed bouts of extreme exercise that his self-loathing bring on, take us to the other magical element: magic chain-smoked cigarettes and weed. For someone who seems to constantly smoke, like I'd guess several packs and several joints a day, Nick never wakes up with that cringe-inducing, phlegm-y, hack-up-a-lung smoker's cough. He can run, jump rope, box a few rounds, and bike "a hard ten miles" with nary a wheeze. He even climbs flights of stairs without stopping several times to catch his breath.
If I could only trade in my regular super-needy dogs for some of those magic ones, or get a hold of some magic bourbon, beer and/or weed, my life would be really improved!
Still, book worth reading, especially since it leads to the last and best one in the series: Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go.
For instance, we've got this magic dog, one that never needs to be fed, watered, walked, groomed, or paid attention to. This is the kind of dog who, the one time he is let out to "do his business" in the forest, (while Nick checks out a suspect's house) immediately re-appears from the forest the minute Nick starts to get into the car. Yeah, because dogs are so considerate that way. (As an aside, the worst magical dog EVER is in the much-loved, but not by me, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.)
I have to mention that Nick does get a dose of reality when he tries to similarly neglect his apparently not-magical cat, and things end up badly for said animal. Nick appears to learn his lesson and actually starts feeding the cat on occasion, and gives it water a couple of times.
But then there is the magic booze. You know, the kind of hard liquor and can after can of beer that a normal-sized man can drink gallons of, literally day and night, and never pass out, puke up his guts in public, get into a car accident, or even get a single DUI. There ARE hangovers, but they are the magical kind where there is still no throwing up, and the headache cure is to jump rope for an hour to "sweat out" the booze.
And all of the crazed bouts of extreme exercise that his self-loathing bring on, take us to the other magical element: magic chain-smoked cigarettes and weed. For someone who seems to constantly smoke, like I'd guess several packs and several joints a day, Nick never wakes up with that cringe-inducing, phlegm-y, hack-up-a-lung smoker's cough. He can run, jump rope, box a few rounds, and bike "a hard ten miles" with nary a wheeze. He even climbs flights of stairs without stopping several times to catch his breath.
If I could only trade in my regular super-needy dogs for some of those magic ones, or get a hold of some magic bourbon, beer and/or weed, my life would be really improved!
Still, book worth reading, especially since it leads to the last and best one in the series: Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go.
December 13, 2016
I began reading George Pelecanos after binge-watching The Wire a few years back and discovering he was one of the creative minds behind it. I've bounced around in his catalog ever since and finally got around to Nick's Trip, his 2nd novel. It's a beaut, with a good plot, great characters, and real noir writing.
As with all his books, Pelecanos has a knack for painting a scene, particularly those set in the DC area. He obviously is a music fan and always includes aural sensations in his prose, which I find to be an interesting and unique touch. If you're familiar with the music of the eras in which he sets his stories, it's almost like having a soundtrack while reading. That may just be me, though.... Otherwise, his writing is excellent- stripped down, first-person, extremely direct and descriptive.
Nick's Trip has the part-time PI, Nick Stefanos, engaged in a couple mysteries, one involving an old high school friend who appeared out of nowhere, and the other the murder of an acquaintance that hasn't been solved. There's a lot of brutality, a little sex, and a lot of drinking involved. In fact, the only real problem I had with the story was that the impairment caused by the excessive drinking described throughout should have impeded a lot of the action, but it seemed to have no effect. I realize Stefanos would be described as an alcoholic, but even with a high tolerance it should have had an impact.
The author does a fine job developing his characters, with Stefanos being done particularly well. The stories bounce back and forth between his engagements, tied together by characters who frequent the bar where Stefanos is primarily employed. Although the PI and detective work proceed pretty conventionally, both situations are concluded in surprising fashion.
I'm glad I went back to (nearly the) beginning to see where the author began and to gauge how much he's grown. In the books he's written since, he's introduced different characters, professions, and eras, but through it all it's obvious that he loves the DC area, its people, and music. He's a favorite.
As with all his books, Pelecanos has a knack for painting a scene, particularly those set in the DC area. He obviously is a music fan and always includes aural sensations in his prose, which I find to be an interesting and unique touch. If you're familiar with the music of the eras in which he sets his stories, it's almost like having a soundtrack while reading. That may just be me, though.... Otherwise, his writing is excellent- stripped down, first-person, extremely direct and descriptive.
Nick's Trip has the part-time PI, Nick Stefanos, engaged in a couple mysteries, one involving an old high school friend who appeared out of nowhere, and the other the murder of an acquaintance that hasn't been solved. There's a lot of brutality, a little sex, and a lot of drinking involved. In fact, the only real problem I had with the story was that the impairment caused by the excessive drinking described throughout should have impeded a lot of the action, but it seemed to have no effect. I realize Stefanos would be described as an alcoholic, but even with a high tolerance it should have had an impact.
The author does a fine job developing his characters, with Stefanos being done particularly well. The stories bounce back and forth between his engagements, tied together by characters who frequent the bar where Stefanos is primarily employed. Although the PI and detective work proceed pretty conventionally, both situations are concluded in surprising fashion.
I'm glad I went back to (nearly the) beginning to see where the author began and to gauge how much he's grown. In the books he's written since, he's introduced different characters, professions, and eras, but through it all it's obvious that he loves the DC area, its people, and music. He's a favorite.
November 30, 2008
Nick Stefanos, newly licensed P.I., has discovered that just hanging out the shingle in the yellow pages is not enough to bring in hoards of customers, so to help pay the rent he hires out as a bartender to help make ends meet. That’s where his old drinking buddy, Billy Goodrich, finds him, hoping to secure Nick’s investigative services. It seems Billy’s wife, April, has run off and disappeared, ostensibly with Joey DiGiardano, son of an aging local crime boss. For old time’s sake, Nick takes the case, only to discover that Joey would like to find April, too; she made off with $200,000 of his money. At the same time, Nick wants to know why his friend William Henry, recently retired reporter was killed. The police put the murder in the context of a robbery, but Nick knows that can’t be the truth, because the security at William’s apartment building was just too good to let in just anyone. It had to be someone William knew. The trail leads to burned-out pizza shops and crooked cops even as he discovers that Billy has been lying to him about virtually everything. Pelecanos ranks up there with Jim Thompson, James Cain, and Raymond Chandler. Nick is of the classic, hard-boiled detective genre, and Pelancanos a pleasure to read. His writing is crisp and intelligent, laced with nice touches of humor. One evening, Nick squires a lesbian friend to her Christmas office party to help her fend off the lecherous accountants. Soon, he’s more than a little snookered but having a great time, constantly changing his profession and lifestyle for each person he meets. “And to shut down a guy who would not stop talking to me about his son’s high school football program, I proudly proclaimed, with a subtle flutter of my eyes, that I was studying to be a male nurse, explaining that I had chosen the profession ‘for the uniforms.’
April 9, 2011
I read "Nick's Trip" right after "A Firing Offense". It is an improvement. Unlike the first book, this one seems to have a fairly coherent plot that is stretched evenly throughout the book and comes to a satisfactory end. There are diversions into drug binges and drunken benders, and an interesting subplot with a lesbian who wants to become a mom. However, in this novel, the diversions are secondary to the plot.
Unfortunately, Pelecanos' greatest creation from the first novel, Johnny McGinnes, is only mentioned on occasion. Billy Goodrich, his replacement, is not as interesting or engaging.
The plot is well done, and is really two separate cases. I found myself slightly confused at a couple of points as to which case Nick Stefanos was on, but got back on track quickly. Pelecanos does a nice job of tying the two together in the end of the book, courtesy of a low-level hood.
I am reading these books in the order written, and I know that George Pelecanos has even better things to come. This book, is a big improvement on the first, and was an engaging, quick read.
Unfortunately, Pelecanos' greatest creation from the first novel, Johnny McGinnes, is only mentioned on occasion. Billy Goodrich, his replacement, is not as interesting or engaging.
The plot is well done, and is really two separate cases. I found myself slightly confused at a couple of points as to which case Nick Stefanos was on, but got back on track quickly. Pelecanos does a nice job of tying the two together in the end of the book, courtesy of a low-level hood.
I am reading these books in the order written, and I know that George Pelecanos has even better things to come. This book, is a big improvement on the first, and was an engaging, quick read.
February 18, 2015
This second novel in the Nick Stefanos series fails to measure up to the cleverness of the first novel, A Firing Offense. Now a fully-licensed gumshoe, Stefanos drifts (and drinks in an absurd fashion) through his investigations laboriously trying to come off like a bad-ass while contemplating existential ramblings in a cheap knock off of Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn. The story line felt very "Dick Wolf-ish" (Law & Order) and only my obsessive compulsion that requires me to finish a book once I start it compelled me to see it through to the end. A tad bit on the yawning side.
December 23, 2013
Endless descriptions of bars and what music plays and what street he's driving on. It gets a little tedious. I probably won't bother with the third Stefanos book.
July 20, 2025
The laid-back narrator of this highly readable private-eye novel, the titular Nick, is better at getting drunk than at solving cases. The plot kicks in motion when an old childhood friend hires him to find his missing wife. Nick's easy-going tone and unhurried pace leaves more room for character notes and wry observations than you usually get in these novels. Unfortunately, for reasons I can't fathom, the wheels come off in the last quarter of the novel, as a minor subplot completely takes over - making the final resolution not as meaningful as it should have been.
Note: If you've read Pelecanos, you know he is a big music buff, which means no one enters a bar or an office or an apartment without the narrator telling you exactly what music (song title and artist) is playing. It's an annoying tic (he's like the middle-aged guy at the office constantly trying to impress you with how cool his musical tastes are), but I got used to it.
Note: If you've read Pelecanos, you know he is a big music buff, which means no one enters a bar or an office or an apartment without the narrator telling you exactly what music (song title and artist) is playing. It's an annoying tic (he's like the middle-aged guy at the office constantly trying to impress you with how cool his musical tastes are), but I got used to it.
April 16, 2024
Similar vibe as Hammett and Chandler novels.
Nick is a bartender who moonlights as a Private Investigator. He has a drinking problem and a one eyed cat, so expect a gritty setting and nihilistic undertones.
AND. The characters are compelling, the plot is interesting and the pacing allows for introspection.
Overall a solid Noir crime read with a surprisingly optimistic outcome.
My go to in this genre are Lehane, Block, Connelly, Parker, etc.. I'm happy to add George Pelecanos to this list!
Nick is a bartender who moonlights as a Private Investigator. He has a drinking problem and a one eyed cat, so expect a gritty setting and nihilistic undertones.
AND. The characters are compelling, the plot is interesting and the pacing allows for introspection.
Overall a solid Noir crime read with a surprisingly optimistic outcome.
My go to in this genre are Lehane, Block, Connelly, Parker, etc.. I'm happy to add George Pelecanos to this list!
September 12, 2019
I was originally going for a 3 star review because the central mystery wraps up too quickly but as I read on the book contained a lot more depth than I thought. Other than that I enjoyed the mood of the writing, the way it felt old school but hip with its lingo. Pelecanos is an amazing street author, he gets the gritty feel right.
July 14, 2022
This is the first book of several by GP that I could not quite finish. Never hooked me. A little dated now too. The book and I guess me too. Lol
September 10, 2018
Nice plot, but what is exceptional is the character development.
April 14, 2019
Not my favorite Pelecanos book, but even decent Pelacanos is better than most other authors' best books. Nick is at it again with his private investigating, and this time it's personal as an old friend brings a case his way. I much prefer Pelecanos's police dramas, but his mysteries are pretty good, too. Looking forward to reading the third and final book in the Nick Stefenos series.
July 14, 2020
Pelecanos is now considered one of the best crime-adventure writers around, and with good reason. But while his first novel (to which this is the sequel) was pretty good, this second one has major problems. Nick Stefanos, ex-advertising manager for a big electronics retailer in Washington, D.C. (where all this author’s novels are set), is attempting to make a living as a private detective, but he’s also tending bar to make ends meet. He’s a talented salesman and he spends a lot of time selling himself to possible clients, to potential employers, and to women. At the moment, he’s looking into the apparent murder of a friend -- though even a third of the way into the book, he (and the reader) have still learned almost nothing. And he has also taken on the search for the adulterous wife of an old friend from high school, two decades before, who left him and apparently stole a large amount of money from her lover as well.
The thing is, Nick spends a great deal of time reminiscing in extreme detail about his early life, about the people his grandfather used to hang out with, about the bad decisions he made when he was young, and about a number of other things that have vey little relevance to the story. Frankly, I got tired of waiting for something to actually happen and I gave up before I reached the halfway point. I don’t often do that, but Pelecanos went way off the rails this time.
The thing is, Nick spends a great deal of time reminiscing in extreme detail about his early life, about the people his grandfather used to hang out with, about the bad decisions he made when he was young, and about a number of other things that have vey little relevance to the story. Frankly, I got tired of waiting for something to actually happen and I gave up before I reached the halfway point. I don’t often do that, but Pelecanos went way off the rails this time.
April 5, 2012
*Really, I'd give this 3.5 stars.
“ 'You worry too much,' I said, but judging from the pale look on Billy's face, that bit of analysis didn't help” (32).
“...and his partner was the saxman, an aging, bottom-heavy Greek I had seen around town who took his scotch through a straw” (32).
“As I watched him cross the room, I felt an odd sadness, that sense of irrevocable loss one feels upon seeing a friend who has changed so drastically over so many years” (36).
“ '...and shut her eyes, shut her eyes slowly and peacefully like some Disney deer'” (50).
"...he oozed mindless ambition" (103).
"A suburban boy on his way to a rotten liver could maybe get laid here, and if not, he could always skin his knuckles" (107).
"At the National, older couples were exiting cabs, dressed and eager for Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest scam on the theatergoing public" (200). *Thank you! I can't stand that man's work.
“Next to her sat another young woman with large, expensive jewelry and a tiny nose that cost more than the jewelry” (200-201).
"The driver, a young man wearing a black jacket with a large eight ball embroidered across the back, stepped out and gave the world a tough glance" (231).
“ 'You worry too much,' I said, but judging from the pale look on Billy's face, that bit of analysis didn't help” (32).
“...and his partner was the saxman, an aging, bottom-heavy Greek I had seen around town who took his scotch through a straw” (32).
“As I watched him cross the room, I felt an odd sadness, that sense of irrevocable loss one feels upon seeing a friend who has changed so drastically over so many years” (36).
“ '...and shut her eyes, shut her eyes slowly and peacefully like some Disney deer'” (50).
"...he oozed mindless ambition" (103).
"A suburban boy on his way to a rotten liver could maybe get laid here, and if not, he could always skin his knuckles" (107).
"At the National, older couples were exiting cabs, dressed and eager for Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest scam on the theatergoing public" (200). *Thank you! I can't stand that man's work.
“Next to her sat another young woman with large, expensive jewelry and a tiny nose that cost more than the jewelry” (200-201).
"The driver, a young man wearing a black jacket with a large eight ball embroidered across the back, stepped out and gave the world a tough glance" (231).
August 19, 2017
As I'd already bought the whole Nick Stefanos series it was with a great deal of trepidation that I approached this, the second in the series, after detesting the series opener.
This was better, a better story, more character development (although there is absolutely nothing to like about Nick himself) and a bit more focus on plot. That said there is still a huge chunk of the book devoted to describing in minute detail Nick's drinking, smoking, drug taking, clothes and love of music and how he ever solves anything when he seems to spend all his waking hours 'off his face' is the biggest mystery of all. It must be due to all that detective training he got as a TVs salesmen!
There are so many books out there that there's no way that I could recommend anyone reads this. Anyway I'm off to read the last of the series, got to get my monies worth!
This was better, a better story, more character development (although there is absolutely nothing to like about Nick himself) and a bit more focus on plot. That said there is still a huge chunk of the book devoted to describing in minute detail Nick's drinking, smoking, drug taking, clothes and love of music and how he ever solves anything when he seems to spend all his waking hours 'off his face' is the biggest mystery of all. It must be due to all that detective training he got as a TVs salesmen!
There are so many books out there that there's no way that I could recommend anyone reads this. Anyway I'm off to read the last of the series, got to get my monies worth!
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