Early on in The Way Home, real estate agent Mindy Kramer eats dinner in a Thai restaurant and neglects to tip the waitress. In less than a couple of pages, the author allows us a tiny peak into the resentment Mindy’s waitress, Toi, feels towards the ungrateful customers she has to smile at every day as part of her working life. Much later in the book, Mindy has a tense confrontation in the same restaurant with the novel’s central protagonist, Chris Flynn, that leaves her in tears. Toi looks on, taking sadistic satisfaction in the way “the tall blond man (has) humbled the bitch and made her cry”. These are the only times we meet Toi, but it gives you an idea of the depth George Pelecanos gives to even bit-part characters in this superior thriller.
Pelecanos worked as one of the principal writers on The Wire, and fans of that show won't be disappointed by his work here. There’s that same gritty detail, a terrific ear for urban dialogue, and a plot that refuses to follow a predictable genre path. When a carpet-fitting ex-con trying to go straight finds a big bag of cash under the floorboards, you think you know exactly what’s in store. When he puts the money back and goes on with his working day, it’s the first in a series of surprises that keep you guessing right up to the final page. Unlike many crime novels, this isn’t a story of black and white – it’s a story with lots and lots of grey. Characters that do stupid, bad, wrong-headed things one moment… then try their hardest to make amends. Characters who find themselves risking everything they’ve gained for bloodthirsty revenge, then plausibly change their minds and do their best to put an end to the cycle of violence they find themselves caught up in. It's refreshing and inspirational plotting, well worth your time.
