THE CUT: A GUEST REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE CUT

BY GEORGE PELECANOS

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Spero Lucas has a new line of work. Since he returned home after serving in Iraq, he has been doing special investigations for a defense attorney. He's good at it, and he has carved out a niche: recovering stolen property, no questions asked. His cut is forty percent.

A high-profile crime boss who has heard of Lucas's specialty hires him to find out who has been stealing from his operation. It's the biggest job Lucas has ever been offered, and he quickly gets a sense of what's going on. But before he can close in on what's been taken, he tangles with a world of men whose amorality and violence leave him reeling. Is any cut worth your family, your lover, your life?

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

"Spero Lucas is George Pelecanos's greatest creation, a young man making his place in the world one battle and one mission at a time. The first in a new series of thrillers featuring Spero Lucas, The Cut is the latest confirmation of why George Pelecanos is "perhaps America's greatest living crime writer." 

--Stephen King 

"One of our best mystery writers gives us Spero Lucas, an Iraq war vet and investigator who is an excellent candidate for a mystery series."

--By Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

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 is the author of fourteen crime 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, and The Night Gardener. 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 and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men From Boys, Murder at the Foul Line, and D.C. Noir, for which he also served as editor. 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 magazine called Pelecanos "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world."

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. His novel Right as Rain is currently in development with director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, Wonder Boys) and Warner Brothers. He is a writer on the upcoming World War II miniseries The Pacific, to be produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and HBO.

Pelecanos lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three children. He is at work on his next novel.

Discover more about George Pelecanos on his website HERE. 

MY GUEST REVIEW:

A hearty welcome to Steve Capell and big thank you for reviewing THE CUT. Steve gives his honest opinion, as always, and with that, I can see why so many people are reading THE CUT. Steve is a regular contributor to my blog and has his own blog as well, TRUE MEDIA SOLUTIONS, and you can find it HERE. Steve lives with his wife in the Kansas City area.  

George Pelecanos introduces to the reader a new protagonist, Spero Lucas, who is an investigator working in the D.C. area. Lucas gets involved with the investigation of stolen marijuana shipments and in the middle of the investigation a double murder occurs and he realizes that he is dealing with something way more sinister than just stolen marijuana. Lucas is not your typical investigator with hidden guns and knifes at his disposal every minute of the day. Spero is only armed with a pen, paper and cell phone most of the time, but not all the time. Spero understands what is important in solving cases and what is important in life and he manages to balance the two areas well. 

My thoughts:

This book took me some time to get into plot as the first eighty pages dealt with some detours with character development and dialog that didn't seem to move the plot along as fast as I would have liked; however, after getting past the first part of this book it really started to rock and roll and became a page turner and midnight oil burner. The characters were well done and added fullness and depth to the novel. Spero Lucas is such a vibrant character and emerges as a hero. All the characters uniquely fit together and add realism to this novel. Spero knows the importance of family, love, and justice ... I found that he had the perfect balance of these three areas in his life.  He is the type of character that I wished was real as I would love to meet him someday.  The conclusion of this novel gave me that wow feeling of completeness with no loose ends dangling in wind and immensely satisfying. 

Who should read this novel?

While the main shortcoming of this novel for me was the slowness in the beginning I still highly recommend this novel to all mystery readers as it has so much to offer. Readers who love George Pelecanos' writing will find this latest book a must read. 
I have given this novel a 4 out 5 rating.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ANNA AND MY GOOD

FRIENDS AT HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS SUPER

EXCITING BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

 
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
**NOTE FROM PUBLISHER: Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the title in the mail so more people get a chance to win.

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN THE CUT  FROM WHAT YOU LEARNED ABOVE,  AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT  AUTHOR GEORGE PELECANOS' WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY ON EACH IN ORDER TO RECEIVE EXTRA ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 8

GOOD LUCK!