3.5
A Firing Offense
ByPublisher Description
As the advertising director of Nutty Nathan's, Nick Stefanos knows all the tricks of the electronics business. Blow-out sales and shady deals were his life. When one of the stockboys disappears, it's not news: just another metalhead who went off chasing some dream of big money and easy living. But the kid reminded Nick of himself twelve years ago: an angry punk hooked on speed metal and the fast life. So when the boy's grandfather begs Nick to find the kid, Nick says he'll try. A Firing Offense, Nick Stefanos' debut, shows why, as Barry Gifford puts it, "To miss out on Pelecanos would be criminal."
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities20 Reviews
3.5
Brandon Sears
Created about 4 years agoShare
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“Following the disappearance of Jimmy Brouda, a stock boy from electronics store Nutty Nathan's, advertising director Nick Stefanos is approached by the boy’s grandfather with a request to help locate him. Having been somewhat close to Jimmy when they both worked the floor as well as seeing a lot of himself in the lad, Nick agrees to ask around and hopefully track down Jimmy.
George Pelecanos’ first novel feels like the work of a guy who has been doing this for years. A Firing Offense is about as hard-boiled as it gets. As an amateur detective who has never done this sort of work before, Nick finds himself pretty adept at working an investigation. Along the way, he’ll feel right at home with the Marlowes of the world as he pollutes his body with a seemingly endless stream of booze while also taking a hell of a beating from the opposition. Are you even a private detective if you don’t engage in a routine amount of self-destruction?
Maybe it’s the fact that I had read over one hundred books in 2020, and the fact that I’m looking to do the same again this year, but I really appreciate it when an author can tell a strong story in under three hundred pages. There’s nothing lacking here in terms of a strong central mystery nor a rich supporting cast alongside Stefanos. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-doorstopper fiction, but I like banging out a book in two days.
A Firing Offense is an enjoyable read that left me thinking about the whereabouts of Jimmy when I wasn’t reading it, which is a good sign of a page-turning crime book. I grabbed the next two novels in the series (which to date, I think that is all there is) right after reading this one, so I can see myself returning to Nick’s world in short order.
Oh, and one thing I read in a lot of reviews before I picked this book up was that Pelecanos had worked a lot of music into this story and boy, was that true. Along the way, I started compiling a playlist on Spotify for all the music mentioned here. If you’re interested, here’s a link to the unofficial “soundtrack”.
Here’s a playlist for you… A Firing Offense by Brandon Sears
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Ut2ZfUPFT0dH5adtQTgrw?si=gqc0mxWvRSqVC1Zq6wrhmA&utm_source=native-share-menu”
Scott Shewan
Created over 4 years agoShare
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Magne
Created almost 6 years agoShare
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tysechler
Created almost 7 years agoShare
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Tom T
Created over 7 years agoShare
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About George Pelecanos
George Pelecanos is the bestselling author of twenty novels set in and around Washington, D.C. He is also an independent film producer, and a producer and Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series The Wire, Treme, and The Deuce. He lives in Maryland.
Other books by George Pelecanos
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