What It Was by George Pelecanos, Orion, $19.99
What It Was is one book that’s just screaming to make the leap on to the big screen.
Set in the criminal underworld of Washington DC in 1972, it’s alive with huge “afro” hairdos, glamorous muscle cars, and classic soul music.
The fashions, the Firebirds, and the tunes create a vivid backdrop to a psychopathic crime spree being carried out by murderous Red Fury Jones and his brothel-owning girl Coco Watkins.
On his trail are womanising private investigator Derek Strange, and old school cop Frank “Houng Dog” Vaughn. But they’ll have to get in quick if they’re to beat the mob, which is looking for vengeance on the rogue gangster.
Writer George Pelecanos of the television show The Wire brings its winning combination of grit, compassion and humour to this tense hunt for a killer.
He ratchets up the intensity with great skill, until it explodes into a climactic seventies style shoot out.
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