#57 Shame the Devil, by George Pelecanos (Indigo)

A confession: I must have finished Shame the Devil almost a month ago, but have only just found the time to get around to offering a review. This is therefore going to be a shorter write-up than perhaps is usual.

My third George Pelecanos book of the year, and the challenge, it didn’t quite reach the heights of the previous two. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, far from it, but a book which is merely entertaining isn’t up to scratch when the best of Pelecanos’ work, and the lessons he tries to impart about race, society, drugs and America, normally hits you in the stomach like a .38, a .22 or a .45 – the guns his characters use in the opening robbery-gone-wrong in Shame the Devil.

This is also my first Pelecanos book without main character Derek Strange, and while it was nice to read something else, such was the powerful characterisation of the previous novels I’d read, I found myself missing him. A ‘strange’ reaction indeed to the absence of a cheating private eye whose moral code is loose, to say the least.

The best bit of Shame the Devil is its focus on the victims, the relatives and loved ones of frequently unspeakable crimes. But it would have been nice for a resolution different to the typical showdown amid a hail of bullets.

That said, if Pelecanos is good at one thing, it seems to be writing the truth, so who am I to judge…?

So, rating time:

#57 Shame the Devil, by George Pelecanos (Indigo) - 7/10

Next up: A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute (Vintage)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#48 One Day, by David Nicholls (Hodder and Stoughton)

I was looking for a different book by David Nicholls (Starter for Ten) when I came across One Day, and, after reading the blurb, remembered that I had once heard Simon Mayo discussing it on the book review slot of his old BBC Radio 5 live show. Which is about all the impetus I need when it comes to selecting my next book.

Without pre-empting the whole rating business, One Day perfectly passable fare and I can’t dispute it provided some enjoyment. However, I must take issue with the incredible number of ‘book of the year!” testimonials from critics and other authors which adorn the cover and opening few pages, sample quote: “Every reader will fall in love with it. And every writer will wish they had written it.” (Tony Parsons, by the way)

There are some things to like about One Day, which explores and follows the relationship between Em and Dex, two students who sleep together on their graduation night, over the following 20 years. Crucially, the author just dips into their lives on one day per year, the anniversary of that first encounter, so you have to pick up whatever else has happened in their lives on the other 364 days. As devices go, it’s not bad, and it’s to its credit that it doesn’t feel like it overstays its welcome.

However, I can’t agree with Nick Hornby when he says One Day is ‘brilliant on the details of the last couple of decades of British cultural and political life’. No, it’s not. Parts of the novel feel like Nicholls has Googled a timeline for each year and just chucked in a couple of references to significant events so the reader can place themselves in the story to provide some additional colour. Oh, New Labour have just won the election (I remember that!) so it must be 1997; look, the lead character is presenting a late-night ‘largin it’ television show and dating a lad’s mag babe so it must be the late 1990s.

If it’s love you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. There is unrequited love and requited love, coupled with cheap flings and affairs, but aspects of the two main characters are so determinedly unlikeable that you don’t really care about their relationship or whether they will find love. Bad boy Dex is particularly hard work; after he’s spent so long being thoroughly unpleasant to Em, does Nicholls really believe we want Em, whiny though she often is, to end up with him?

All that said, there were some poignant and endearing moments. I cried, of course. I didn’t see the final twist coming. I laughed a few times. It’s like an unchallenging Hollywood rom-com, probably starring Jennifer Aniston – you know what to expect, it’s going to pass the time and be moderately entertaining, but it won’t change your life and you’ll have forgotten it tomorrow. Which is why these reviews need to be written quickly...

Oh, and a quick hello to Guilty Feat, a fellow Wire watcher (so obviously someone of particularly distinguished taste) who has kindly pointed me the way of his own review of One Day. We agree, we disagree, but I enjoyed reading his opinion.

So, rating time:

#48 One Day, by David Nicholls (Hodder and Stoughton) - 6/10

Next up: Thank You for the Days, by Mark Radcliffe (Simon and Schuster)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#45 Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane (Harper Collins)

Shutter Island is what I’d call a ‘superior’ thriller. On the one hand, it’s a relatively easy-to-read, well-plotted suspense novel, but there is a little bit more about it than the books which normally clog up the bestseller lists.

Typically, to contradict this theory, this was a New York Times bestseller, but that just goes to show that a lot of people recognised its quality. Indeed, Martin Scorcese directed the ‘major motion picture’ adaptation which has recently been released in UK cinemas (Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River are other films of Dennis Lehane books, I’ve since discovered).

To be honest, and to continue a bit of a theme on these pages this year, I first came across Lehane’s name in his role as a writer on The Wire (the best television show of all time etc…). George Pelecanos, another renowned American author who has similarly contributed to the HBO drama, has provided numerous highlights in my challenge this year, so I thought it was about time I gave Lehane a try – and I was pleased I did.

The story concerns a US marshal who is conducting an investigation into the disappearance of a criminally insane patient on a remote island, where nothing is quite as it seems (if you can imagine the ubiquitous film voiceover guy saying exactly that phrase). Not only is it well written with believable characters, there is enough suspense and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers occupied.

Rather pleasingly, even if I do say so myself, I worked out the novel’s central conceit about halfway through, but this in no way spoiled my enjoyment, and even after that there were plenty of surprises. So, really good, but not great.

So, rating time:

#45 Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane (Harper Collins) - 8/10

Next up: Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer (Atom)

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#37 Hell to Pay, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Hell to Pay is the third George Pelecanos novel of my challenge, and while I'd really enjoyed the previous two (Hard Revolution and Right as Rain), I couldn't help thinking that there was something missing. Perhaps it was the high level of my expectations; having known Pelecanos was one of the influential writers of HBO drama The Wire - the best thing on television, ever - I was hoping for great things, rather than novels that were simply very good.

Well, I'm no longer so concerned, because Hell to Pay surpasses the highest of expectations and is everything I hoped for. A wonderful novel and a polemic against drug culture, the overwhelming feeling the reader is left with is one of anger. And it leaves a big impression.

The book is dedicated to Dennis K Ashton Jnr, a seven-year-old who was killed accidentally in a shooting in Washington, the setting of Pelecanos' novels, in 1997. The inspiration is clear: Hell to Pay features a young boy who is murdered in a drug-related incident in which his relative was the chief target, and the futility of such shootings, the desperate impoverished life that provides the backdrop and the constant battle being fought between a desire for justice and revenge are all key themes.

The lives and characters of the recurring characters, private investigators Derek Strange, Terry Quinn and others, are further fleshed out and reward readers of previous novels in the series while ensuring newcomers are treated to such a fine stand-alone book that they will be sure to look up the back catalogue.

Like the best literature (and works of art in general), Hell to Pay not only expands the knowledge and cultural awareness of the reader (the audience), but also challenges them; poses difficult questions, and makes you wonder what the answers to those questions are. It also makes you question whether there are any answers, and if not, why not.

It's the new best book I've read of the year so far.

So, rating time:

#37 Hell to Pay, by George Pelecanos (Orion) - 9/10

Next up: Divorced and Deadly, by Josephine Cox (Harper Collins)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating