The Cut

Wo-Hoo!! New Year, new reviews to post!! Okay, got that out of my system. On to the first review of 2012 ~~~

The Cut by George Pelecanos

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?

--The Cut
by George Pelecanos
Copyright © 2011 by George Pelecanos
Published by Reagan Arthur Books

My Review

Spero Lucas, 29, ex-Marine and Iraq war vet, lives and makes his living in Washington D.C., a city I know well but not nearly as well as Pelecanos. Lucas is happy with is life and makes a good living as a “finder.” When an attorney he works for refers him to a new client, a drug dealer currently in jail, he’s a bit reluctant, but meets with the man. Anwan Hawkins has had a couple packages of his merchandise go missing. He wants Lucas to find them. Lucas doesn’t want to work for a drug dealer, but a job’s a job, so he takes it.

He meets with Hawkins’ #2 men, Tayvon Lynch and Edwin Davis and begins his investigation. Before long, a third package goes missing and Tayvon and Edwin wind up dead. Lucas stays away from that investigation, leaving it to the police, but he knows a police officer is involved in both the killings and in Hawkins’ missing packages, so how far can he stay away really?

And when a young teen goes missing, Lucas must pull out all the stops to rescue him and at the same time put a stop to the men responsible. Without winding up dead himself.

There’s a gritty, earthly feel to this story that’s not quite to my liking, but, despite that, I liked the telling of the tale. When a story makes references to an area or culture that you have to be a part of to really understand, and I am a part of that area or culture, it increases my enjoyment of the story. That’s why The Cut gets four stars from me. It’s a well-written, well told story and I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

I give this story FOUR STARS.