A Note on George Pelecanos' "The Cut"

This note was first published at Goodreads.

This first entry in the debut of a new series introduces Spero Lucas, an ex-marine working as an investigator specializing in finding and restoring lost property. The character has promise, but this first tale is mediocre Pelecanos at best.

 If you cut out the description and catalogueing of everything the male characters are wearing, the description of what the hero, Spero Lucas and his friends are eating, and the careful mention of all the streets he passes over every time he moves around town, you would be left with half of the book.

It is easy to get annoyed with Pelecano's tics. They're all here, and while sometimes they work, if the story isn't strong enough they almost become parody.