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Audiobook7 hours
Shoedog
Written by George Pelecanos
Narrated by Dan Woren
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Like the kind of cars they don't make anymore and the kind of songs they don't sing, the novels of George Pelecanos have the style, rhythm and muscle of classics. SHOEDOG is vintage Pelecanos: a tale that throbs with soul and pulsates with menace.
Constantine was born in D.C., and has been traveling the world ever since-finding everything but a home. Randolph has stayed in this city every day, selling shoes in a downtown store, taking care of ladies who lie about their sizes and sometimes fit him into their beds. Now these two strangers, one white, one black, have come together in a criminal's audacious plan. With five partners and the hit ready to go down, Constantine doesn't understand the treacheries, feuds and fantasies swirling around him-and he's fallen for a woman who only doubles his risk. But Randolph, a self-confessed "shoedog," can smell trouble a mile away. And when the shooting starts, he'll give Constantine a chance to live-or die where he was born.
Constantine was born in D.C., and has been traveling the world ever since-finding everything but a home. Randolph has stayed in this city every day, selling shoes in a downtown store, taking care of ladies who lie about their sizes and sometimes fit him into their beds. Now these two strangers, one white, one black, have come together in a criminal's audacious plan. With five partners and the hit ready to go down, Constantine doesn't understand the treacheries, feuds and fantasies swirling around him-and he's fallen for a woman who only doubles his risk. But Randolph, a self-confessed "shoedog," can smell trouble a mile away. And when the shooting starts, he'll give Constantine a chance to live-or die where he was born.
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Author
George Pelecanos
George P. Pelecanos is the author of nine richly praised crime novels set in and around Washington D.C., including Hell to Pay, Right as Rain, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, King Suckerman, and The Big Blowdown.
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Reviews for Shoedog
Rating: 3.780701754385965 out of 5 stars
4/5
57 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No one writes noir better than Pelecanos, and Shoedog is an excellent entry into his bibliography. All of the elements are there, among them a woman in need, a slew of the criminal element, and a moral imperative for the protagonist that is sure to put him in mortal danger. More importantly though, they're there in the right amounts and presented at just the right times. A solid narration brings it all together for a great listen to a great story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A gritty and fairly violent modern noir where a drifter, Constantine, gets caught up in a heist when he hitches a ride with Polk, an old Vietnam vet who's heading to Florida. He's just got one stop to make before he goes. He needs to collect an old debt he's owed from local DC hoodlum, Grimes, who's a little reluctant to part with the $20k. Grimes talks Polk into one more job where he'll get his money and much more besides, readily accepting that Constantine will be part of the crew. Ulterior motives see the bullets and blood fly when the liquor store robberies go down leading to the final confrontation itself.A pretty decent book that is a very quick and easy read. It should appeal to fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher series especially if you like a little classic noir such as Jim Thompson.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A standalone novel from Pelecanos originally published in '94 but reprinted to capitalise on the name recognition afforded him by his involvement with "The Wire". This reminds me of two things one being Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" involving as it does a heist gone wrong but also showing the background of the participants and how they're brought together and the interaction between them driven by their own circumstances. It also reminds me of James Sallis' "Drive" but executed much better here. The usual Pelecanos trademarks of being centred around DC and frequent namechecks to the music of the characters' eras are all present and correct. If you're a recent convert to Pelecanos this dip into his back catologue is well worth the effort.