A Shot of Jack #41: Pelecanos, Perspectives, and Bad Pennies
Hello. Welcome to the 41st issue of A Shot of Jack, my weekly newsletter. I’m Jack Cameron, crime writer and Tacoma hooligan. Thanks for stopping by. Before we get started I wanted to mention a couple of things.
First, the podcast I recorded last week with Jamal Harrington and friends at the It’s Not About U Pod has been released. You can download and listen to it by clicking here or wherever you prefer to download your podcasts.
The other piece of news you’ll find at the end of this newsletter under One Last Thing. It’s an important announcement about what’s coming for Year Two of A Shot of Jack. If you like this newsletter, you’re definitely going to want to know about this.
How George Pelecanos Puts His Readers In The Head of a Character in The Man Who Came Uptown
The Man Who Came Uptown by George Pelecanos is a novel told from three perspectives for the most part. The story follows investigator Phil Ornazian, jail librarian Anna Byrne, and recently released inmate Michael Hudson. However, Pelecanos jumps from this pattern beginning in Chapter 22 on page 207 of a 263 page book and suddenly shifts perspective to a young skinhead named Terry:
The following morning, Terry Kelly woke up to the sound of his phone alarm and the hard-core thrash of a band called Storm. His housemates had downloaded the tune off a Maryland-based website that sold CDs, clothing, and other items that promoted white supremacy. If Terry had had any historical perspective, he might have noted that the music sounded very similar to that of first-wave D.C. punk groups like Minor Threat, albeit with racist lyrics. But he had no historical perspective. He merely had a headache. (207)
With one paragraph, Pelecanos gives the reader a glimpse into Terry’s world. What follows are three more pages of what seems to be a typical day for Terry. It becomes clear that he’s not very bright, that he’s certainly a racist, but far from devout, and that he’s a bit of a follower.
From a plot perspective, Terry is one of three white supremacists who burglarized a mansion and sexually assaulted a young woman who hired Ornazian to find them. At the point where the reader is introduced to Terry, Ornazian has followed Terry to his house. It would have been entirely possible to tell the story without ever using Terry’s point of view. So why is it there?
Terry’s point of view returns only once more in the novel. While Ornazian and his partner are invading Terry’s house, Terry is driving home when he notices a car parked in a strange place near his house. Terry decides to check it out.
Terry walked into the stand of scrub pine to the rear of the car and examined the animal badge on the trunk’s lid, the chrome pipes. He heard footsteps. His heart beat hard in his chest.
“Don’t move,” said a voice behind him.
Terry turned quickly and in that motion drew the Beretta from his side pocket and pointed it at the man standing before him, just three feet away. (234)
The man turns out to be Michael Hudson who doesn’t have a gun of his own, but a steel baton. It would seem that Michael is in real trouble here. The reader feels this because we aren’t in Michael’s head. We’re in Terry’s. If the scene had started from Michael’s perspective we’d assume he was going to survive. What Pelecanos does next is dynamic. Terry holds the gun, but is nervous. When he speaks he has a quiver in his voice. Michael asks Terry to drop the gun.
“I can’t do that,” said Terry.
Michael Hudson looked at Terry Kelly. He wasn’t hard. He was a stupid, confused kid. Michael had been in juvenile lockup and been incarcerated as an adult. He knew enough to see that the boy was weak. (235)
The perspective shifts to Michael as the situation changes. Michael then swings the steel baton hitting Terry in the temple and dropping him. Michael thinks that he’s killed Terry and so does the reader. Later, Pelecanos reveals that Terry is merely unconscious.
This is why it was important for Pelecanos to show Terry’s perspective. If the reader had never known the world of Terry Kelly, even briefly, there would not be much reason to care whether or not Michael had killed him. His perspective allows the reader to empathize with this kid despite the fact that he is a racist, a thief, and a rapist. Pelecanos gives the reader just enough that we feel something for Terry when he goes down.
The Man Who Came Uptown is available at your local independent bookstore or you can purchase it at amazon.com by clicking here.
What I’m Clicking On
A deep dive into anti-masturbation groups and how they create right-wing extremists. (No, seriously.)
One Last Thing - Bad Pennies
A Better Lie, the serialized crime novel for paying subscribers to this newsletter, is coming to an end. If you’ve paid for your subscription, you will also be getting the exclusive hard copy of A Better Lie. Eligible subscribers will receive an email on Friday March 1st.
The serialized novel coming your way for Year Two of A Shot of Jack is called Bad Pennies. While it takes place in the same world as A Better Lie, it is very much its own thing with only a few threads connecting to the two novels.
The final installment of A Better Lie will be released March 1, 2024.
The first installment of Bad Pennies will be released April 5, 2024.
Bad Pennies is about a couple of guys who rob a process server, only rather than the couple thousand dollars they’re expecting, it’s over $250,000. A year later, everything goes wrong.
And now, for the first time anywhere, here is the cover to Bad Pennies. Let me know what you think.
- Jack Cameron
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