The Turnaround by George Pelecanos

Little Brown, August 2008

Imagine if one event in your life was so unforgettable, so unforgiveable as to define the rest of your waking days. That is the dilemma addressed in George Pelecanos' The Turnaround. Pelecanos, a writer who seems to have one of the keenest insights into the human soul, tells the story of two boys, one from the right side of the tracks and one from the wrong side of the tracks. When a prank leads the young white Greek boy into the African American side of town, a crime occurs that will mark both boys for life.

Time passes and these young men grow into adults; adults who wish to forgive and forget the past before their lives are over. This notion of redemption echoes throughout this beautifully written novel; Pelecanos takes us deep inside the lives of men who have journeyed down a path that seemed fated for each. Hailed as a mystery writer, Pelecanos, a television writer, brakes genre labels - his writing combines the human insight of Steinbeck and the keen sense of timing of Stephen King. Pelecanos is truly one of the great writers of our time.