W A R N IN G – THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The Night Gardener was my first George P. Pelecanos novel, so didn’t really know what to expect other than something Washington, D.C. centric. After reading The Night Gardener, I suppose that Pelecanos is an acquired taste. The story rolls along well enough but Pelecanos doesn’t deliver the dialogue in the fashion of Elmore Leonard as he does for his home town of Detroit. Pelecanos delivers the story almost as someone is recording events and then describing them to the reader. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with that presentation and when your mind gets used to the delivery the story rolls right along.

The Night Gardener isn’t one story, it is a compilation of different stories some inter connecting, others not at all with the focus on the death of Asa Johnson, a 14-year-old who is found dead in a community garden in the Northwest quadrant of the city. Johnson’s death brings a lot of intersections back together. The body was found by former MPD officer now limo driver/executive security guard Dan ‘Doc’ Holiday who gets out to take a morning leak after mistakenly turning onto unit block of Oglethrope Street, NW and then stopping for a quick nap because he is tired and slightly intoxicated.

The MPD Homicide Squad leading the investigation is lead by Detective Sergeant Gus Ramone an individual with whom Holiday had gone through the Academy with and with whom they had both worked together in 6D. The death of Asa Johnson also may tie to a 20-year-old serial killer who murdered kids whose names were a palindrome, meaning they are spelled the same forwards and backwards [Yeah unless it was spelled out in the book, I doubt many people knew that.] and whose bodies were dumped in a community garden.

Twenty years ago, Holiday and Ramone had been partners because of a lack of cars and were on the scene of one of the palindrome murders. In the time since, Ramone had moved on to Internal Affairs and was investigating Holiday who quit before his Trial Board.

Both Ramone and Holiday recognize the similarities to the Palindrome Killer and Holiday enlists the aid of retired Detective Sergeant TC Cook, the lead investigator on the Palindrome Killer.
The Night Gardener doesn’t tie the story up in a neat little bow at the end. Some arcs end as expected and others take a surprising turn and others are just left. I suppose that is how Pelecanos would describe life happening. I did enjoy The Night Gardener and will be reading other Pelecanos works.

In case anyone cares, I thought I would add this. Pelecanos probably used some artistic license in bringing everyone together. For Holiday, he pretty much turned down the only street, Oglethrope which would have stopped him from going to where he was wanting to go.

Pelecanos does a fashionable job of peeking inside the MPD and the old VCB however there was some more artistic license taken. On MPD, Detective Sergeants are first line supervisors not investigators. TC Cook in 1985 should have probably been a Detective Grade 1 instead of a Sergeant. As a Sergeant on the 1985 scene in Greenway, Cook would have been supervising a Squad of Detectives but the case would have probably been jumped up to the VCB Major Case/Cold Case Squad. Even as a Detective Sergeant of that Squad, Cook would have been surrounded by a squad of Detectives who would have all been up in years and would have all closed big cases to get there. The lead detective, not Cook would have been the one with intimate knowledge of the case.
The same for Gus Ramone, probably some artistic license because as a Sergeant, Ramone would not be on the bubble for taking cases, he would not be the lead and he would not have Rhonda Willis or anyone as a partner. A Sergeant is a supervisor not an investigator.

Het jaar is 1985: In een park in Washington wordt een dode tiener gevonden. Het is de zoveelste vermoorde tiener. Detective T.C. Cook en zijn jonge assistenten Dan Holiday en Gus Ramone worden op de zaak gezet. Zij spannen zich tot het uiterste in, maar de zaak is ingewikkeld. Bijzonder is dat er drie tieners vermoord zijn die namen hebben die ook achterstevoren gelezen kunnen worden: Otto, Ava en Eve, en daarom wordt de zaak al snel 'de palindroommoorden' genoemd.
Dan en Gus hoeven niet veel meer te doen dan het park te bewaken, en later mogen ze nog wat mensen interviewen, maar het onderzoek leidt tot niets en de zaak gaat in de doofpot. Gelukkig worden er verder geen tieners met dit soort namen vermoord.

Twintig jaar later is T.C. Cook met pensioen en is Dan Holiday uit het corps ontslagen. Hij is nu privé-chauffeur - al noemt hij zichzelf anders - met een drankprobleem. De enige die nog bij de politie werkt is Gus Ramone. Hij heeft promotie gemaakt en is een goede politieman met een lieve vrouw en twee kinderen.
En dan wordt er weer een tiener vermoord - Asa, vriend van Gus' zoon Diego. De drie ex-collega's Cook, Gus en Dan, komen weer bij elkaar om de zaak alsnog op te lossen.
Dat brengt de nodige spanningen met zich mee. Het verleden blijkt nog lang niet begraven.

De fans weten het al: de sfeer in de stad Washington, en dan voornamelijk die van de wat 'mindere buurten', speelt bij Pelecanos minstens zo'n grote rol als de hoofdpersonen zelf. Ook in dit boek krijgt de lezer een kijkje in het leven van de jonge zwarte bevolking van D.C., die vaak tevergeefs probeert zich door middel van scholing los te maken uit het milieu waar ze in geboren wordt. Gus Ramone is het gelukt en hij wil uiteraard dat zijn kinderen hetzelfde bereiken. Dat is een van de redenen dat hij zijn zoon Diego naar een overwegend witte school in een ander deel van de stad heeft gezonden. Naast Diego was Asa een van de weinige zwarte tieners, en omdat hij ook nog goed kon leren, werd hij door zijn klasgenoten veelal met de nek aangekeken.

Het probleem van zwart/wit, het opgroeien en de gevaren waaraan een jonge zwarte jongen in Washington D.C. blootstaat, wordt scherp en indringend door Pelecanos neergezet. De plot leidt tot een heel andere oplossing dan de lezer denkt; gek genoeg een meer voor de hand liggende. Maar dat maakt het verhaal niet minder treurig.
Tuinier van de nacht is geen vrolijk boek, maar wel een indringende leeservaring.

Another Pelecanos masterpiece. This one deals with a serial murderer who kills kids whose names are palindromes. But that's actually a backstory, since Pelecanos is always more interested in the men behind the badge rather than the badge itself. It's really a story about missed opportunities and what people do with said missed opportunities. The characters are fully realized, as they always are from Pelecanos, and the writing is brisk. Pelecanos is definitely in my top five favorite writers, right up there with Vonnegut, King, Asimov, and Steinbeck.

"The Night Gardener" is an excellent procedural, with three-dimensional characters, authentic-sounding dialogue, and an exciting, well-constructed plot. On the minus side, Pelecanos sometimes slides into telling instead of showing, and his physical descriptions are often overdetailed and dull, narrative deadwood. His editor could've trimmed those sections for greater impact.

Scena crimei se afla pe strada cu numărul treizeci și ceva, pe lângă E Street, la marginea parcului Fort Dupont, într-un cartier cunoscut drept Greenway, în cea de-a șasea secțiune a districtului din sud-estul orașului Washington, D.C. O fată de paisprezece ani zăcea pe iarbă la marginea unei grădini de zarzavat a comunității, care era ascunsă privirilor locatarilor, ale căror proprietăți se întindeau în spate, către pădurea din vecinătate. Fata avea mărgele colorate prinse în părul împletit. Părea să fi murit de la o singură rană prin împușcare, făcută la cap. Un polițist de la Omucideri de vârstă mijlocie stătea aplecat lângă ea, sprijinit într-un genunchi, privind-o ca și cum ar fi așteptat-o să se trezească. Numele lui era T.C. Cook. Era inspector de poliție, cu douăzeci și patru de ani de activitate, și rămăsese adâncit în gânduri.

Gândurile lui nu erau deloc optimiste. Nu se vedea nicio urmă evidentă de sânge pe fată, sau în apropierea ei, cu excepția rănilor de intrare și de ieșire a glonțului, acum coagulate. Nu avea sânge nici pe cămașă, nici pe blugi sau pe adidași, arătând toate de parcă ar fi fost noi-nouțe. Cook presupuse că fata fusese dezbrăcată și îmbrăcată din nou după ce fusese ucisă, iar trupul neînsuflețit îi fusese adus și abandonat acolo. Îi era rău de la stomac și, de asemenea, își dădu seama cu o anumită vinovăție că pulsul i se accelerase, ceea ce sugera dacă nu interes, atunci mai mult ca sigur implicare. O identificare a cadavrului ar fi confirmat-o, dar Cook bănui că și ea era la fel ca și ceilalți. Era una dintre ei.

Sosiră cei de la Laboratorul Mobil de Criminalistică. Specialiștii acționau rapid, dar în gesturile lor se simțea o anumită nepăsare și o stare generală de înfrângere. Transportarea unui corp de la locul crimei însemna că mai rămăseseră prea puține probe de medicină legală. De asemenea, plouase. Când se întâmpla acest lucru, unul dintre specialiști afirma că mai mult ca sigur ucigașul își râdea acum în barbă.

This may have been a case of really disliking the performer of the audio book, which in turn made me dislike the book as a whole; however, I don't think it would have been my favorite book anyway. This is a fairly gritty crime novel set in DC, where there are parallels between a murder that happens in present day and the crimes of a serial murderer from the 80s that was never caught.
My biggest problem with this book was that the author spent a lot of time going into details on characters that didn't really matter, and only popped up once or twice in the book. His attempt was to show how all the people tied together, but in sub-plots that were unrelated to the main murders in the book. I was bored and annoyed throughout most of the book.

Reading this book was very much like reading an episode of The Wire.

Esse foi o meu primeiro contato com uma obra de Pelecanos. Eu sei do currículo extenso dele (como roteirista e escritor), mas nunca vi nenhuma das séries em que ele trabalhou (a mais famosa delas eu acho que foi The Wire) e nem tinha lido nenhum de seus livros. Confesso que no início estava com pouco interesse pelos personagens e pela trama em si (um crime que remontava a uma série de assassinatos que ocorreram em 1985 precisava ser desvendado).

Até mais ou menos a página 150/160 eu estava enrolando na leitura de um jeito que estava me incomodando. Nada acontecia, o crime parecia não ter qualquer relação com as tramas pessoais apresentadas e eu não estava satisfeita com o clima geral do livro. Felizmente, depois disso a coisa começa a engrenar. Tudo fica mais ágil e um interesse começa a surgir pelo desenrolar de tudo.

Eu não sou a maior fã de romances policiais. Já li alguns e na maioria das vezes fiquei extremamente decepcionada com a forma como as mulheres são retratadas ou como os clichês se repetem exaustivamente. Pelecanos me surpreendeu positivamente nesse aspecto, embora em alguns momentos eu sentisse uma pitada de "eu sabia que ia cair nessa descrição objetificante"nas apresentações das personagens femininas. No entanto, esses momentos não foram tantos quanto em outros livros e nem foram tão descarados também. Mas o mais surpreendente foi a forma como a questão da homossexualidade masculina entre a população negra foi abordada. Fiquei bem feliz com isso e como esse elemento trouxe uma força maior para o enredo e para o desenvolvimento de um dos personagens.

A segunda metade do livro parece deixar mais em evidência questões sociais e raciais, problematizando um pouco menos do que eu gostaria, mas trazendo à tona debates essenciais para pensar a realidade das comunidades afro americanas e o papel da polícia nos Estados Unidos dos séculos XX e XXI. Mas algumas coisas das subtramas pareciam meio forçadas, ou pelo menos não me pareceram estar muito bem encaixadas na trama principal. Porém, o final surpreendente pareceu apagar um pouco esses descontentamentos ao longo da leitura.

Finalmente posso dizer que eu li um romance policial e gostei. Coisa rara e que não acontecia desde, pelo que me lembro, a leitura da trilogia Millennium. Mas não se tornou um favorito

This was my first Pelecanos, which I picked up because his are usually set in D.C. I found the characters intriguing and P's focus on the less glamorous parts of the District very interesting - he is clearly in tune with the setting. But the pace was very slow - about the first half of the book moves the investigation along very slowly, if at all, and seems to be more about P's showing off his ability to use "street" language and descriptions than about zeroing in on unraveling either the old crime or the new one. When every chapter introduces new characters with very little to connect them, my eyes start to glaze over. If you want local color, it's the book for you. If you want a tightly-paced police procedural, go elsewhere.

This may be the best Pelecanos I’ve read, yet, and I’m looking forward to more!
Still, a crime book set in DC…it’s a great book—but it’s still a crime book, and they can be pretty formulaic.
If you want examples of how good Pelecanos, the author, is—he’s part of the team responsible for “The Wire” and “Treme” on television, two of my favorite shows, ever!
Like Omar on The Wire, Pelecanos puts nuance into his writing, and he puts in the work to discuss complex issues like race, and acceptance of homosexuality, and biracial families; it is good, commendable, & necessary in 21st Century America!

Pelecanos has never disappointed me. I love his fiction--the mystery is that he's not as well known as other novelists of social fiction such as Richard Price. Pelecanos is equally as good, and if you like books such as Clockers I can recommend Pelecanos for you.

I've not seen The Wire, so apparently I'm in for a treat.

Un thriller poco convencional, sobre todo en su final. El libro tarda en arrancar, puesto que se centra mucho en el desarrollo de los personajes principales, mediante diálogos y algún que otro flashback. Puede llegar a resultar un tanto cansino, por la desviación de la trama principal, del caso, pero la narrativa es ágil y apenas se nota. Hay una subtrama que no sé bien por qué está, parece más bien de relleno, no obstante es interesante el desarrollo psicológico de los diferentes personajes.