The Turnaround (paperback)

by: George Pelecanos

Published by: Little, Brown and Company (August 1 release)

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid

The choices we make when we are young can have a lasting effect that will be with us our entire lives. Alex Pappas made such a choice one evening when he went out with his friends Pete and Billy–and that evening would leave him with a scar that he would carry his entire life.

Alex was sixteen years old and working for his father at the family business, Pappas and Sons Coffee Shop. On the other side of town in a part of Washington, D.C. called Heathrow Heights, James Monroe and his younger brother Raymond had just finished playing at the recreation center next to an African Methodist Episcopal church. The boys were strangers but would soon meet.

Pete and Billy picked Alex up that evening and as they cruised around town and listened to music, they decided to go to Heathrow Heights on a lark. Alex was tired and wanted to go home but finally gave in and went along. The ride ended in Heathrow Heights and brought tragedy to the lives of all involved.

The Turn Around is the story of how the lives of these boys were changed forever by one evening. One boy wound up dead. Alex wound up scared for life. James Monroe wound up spending the best part of his youth in prison. Raymond Monroe managed to make a good life for himself even though he was always haunted by what had happened. Charles Baker, who had been present that evening with James and Raymond Monroe, spends his life being bitter and taking advantage of anyone who befriends him. He is the one bad apple in this group of boys who never really grew up to see the error of his ways.

The Turnaround is a great mystery and brings a few surprises regarding what really came down that night in Heathrow Heights. Alex and Raymond eventually reconnect. They both struggle to come to some terms with the terrible events of that night of tragedy.

This is a book that I am very glad I read. The ending was not what I expected but it was a great ending.

Armchair Interviews says: Powerful 5-star novel from this prolific author.