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Shoedog
From "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world" ( Esquire ) comes this powerful early novel--the noirish story of how a Washington, D.C., liquor store heist shows a drifter named Constantine what it means to be a shoedog.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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950 people want to read
About the author
George P. Pelecanos
59 books1,628 followersGeorge Pelecanos was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957. He worked as a line cook, dishwasher, bartender, and woman's shoe salesman before publishing his first novel in 1992.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Pelecanos is the author of eighteen novels set in and around Washington, D.C.: A Firing Offense, Nick's Trip, Shoedog, Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go, The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever, Shame the Devil, Right as Rain, Hell to Pay, Soul Circus, Hard Revolution, Drama City, The Night Gardener, The Turnaround, The Way Home, The Cut, and What It Was. He has been the recipient of the Raymond Chandler award in Italy, the Falcon award in Japan, and the Grand Prix du Roman Noir in France. Hell to Pay and Soul Circus were awarded the 2003 and 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. His short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Playboy, and the collections Unusual Suspects, Best American Mystery Stories of 1997, Measures of Poison, Best American Mystery Stories of 2002, Men from Boys, and Murder at the Foul Line. He served as editor on the collections D.C. Noir and D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, as well as The Best Mystery Stories of 2008. He is an award-winning essayist who has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Sight and Sound, Uncut, Mojo, and numerous other publications. Esquire called him "the poet laureate of the D.C. crime world." In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote that Pelecanos is "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." Pelecanos would like to note that Mr. King used the qualifier "perhaps."
Pelecanos served as producer on the feature films Caught (Robert M. Young, 1996), Whatever, (Susan Skoog, 1998) and BlackMale (George and Mike Baluzy, 1999), and was the U.S. distributor of John Woo's cult classic, The Killer and Richard Bugajski's Interrogation. Most recently, he was a producer, writer, and story editor for the acclaimed HBO dramatic series, The Wire, winner of the Peabody Award and the AFI Award. He was nominated for an Emmy for his writing on that show. He was a writer and co-producer on the World War II miniseries The Pacific, and is currently at work as an executive producer and writer on David Simon's HBO dramatic series Treme, shot in New Orleans.
Pelecanos lives with his family in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
July 3, 2020
This first edition hard cover is signed by George Pelecanos.
Cover Art by John Dawson.
Author George Pelecanos’s third novel, and one of the more elusive titles in this version of the book. I purchased mine when he came to town for a reading.
In “Shoedog”, while Hitchhiking south from Maryland to nowhere, Constantine, a drifter who's been too many places to care about anything that won't fit into his backpack, takes a lift from Polk, an old man who is headed for Florida. But, Polk has one stop he has to make first, at a country mansion. , Here they meet Grimes, Polk’s, Korean War buddy who offers Polk $20,000 in dirty money Grimes owes him. However, Polk turns him down. Grimes is an equally old but a wealthy man who organizes heists as a hobby. Grimes offers the men big money to help rob two D.C. liquor stores. It’s supposed to be an easy, quick, in and out holdup, so Grimes enlists Polk and Constantine for the score. The pair of liquor-store heists should bring in enough money for all three of them and the five other guys on the job.
Constantine signs on as a driver. He and his colleagues, are all being blackmailed by Grimes, They drink and plan to pick up women.
Within the hour, Constantine has casually seduced Grimes's classy girlfriend, Delia.
Constantine has fallen into a den of thieves and disproves the adage that there's no honor among them.
Then We meet a shoe salesman, a stripped-clown echo of Nick Stefanos from “Nick's Trip”, (1993) who teaches Constantine about Life, or a late-blooming noir retrospect that's so dead-eyed that the sentiment takes on a comic edge.
The robberies themselves, marred by a double-cross, go down fast and bad, leading Constantine to avenge his fallen partners by taking justice into his own hands.
If you like Richard Starks’ “Parker” books you’re sure to like “Shoedog.
Cover Art by John Dawson.
Author George Pelecanos’s third novel, and one of the more elusive titles in this version of the book. I purchased mine when he came to town for a reading.
In “Shoedog”, while Hitchhiking south from Maryland to nowhere, Constantine, a drifter who's been too many places to care about anything that won't fit into his backpack, takes a lift from Polk, an old man who is headed for Florida. But, Polk has one stop he has to make first, at a country mansion. , Here they meet Grimes, Polk’s, Korean War buddy who offers Polk $20,000 in dirty money Grimes owes him. However, Polk turns him down. Grimes is an equally old but a wealthy man who organizes heists as a hobby. Grimes offers the men big money to help rob two D.C. liquor stores. It’s supposed to be an easy, quick, in and out holdup, so Grimes enlists Polk and Constantine for the score. The pair of liquor-store heists should bring in enough money for all three of them and the five other guys on the job.
Constantine signs on as a driver. He and his colleagues, are all being blackmailed by Grimes, They drink and plan to pick up women.
Within the hour, Constantine has casually seduced Grimes's classy girlfriend, Delia.
Constantine has fallen into a den of thieves and disproves the adage that there's no honor among them.
Then We meet a shoe salesman, a stripped-clown echo of Nick Stefanos from “Nick's Trip”, (1993) who teaches Constantine about Life, or a late-blooming noir retrospect that's so dead-eyed that the sentiment takes on a comic edge.
The robberies themselves, marred by a double-cross, go down fast and bad, leading Constantine to avenge his fallen partners by taking justice into his own hands.
If you like Richard Starks’ “Parker” books you’re sure to like “Shoedog.
August 31, 2013
A drifter named Constantine winds up back in DC after more than a decade of drifting and finds himself entangled in a plot to rob two liquor stores at the same time. But can he keep his mind on the job when the girlfriend of the man bankrolling it has her sights set on him?
Shoedog is a departure from Pelecanos' first couple of books featuring Nick Stefanos. This one features a larger cast and a different writing style. Instead of a straight up detective story, this one is more like a heist by Richard Stark or Elmore Leonard. Probably more on the Leonard side of things. It's written from multiple viewpoints in the third person, much different than the Stefanos books.
Constantine, like Stefanos, is kind of a screw up but of a slightly different breed than our beloved Nick. He's a drifter, running his whole life. Things start coming unglued for him when he winds up back in DC for the first time since he was 17 and hooks up with another screw up named Polk. He and Polk get involved with a gangster named Grimes and things immediately spiral out of control.
Even though the writing is different than in the Stefanos books, it's still Pelecanos and still pretty damn slick, complete with music references. The heist seemed flawed from the beginning and was doomed to come unglued, as did the fledgling relationship between Constantine and Delia. Parker never would have worked with a crew like this.
I did like the way the dual heists were written, though. It felt like a sequence from a Guy Ritchie movie. An early one, like Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, not anything after that.
That's about all I can say without giving anything away. It's a quick and exciting read. Not my favorite Pelecanos by any stretch but not bad either.
Shoedog is a departure from Pelecanos' first couple of books featuring Nick Stefanos. This one features a larger cast and a different writing style. Instead of a straight up detective story, this one is more like a heist by Richard Stark or Elmore Leonard. Probably more on the Leonard side of things. It's written from multiple viewpoints in the third person, much different than the Stefanos books.
Constantine, like Stefanos, is kind of a screw up but of a slightly different breed than our beloved Nick. He's a drifter, running his whole life. Things start coming unglued for him when he winds up back in DC for the first time since he was 17 and hooks up with another screw up named Polk. He and Polk get involved with a gangster named Grimes and things immediately spiral out of control.
Even though the writing is different than in the Stefanos books, it's still Pelecanos and still pretty damn slick, complete with music references. The heist seemed flawed from the beginning and was doomed to come unglued, as did the fledgling relationship between Constantine and Delia. Parker never would have worked with a crew like this.
I did like the way the dual heists were written, though. It felt like a sequence from a Guy Ritchie movie. An early one, like Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, not anything after that.
That's about all I can say without giving anything away. It's a quick and exciting read. Not my favorite Pelecanos by any stretch but not bad either.
July 28, 2018
Does anyone write moral ambiguity as perfectly as George Pelecanos? Does anyone move as fluidly between great TV drama and great crime fiction as he does? Pelecanos is a rarity -- and as a reader and viewer, I am so glad he does what he does.
September 14, 2012
...a model exercise in dysfunction....haunting journey to the end of the night...pure distilled noir...contemporary noir at its finest.
A lot people people have written a lot of gushing praise about this book; on reading it I think once more they can all be accused of extreme hyperbole and excessive sycophantism in their reviews of an eight year old book from a man who suddenly found himself incredibly popular in a new (in this case the United Kingdom) market.
Constantine is a drifter with a history of violence, he gets drawn in to a dangerous plot to hold up a couple of liquor stores and as is usually the case in heist stories things don't go as planned.
Pelecanos writes ensemble peices, so we get to know a whole cast of characters to a greater or lesser extent, men who have managed to screw up their lives in one way or another and find themselves clinging on to the last vestiges of their masculinity in the form of their violent, criminal activities.
This is pure pulp territory, a downer all the way, but Pelecanos doesn't take anything far enough. In paying homage to the great pulp novels of the past he fails to really scratch the surface of anything, writing his way through a pretty standard story that is an enjoyable enough read but nothing special other than the fact that books like this don't (didn't in the 90s?) seem to get written anymore. Those pulp writers churned this kind of stuff out almost like a production line but even they knew that to stand out you had to do something memorable or shocking, witness the end of Grifter's Game for a prime example.
That being said, there is a lot of quality on display here; his locations are well described - everywhere the story leads you feel as if you know the place, the criminal lifestyle and the violence involved is portrayed in a realistic way but also with pace and tension and most importantly these are the kind of characters Elmore Leonard loves to write about - the losers and the people who make crime look like an unglamourous career choice. I for one prefer to read about the Jack Carters and Louis Browns of the world as opposed to all those Tony Montana and Reservoir Dog wannabes that litter modern crime fiction.
At 200 pages this is a nice quick and easy read for fans of the genre but don't expect your mind to be blown or your world to change.
A lot people people have written a lot of gushing praise about this book; on reading it I think once more they can all be accused of extreme hyperbole and excessive sycophantism in their reviews of an eight year old book from a man who suddenly found himself incredibly popular in a new (in this case the United Kingdom) market.
Constantine is a drifter with a history of violence, he gets drawn in to a dangerous plot to hold up a couple of liquor stores and as is usually the case in heist stories things don't go as planned.
Pelecanos writes ensemble peices, so we get to know a whole cast of characters to a greater or lesser extent, men who have managed to screw up their lives in one way or another and find themselves clinging on to the last vestiges of their masculinity in the form of their violent, criminal activities.
This is pure pulp territory, a downer all the way, but Pelecanos doesn't take anything far enough. In paying homage to the great pulp novels of the past he fails to really scratch the surface of anything, writing his way through a pretty standard story that is an enjoyable enough read but nothing special other than the fact that books like this don't (didn't in the 90s?) seem to get written anymore. Those pulp writers churned this kind of stuff out almost like a production line but even they knew that to stand out you had to do something memorable or shocking, witness the end of Grifter's Game for a prime example.
That being said, there is a lot of quality on display here; his locations are well described - everywhere the story leads you feel as if you know the place, the criminal lifestyle and the violence involved is portrayed in a realistic way but also with pace and tension and most importantly these are the kind of characters Elmore Leonard loves to write about - the losers and the people who make crime look like an unglamourous career choice. I for one prefer to read about the Jack Carters and Louis Browns of the world as opposed to all those Tony Montana and Reservoir Dog wannabes that litter modern crime fiction.
At 200 pages this is a nice quick and easy read for fans of the genre but don't expect your mind to be blown or your world to change.
March 2, 2015
George Pelecanos has mentioned before in interviews that with Shoedog, one of his earliest novels, he wanted to write a no-frills noir thriller that was a send-up to the old paperback pulps that could be read in one afternoon. With me, he succeeded. Shoedog starts off blazing, with a tour-de-force 2nd chapter that skillfully sets up the entire eventful backstory of the lead character Constantine with intensity and economy. And it never lags during the exciting tale of our antihero, an aimless drifter who finally returns home to inner-city DC, and gets involved in a heist that is just aching to go wrong. It definitely feels different from all the other books Pelecanos has written, in that it has the dark, depressing sense of nihilistic atmosphere that's present in many of the classic noir dramas.
Pelecanos's wonderful knack of creating interesting and genuine characters is on display here as well, including the level-headed and hard-working Randolph, who takes real pride in his job at selling women's shoes and who might just be Constantine's only help when shit hits the fan. Another solid one from one of my favorite writers. And it has a great final line.
Pelecanos's wonderful knack of creating interesting and genuine characters is on display here as well, including the level-headed and hard-working Randolph, who takes real pride in his job at selling women's shoes and who might just be Constantine's only help when shit hits the fan. Another solid one from one of my favorite writers. And it has a great final line.
April 3, 2014
Shoedog! You know, for a book named Shoedog, I was really hoping that it'd actually be about the man Shoedog instead of some random guy named Constantine who I've never heard of before. Although the back of my book claims that because I love Nick Stefanos I should also love Constantine, he failed to inspire in me that level of devotion to his fictional self. I daresay I would've enjoyed to read about many more of Shoedog's exploits instead, but oh well. This is a Stefanos-ish book & people hang out at The Spot for a few pages, so if you pressed me, I'd say three & 1/2 stars.
February 24, 2017
No 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.
May 9, 2010
Shoedog is Pelecanos’s pulp novel, a straightforward heist gone story. Of course he lingers on the characters more than other authors might, bringing some emotional weight to this romantic, gritty, and ultra violent tale of double crosses and revenge. This lacks the narrative genius of Sallis’s similar Drive but that is a small point that doesn’t prevent me from recommending it.
December 20, 2022
Nope. Self-serious noir is not my thing. Bangin’ chicks and whackin’ dudes, no thanks.
Make me laugh a little more with the story and then I’m not laughing at the story. There you go.
Make me laugh a little more with the story and then I’m not laughing at the story. There you go.
July 8, 2025
Good book, quick read, protagonist back story is brilliantly written. Good Pelacanos, just not great pelacanos
January 27, 2014
I think even if I read this title myself, I would of been bored.
Read
November 25, 2024The third novel from #georgepelecanos #shoedog Published in 1994. Obviously not as polished as his later work. Still a bit rough around the edges. I can see the argument in the introduction by mark lawson that this is a bit of a turning point for pelecanos. Less juvenile than the two earlier nick stefanos novels. It’s only 200 pages. Barely a novel, but too long for a novella. Despite the short length I think there was a fair amount of padding, some scenes lasting longer than they needed to and not providing any plot of character development (particularly the drinking, drugs, bar hopping and shoe shopping scenes). Trim it down and it could have been a tight novella. Some of the character decisions are rather questionable but I can let that slide if the characters are on the criminal edge they are not always going to be making great decisions. I am reminded of the Neil McCauley phrase in the diner scene in Heat “you see me doing thrill seeker liquor store hold ups with a born to lose tattoo on my chest?” The characters in this book are exactly the type of losers he talks about attempting a rushed and poorly planned liquor store robbery in broad daylight. I could see this novel in the hard case crime collection. Dialogue wasn’t bad and it was interesting seeing glimpses of the lives of the side characters. A rather surprising twist at the end and an interesting afterword from the author.
December 12, 2018
I'm watching The Wire. I'm on season 4 for the first time. I'm a big fan of Dennis Lehane and Richard Price and Pelecanos was the other novelist in the writers room, and had a larger role than they did. So I needed to get around to his work and chose this standalone as a starting point.
I expected straight noir, and while that is the prevalent tone, there's an early chapter that reads like an homage to the Beats, and, as he says in the afterward, there's a big influence of early 70s crime/car chase films toward the end. In a move designed to win me over, there's a nod to Elmore Leonard's Valdez is Coming (one of Pelecanos's favorites according to an online interview).
If you like bleak noirish crime novels, I recommend it. This will not be the last of his I read.
I expected straight noir, and while that is the prevalent tone, there's an early chapter that reads like an homage to the Beats, and, as he says in the afterward, there's a big influence of early 70s crime/car chase films toward the end. In a move designed to win me over, there's a nod to Elmore Leonard's Valdez is Coming (one of Pelecanos's favorites according to an online interview).
If you like bleak noirish crime novels, I recommend it. This will not be the last of his I read.
June 5, 2019
Another great crime caper by Pelecanos, but one of his weaker works, which makes sense since it was only his third book. The characters are lively as always, but the story is lopsided in quality, with some of the lines coming out hokey. Constantine is an interesting character, but his turn at the end doesn't seem completely justified. A good book. Just not a great one.
February 25, 2011
I am reading some of the early George Pelecanos having read most of his more recent work. It is interesting to see his progression as a writer. Shoedog was published in 1994 behind A Firing Offense A Five Star Title and Nick’s Trip by George Pelecanos. I usually like to work in a Pelecanos novel periodically just to avoid the possibility of a dull streak. Pelecanos is not dull!
In fact, I am giving Shoedog an extra star because it got my heart rate up in a couple of intense situations. I was right there with all the guns. Pretty good for a 200 page book early in the career of a writer who just gets better. Of course, I am a fan so if you are not, maybe you want to subtract that extra star!
Surprisingly the book does not begin in Metro DC. It does start on the shore of Maryland and progresses south into a flashback to a four year hitch with the Marines in North Carolina followed by some time in South Carolina and then a road trip via Baton Rouge to Los Angeles. Then off to New Zealand, then Thailand. Then France via Brussels, then to Amsterdam. Then via Italy to Greece. Are you still with me? Then NYC and back to Annapolis, Maryland. Remember Maryland? That’s where we started 17 years and 28 pages ago. We’ve had a whirlwind world tour complete with adventure, alcohol, drugs and sex, Pelecanos staples. Did I mention that the name of the main character is Constantine? Not Nick, but it does have that Pelecanos Greek aura. The “Beat” makes an appearance as well. But more on that later. Now the story begins.
As chapter 4 begins we are back in familiar Pelecanos territory: the Capital Beltway, to Georgia Avenue through Silver Spring into Washington, DC and the “old neighborhood.” You knew we had to get there, right? Right. Constantine calls Katherine, the girl he left behind, now married with children, and they meet in a smoky bar, have a couple of drinks and go upstairs to his room. “So that was over now too,” he says to himself after she leaves. The chapter ends.
George’s self-evaluation: In response to “Do you set goals?”: GP’s goal is to be a better writer, to continually improve. He now knows how to construct a mystery or thriller, now the challenge is to be a better writer. And more: GP also does not outline, it is more fun when you don’t know where it’s going. He doesn’t use researchers, does it himself, that is the fun part of writing a book. And even more: GP says you can waste 30 minutes trying to come up with a name so now he picks them out of the death notices in the paper…. the first name from one and the last name from another.
Source: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Shoedog? Of course, Shoedog! Why am I surprised that a character turns up with that nickname? But not until a quarter of the way through the book? He is going to be a central figure, right? But a shoe salesman who does armed robbery on the side? And, what do you think? Constantine and Shoedog (otherwise known as Randolph) get into talk of music and cars one of the first times they meet. They are smoking of course. This is Pelecanos, after all. So now we have the two main characters bonding.
Plenty of Pelecanite things: cops at bars, Ain’t no thing, Big tips $8 on $33. The highest tip I have ever seen in GP is here: “Constantine left $30 on $19, pushed away from the bar.” There was also a scene in a porno shop, a location that I don’t think GP used again in his career.
There is the common GP walk down memory lane – to the old sandlot, elementary school and home place that still housed his father whom he had not seen in 17 years – and did not see this time through except to see his silhouetted head by the blue light of a television late at night.
If you can’t figure it out, Pelecanos will help you identify the bad guys. Good guys (Constantine) urinate; bad guys (Gorman) piss – there is plenty of both (another Pelecanos trademark) with all the drinking that is done. Gorman is also a cheapskate tipper and huffs glue. Bad guy. Of course, some people say that his Good Guys are just Bad Guys with a few redeeming qualities. I’d say that is about right.
Probably my most significant criticism of Pelecanos is that he rarely has any women characters who are very well developed, and they are quite often a sex object. Pelecanos just doesn’t do women. Too bad.
In fact, I am giving Shoedog an extra star because it got my heart rate up in a couple of intense situations. I was right there with all the guns. Pretty good for a 200 page book early in the career of a writer who just gets better. Of course, I am a fan so if you are not, maybe you want to subtract that extra star!
Surprisingly the book does not begin in Metro DC. It does start on the shore of Maryland and progresses south into a flashback to a four year hitch with the Marines in North Carolina followed by some time in South Carolina and then a road trip via Baton Rouge to Los Angeles. Then off to New Zealand, then Thailand. Then France via Brussels, then to Amsterdam. Then via Italy to Greece. Are you still with me? Then NYC and back to Annapolis, Maryland. Remember Maryland? That’s where we started 17 years and 28 pages ago. We’ve had a whirlwind world tour complete with adventure, alcohol, drugs and sex, Pelecanos staples. Did I mention that the name of the main character is Constantine? Not Nick, but it does have that Pelecanos Greek aura. The “Beat” makes an appearance as well. But more on that later. Now the story begins.
As chapter 4 begins we are back in familiar Pelecanos territory: the Capital Beltway, to Georgia Avenue through Silver Spring into Washington, DC and the “old neighborhood.” You knew we had to get there, right? Right. Constantine calls Katherine, the girl he left behind, now married with children, and they meet in a smoky bar, have a couple of drinks and go upstairs to his room. “So that was over now too,” he says to himself after she leaves. The chapter ends.
George’s self-evaluation: In response to “Do you set goals?”: GP’s goal is to be a better writer, to continually improve. He now knows how to construct a mystery or thriller, now the challenge is to be a better writer. And more: GP also does not outline, it is more fun when you don’t know where it’s going. He doesn’t use researchers, does it himself, that is the fun part of writing a book. And even more: GP says you can waste 30 minutes trying to come up with a name so now he picks them out of the death notices in the paper…. the first name from one and the last name from another.
Source: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Shoedog? Of course, Shoedog! Why am I surprised that a character turns up with that nickname? But not until a quarter of the way through the book? He is going to be a central figure, right? But a shoe salesman who does armed robbery on the side? And, what do you think? Constantine and Shoedog (otherwise known as Randolph) get into talk of music and cars one of the first times they meet. They are smoking of course. This is Pelecanos, after all. So now we have the two main characters bonding.
Plenty of Pelecanite things: cops at bars, Ain’t no thing, Big tips $8 on $33. The highest tip I have ever seen in GP is here: “Constantine left $30 on $19, pushed away from the bar.” There was also a scene in a porno shop, a location that I don’t think GP used again in his career.
There is the common GP walk down memory lane – to the old sandlot, elementary school and home place that still housed his father whom he had not seen in 17 years – and did not see this time through except to see his silhouetted head by the blue light of a television late at night.
If you can’t figure it out, Pelecanos will help you identify the bad guys. Good guys (Constantine) urinate; bad guys (Gorman) piss – there is plenty of both (another Pelecanos trademark) with all the drinking that is done. Gorman is also a cheapskate tipper and huffs glue. Bad guy. Of course, some people say that his Good Guys are just Bad Guys with a few redeeming qualities. I’d say that is about right.
Probably my most significant criticism of Pelecanos is that he rarely has any women characters who are very well developed, and they are quite often a sex object. Pelecanos just doesn’t do women. Too bad.
October 29, 2017
In an Afterward that Pelecanos wrote in the back of my edition of this novel, he writes about how he wanted "Shoedog" to be a simple story that can be read in one afternoon. Which is exactly what I did.
"Shoedog" is one of Pelecanos' first novels that reads like a cross between David Goodis and Jim Thompson. It is classic 'book noir', with an unsuspecting male character, Constantine, getting pulled into a world he never envisioned. Filled with seedy characters, outstanding dialog (Pelecanos' trademark), and a daring heist, "Shoedog" is a fun read regardless of how long it takes.
"Shoedog" is one of Pelecanos' first novels that reads like a cross between David Goodis and Jim Thompson. It is classic 'book noir', with an unsuspecting male character, Constantine, getting pulled into a world he never envisioned. Filled with seedy characters, outstanding dialog (Pelecanos' trademark), and a daring heist, "Shoedog" is a fun read regardless of how long it takes.
March 9, 2017
*4.5*
May 10, 2018
It has the same type of silent loner man that everyone has written about. It also has a lot of back story than really needed.
July 15, 2025
I picked this up in a free little library because I knew Pelecanos had written for The Wire. So do we have him to thank for Poot ending up at the Foot Locker?
Anyway.
Elmore Leonard advised writers to "leave out all the parts readers skip." Pelecanos does not do that, this story could have been a very well done short story. There were elements here that were compelling but stretched out over the course of an entire novel...ooh boy is it excruciating.
There is A LOT of detail here. Detail that doesn't move the plot forward. I don't care what everyone is wearing. In fact it makes me irrationally angry when you tell me your villain is wearing a green polo and a gray blazer and the other guy is wearing -- sorry I stopped reading. File that under DOESN'T MATTER.
I don't care what music is playing on the radio -- but I do understand you are setting a scene here, even if I have never heard most of the songs you reference.
I actually noted one description, "the faint, briny tang of her young vagina" (156) because it made me laugh. I guess young vagina tastes different from old vagina.
But I get it, Katherine is the one female character Constantine has connected with -sorta- so having that sexual interlude was a bare moment of human connection in an otherwise peripatetic life. After their final conversation where it seems like Mr. Constantine has just gotten off a devastating zinger at Katherine and she walks away, I wanted to tell all the men in the room that Katherine was going to be fine. Frankly, the fact Katherine showed up at all was plot point borne in male fantasy. Her boyfriend who ghosted her 17 years ago is in town and wants a booty call. She's married and has kids. So yeah, she immediately risks bringing home bedbugs and chlamydia for Constantine. No report on how her vagina tasted.
At another point I started thinking, "Constantine has a serious alcohol problem." But at least he's in better shape than the henchman who is SNIFFING GLUE. This is out of the "if I was an evil overlord" playbook. Do not keep a henchman on staff who sniffs glue. Bad idea.
There's a whole lot of urinating. Seriously. These guys are constantly whipping it out and letting loose. He's also weirdly obsessed with tipping. He also tells you every G*DD@MN step of how Constantine put the key in the ignition, adjusted the mirrors, and eventually drove away. (214) "Get on with it MotherF---" (Am I right, Wire fans?)
The heist FINALLY starts on page 215 (out of 286), and then it seems likes the story is chugging along and is engaging until the conclusion.
I can't tell you how many times I thought about putting this book down, but kept going because it was Pelecanos and he wrote for The Wire. Maybe someday I'll pick up another one of his later works and give him another try and see if he improves any, maybe.
Anyway.
Elmore Leonard advised writers to "leave out all the parts readers skip." Pelecanos does not do that, this story could have been a very well done short story. There were elements here that were compelling but stretched out over the course of an entire novel...ooh boy is it excruciating.
There is A LOT of detail here. Detail that doesn't move the plot forward. I don't care what everyone is wearing. In fact it makes me irrationally angry when you tell me your villain is wearing a green polo and a gray blazer and the other guy is wearing -- sorry I stopped reading. File that under DOESN'T MATTER.
I don't care what music is playing on the radio -- but I do understand you are setting a scene here, even if I have never heard most of the songs you reference.
I actually noted one description, "the faint, briny tang of her young vagina" (156) because it made me laugh. I guess young vagina tastes different from old vagina.
But I get it, Katherine is the one female character Constantine has connected with -sorta- so having that sexual interlude was a bare moment of human connection in an otherwise peripatetic life. After their final conversation where it seems like Mr. Constantine has just gotten off a devastating zinger at Katherine and she walks away, I wanted to tell all the men in the room that Katherine was going to be fine. Frankly, the fact Katherine showed up at all was plot point borne in male fantasy. Her boyfriend who ghosted her 17 years ago is in town and wants a booty call. She's married and has kids. So yeah, she immediately risks bringing home bedbugs and chlamydia for Constantine. No report on how her vagina tasted.
At another point I started thinking, "Constantine has a serious alcohol problem." But at least he's in better shape than the henchman who is SNIFFING GLUE. This is out of the "if I was an evil overlord" playbook. Do not keep a henchman on staff who sniffs glue. Bad idea.
There's a whole lot of urinating. Seriously. These guys are constantly whipping it out and letting loose. He's also weirdly obsessed with tipping. He also tells you every G*DD@MN step of how Constantine put the key in the ignition, adjusted the mirrors, and eventually drove away. (214) "Get on with it MotherF---" (Am I right, Wire fans?)
The heist FINALLY starts on page 215 (out of 286), and then it seems likes the story is chugging along and is engaging until the conclusion.
I can't tell you how many times I thought about putting this book down, but kept going because it was Pelecanos and he wrote for The Wire. Maybe someday I'll pick up another one of his later works and give him another try and see if he improves any, maybe.
September 7, 2024
Constantine is a drifter who’s been on the move some seventeen years without any real responsibility or much in the way of genuine human connection. He accepts a ride from a career criminal called Polk who, while still tough-enough to take on a job, has become somewhat sentimental and seemingly vulnerable as he’s aged. Through the act of not offering any resistance, Constantine is dragged into a scheme to simultaneously knock-over two liquor stores in Washington DC by the cruel and enigmatic Grimes, an old friend of Polk’s who also sees the heists as an opportunity to get some inconvenient old history out of the way.
Pelecanos’s third novel sees him expanding his range a little. Where his first two novels were rather luxuriously written and shaped by the first-person perspective of a rather dominant main character, Shoedog is both restrained in its language and expanded in its scope. It definitely has the feel of a new writer seeing what he can do. Which is not to say that it is raw or incomplete, it forms a neat little noir in the mode of Elmore Leonard. Pelecanos keeps his prose lean and detached for a change, and it allows for an overall viewpoint of the pieces of the heist all coming together. While Constantine himself remains the central character, we are pretty quickly led in to understand the motivation of a round dozen supporting characters most of whom are given at least a little spotlight to develop their own personality. It’s a neat piece of writing but I do wonder if the ensemble would be more meaningful if it had dropped a few members. A good editor could have got this novel leaner still and seen it better for it.
I know that in his next book Pelecanos would return to his comfort-zone of a third and final instalment of his private detective meets Hunter S. Thompson Nick Stefanos series. And that’s fine, in my opinion. But Shoedog, while nothing too special itself, shows him as a writer capable of a far wider range than he’d shown so far.
Pelecanos’s third novel sees him expanding his range a little. Where his first two novels were rather luxuriously written and shaped by the first-person perspective of a rather dominant main character, Shoedog is both restrained in its language and expanded in its scope. It definitely has the feel of a new writer seeing what he can do. Which is not to say that it is raw or incomplete, it forms a neat little noir in the mode of Elmore Leonard. Pelecanos keeps his prose lean and detached for a change, and it allows for an overall viewpoint of the pieces of the heist all coming together. While Constantine himself remains the central character, we are pretty quickly led in to understand the motivation of a round dozen supporting characters most of whom are given at least a little spotlight to develop their own personality. It’s a neat piece of writing but I do wonder if the ensemble would be more meaningful if it had dropped a few members. A good editor could have got this novel leaner still and seen it better for it.
I know that in his next book Pelecanos would return to his comfort-zone of a third and final instalment of his private detective meets Hunter S. Thompson Nick Stefanos series. And that’s fine, in my opinion. But Shoedog, while nothing too special itself, shows him as a writer capable of a far wider range than he’d shown so far.
March 17, 2019
This book is a meditation on the existential condition and the gradual erosion of passion that occurs to most people. There are two major characters in the book--you may have read--and a number of sketchily drawn minor characters. But that's not quite true. The third major character is the world of the story--the places that people who are lonely and lost inhabit to meet others in a similar condition--hoping there can be a little friction to give some animation to their lives. The plot of the book involves a heist, devised by a rather cruel, manipulative man who uses others on his own perverse chessboard (more like checkerboard). Those that participate in the heist are captive in one way or another to his devices--but it's not so tragic. The men involved have no better choices, and if they end up dead during the commission of a crime -- well, everyone has to die sometime. Constantine--the major protagonist--is somewhat like Meursault from The Stranger (although he has more fun) and being an ex-marine, has more than his share of street smarts. He is the eternal wanderer. Nothing sticks to him. Is it because he is wan and alienated? Maybe. Or maybe most of us just fool ourselves into believing we have connections to ward off our loneliness.
September 10, 2022
George Pelecanos is known as a TV guy these days, particularly as a writer/producer for “The Wire.” But before that, he was a crackerjack writer of thrillers, mostly set in Washington, DC — and not the Washington of slick power politics.
“Shoedog” was only Pelecanos’ third novel, written in 1994 and just re-released in trade paperback. It’s a lean, taut thriller and a quick read. Already Pelecanos is writing about American muscle cars of the ‘70s, funk and soul music, and, of course, crime.
Our lead is Constantine, who was born in Washington but drifted around the world sampling booze, women and drugs for 17 years. Fate brought him back to DC, where he becomes embroiled in a plan to simultaneously (almost) rob two liquor stores. He also has an affair with the wrong woman. (is there any other kind?)
The “Shoedog” of the title is Randolph, an ace shoe salesman who can guess a woman’s foot size, no matter what she tells him, and becomes an unlikely ally to Constantine.
There’s lots of gunplay, naturally, and when Constantine has a chance to escape with a share of the loot, he chooses a different path. More gunplay.
“Shoedog” was only Pelecanos’ third novel, written in 1994 and just re-released in trade paperback. It’s a lean, taut thriller and a quick read. Already Pelecanos is writing about American muscle cars of the ‘70s, funk and soul music, and, of course, crime.
Our lead is Constantine, who was born in Washington but drifted around the world sampling booze, women and drugs for 17 years. Fate brought him back to DC, where he becomes embroiled in a plan to simultaneously (almost) rob two liquor stores. He also has an affair with the wrong woman. (is there any other kind?)
The “Shoedog” of the title is Randolph, an ace shoe salesman who can guess a woman’s foot size, no matter what she tells him, and becomes an unlikely ally to Constantine.
There’s lots of gunplay, naturally, and when Constantine has a chance to escape with a share of the loot, he chooses a different path. More gunplay.
April 7, 2018
Wow...
Well this book certainly lived up to all the hype. It's been on my "to read" list for years, ever since I first got obsessed by The Wire over a decade ago...and I'm just finally getting to it.
Excellent sharp prose. A mastery of the wandering eye of POV characters in a scummy underworld where the people are vile, sometimes sympathetic, always compelling.
This had way more of a pulpy edge to it that I was expecting since most of The Wire felt more journalistic, but this is somewhere between that and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive...which was clearly influenced by this work. Stoic loner with a soft spot, check. Getaway man, check. Tragic revenge story, check! Shoedog is a 1980's Michael Mann movie that was never made and I wish I could skip over into that parallel universe to see like, a young Alec Baldwin as Constantine and Samuel L as the eponymous shoedog...
Read this book, seriously. It's so good and I'll be moving through more of Pelecanos' bibliography this year. Wow.
Well this book certainly lived up to all the hype. It's been on my "to read" list for years, ever since I first got obsessed by The Wire over a decade ago...and I'm just finally getting to it.
Excellent sharp prose. A mastery of the wandering eye of POV characters in a scummy underworld where the people are vile, sometimes sympathetic, always compelling.
This had way more of a pulpy edge to it that I was expecting since most of The Wire felt more journalistic, but this is somewhere between that and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive...which was clearly influenced by this work. Stoic loner with a soft spot, check. Getaway man, check. Tragic revenge story, check! Shoedog is a 1980's Michael Mann movie that was never made and I wish I could skip over into that parallel universe to see like, a young Alec Baldwin as Constantine and Samuel L as the eponymous shoedog...
Read this book, seriously. It's so good and I'll be moving through more of Pelecanos' bibliography this year. Wow.
October 24, 2018
I'm re-reading all of Pelecanos right now. Luckily, the interlibrary loan system has been sending me first editions, and I love the art on some of the covers by John Dawson and Tony LiMuaco. Another Nick Stefanos crime story where he still crosses over between being a salesman and a private detective. A highly depictive character who plays a shoe salesman and has his "ladies." All of the women buying shoes lie about their size. They say 7. He knows 8. One thing that rings true, for me, is how often so called friends from your past can drag you into their messes with some screwed up sense of shared past and loyalty. Oh well. You learn...if you survive their treacheries. Excellent book. The earlier books, (which I admit I have forgotten much) sound the sharpest and ring the truest.
June 5, 2021
Pelecanos' writing style is a throw back to the classic noir genre: gangsters, heists, bloodshed, criminal with a good heart, the really, really, bad guy, and of course a blond bombshell who wants to be "saved". I loved the fact that this story takes place in DC and one of the heists takes place near my block (14th & S st). His narrative is almost like a screenplay that plays in your head. Lotsa vivid detail descriptions of characters and the scenes. Of course the main character has a Greek name :)
May 6, 2022
One of, if not the best crime fiction books. Starting with Nick's Trip to Shoedog ( a movie has supposedly been in the can and had a release date for well decades now) strange cuz Pelecanos made The Wire and the other great hbo series of nyc in the 70s ,pimps,crime, porn, punk abd disco ,the dirty! Get your hands on everything this man has written the early stuffs where to begin . This guy lived what he writes and anyone can tell. Its like gang starr or vanilla ice, wgatcha want on ur radio?
January 12, 2023
The third novel of author Pelecanos, a standalone crime novel, gets reissued (it had been out of print). Equal parts Elmore Leonard, and Sam Peckinpah. There is a lot packed into 209 pages here, and to the author's credit none of it is slow-moving. The book is helped by strong characters like Constantine and ShoeDog, and very well crafted back story moments and strong dialogue. (rating: 4.1/5.0 stars.)
May 9, 2024
wow. Really couldn't put it down. Very unusual, I started reading on my laptop at my desk as opposed to my tablet -- where I read 99% of books. Just kept reading thruout the day off and on and then in regular mode, reclined with my tablet, and then boom finished. What an odd story and an idea to tell, to write, the whirlwind, worldwind tour by this one guy, then finishing up with the story that was started. Whew. Such a good writer. wow.
October 2, 2024
Another pulp noir winner from Pelecanos. A small time drifter hitches a ride and gets embroiled in a DC crime lord's plot to knock off a pair of liquor stores. Probably Pelecanos' least distinctive book, this one feels like it could have taken place anywhere and it tries to focus on too many characters, several of whom feel a bit stock. Still, Pelecanos' tough, efficient prose and expert pacing make it a fun ride with all the desperation and darkness readers have come to expect.
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