What it Was - Review by Matt Moore

What It Was Book Review

            What It Was by George Pelecanos is set in Los Angeles during the early nineteen-seventies. The book primarily follows Detective Strange as he tries to prove the guilt of a man named Red Jones. It switches between different people and their points-of-view. While reading you get the feel of nineteen-seventies Los Angeles and all the crime it has to offer. This book was different from other mystery books in that it gave all the clues right away instead of through progression. It strayed from the mystery theme I wanted to read about. So in the end the book was not very appealing to me.

            The book didn’t leave any mystery to it. In one part of the book it told about a murder as it was being committed. On top of that I knew the motive, how the people were related, and who each person was right from the start. I felt so frustrated that the author didn’t leave me with anything to wonder about or question as I was reading. It was as if I was just reading through a summary of events.

            The author would constantly go into pages dedicated to talking about people being unfaithful to their partners, and other relationship problems. I felt as if I was reading a Romance novel at times. There’s nothing wrong with Romance novels but that content was not what I wanted to see from this book. I wanted to see more from this novel on the mystery theme but found myself dissatisfied with the outcome.

            I liked the author’s style of writing in this book. He really breathed life into the setting and all its characters. I didn’t feel totally lost with the difference of the times. The characters jumped out of the pages at me filled with life, substance, and feeling. Pelecanos really probes the thoughts and actions of everyone in the book showing each little piece of them in all their detail.

            When picking up this book, I wanted a mystery and I just didn’t get that from What It Was. The book had potential, but it didn’t follow the theme I wanted which I had always found in other mystery books. It was frustrating which made it hard to keep reading. Therefore I would not recommend this to someone who wants to read something that’s part of the mystery genre.