The Man Who Came Uptown

By: George Pelecanos

Narrated by: James Shippy

In bestselling and Emmy-nominated writer George Pelecanos' novel, one of the best mysteries of 2018 (Publishers Weekly), an ex-offender must choose between the man who got him out and the woman who showed him another path.

Michael Hudson spends the long days in prison devouring books given to him by the prison's librarian, a young woman named Anna who develops a soft spot for her best student. Anna keeps passing Michael books until one day he disappears, suddenly released after a private detective manipulated a witness in Michael's trial.

Outside, Michael encounters a Washington, D.C. that has changed a lot during his time locked up. Once shady storefronts are now trendy beer gardens and flower shops. But what hasn't changed is the hard choice between the temptation of crime and doing what's right. Trying to balance his new job, his love of reading, and the debt he owes to the man who got him released, Michael struggles to figure out his place in this new world before he loses control.

Smart and fast-paced, The Man Who Came Uptown brings Washington, D.C. to life in a high-stakes story of tough choices.

©2018 Spartan Productions, Inc. (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Like his hero Elmore Leonard, Pelecanos finds the humanity in the lowest of lowlifes. . . . Pelecanos' peppery dialogue energizes every page."—Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Tribune

"This is a book about love of family, about the stresses that can lure almost anyone into crime and about how hard it can be for someone [to] make it on the outside. But most of all, it is a book about the transformative powers of friendship and reading. The story is told in tight, soulful prose by a novelist who has devoted many hours to inmate literacy programs in D.C."—Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press

If I were in jail, George Pelecanos would be on my reading list, right up there with James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard. . . . Pelecanos's characters [are] so human and so doomed. This is an author who writes with the steady hand of a man who knows he's driving a cool set of wheels and respects his own mechanical skills."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

beautiful book

thank you Mr pelicanos for this beautiful experience of reading your book. it was pure pleasure and I am grateful to you for your love of humanity

Horrible pronunciation, great book

The narrator has no idea how Washingtonians pronounce locations. Shippy's "Blah-densburg" for Bladensburg, "Silver Springs" for Silver Spring, BOW-WEE for Bowie, etc., are very distracting, especially for a book written by a writer who is known for paying such high attention to the details of the locale.

Mildly engaging story, very poorly narrated

An occasionally interesting glimpse into a sidelight criminal enterprise. The best thing about the book is it’s evocation of the culture and argot of the non-white side of NE Washington DC. But the book is so badly narrated, in a very stilted manner, that the story seems tedious.

How this narrator got the job I will never know

No feel for the great voice with which Pelecanos writes. How did George allow this?

Narrator not familiar with DC

Saying Boowie for Bowie and Silver Springs and other mistakes distracted from the story for me

A Must Read

George’s writing is potent, nuanced and brilliantly descriptive. I thoroughly enjoyed the relationships, storyline and I could see the characters come to life before me. A must read.

Character development

The downside (is there any upside) of DC. The city is an artificial construct. The people who live there are constructs too. The protagonist may have grown out of it. Let’s hope

Terrible narration

I have to agree with other reviews, the narration is awful. Cringeworthy even. Unlikely I'll continue

This was a waste of time

This should have been a short story, not a novel. Pelecanos padded the plot with synopses of books and social justice commentary. Generally, i like his books, but this one was a not up to his standard.

Thinking of returning this one

The book was recommended to me by someone who reads rather than listens to audio books. I am distracted by the poor reading. Words are simply read and the inflection placed on one word or another seems MISplaced. I don't know how others feel about it, but I can't get through this book.