The sentiment espoused in the subject header isn’t only the bottom line of Motoko Rich‘s NYT profile; it’s also, I must admit openly, my own hope – as George Pelecanos is one of the best crime novelists writing these days, period. But it’s especially gratifying to see such attention lavished upon him because eighteen months ago, rumors flew around the crime fiction community – helped in part by loose-lipped sales representatives – that Little, Brown was threatening to drop him because of lackluster sales (anywhere from 13,000 to 21,000 units per book for his last five novels) and frustrations they couldn’t break him out. But as Michael Pietsch pointed out “book publishing is full of stories of writers – from P. D. James to Elmore Leonard – who wrote for decades before they became overnight successes.”
And from the looks of things, THE NIGHT GARDENER (out early next month) may well do that, provided all of Little, Brown’s initiatives – a $150,000 marketing campaign including national cable television advertisements and a “stepladder” special display at the front of Barnes & Noble stores – pay off. And also provided that everyone who picks up a copy of the book believes, as I do, that this is as good as a crime novel gets, one that manages to be commercial and accessible but doesn’t sacrifice the core issues Pelecanos has explored in earlier novels.
Which, ultimately, is just what he’s after in reaching readers. “It’s sort of like you lure people in because they are expecting something, and you give it to them on a level,” he said, “but you’re also giving them something more.”