Scan barcode
cseibs's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Price's Lush Life and, for much the same reasons, I now love Clockers. Price has a spot-on way of getting the reader inside his characters heads. When he switched from Rocco to Strike, my whole outlook changed and I found myself believing each character's version of the crime, even though I knew both could not be true. Price spares none in his book and no one emerges a hero. Rather, every one is shown a human, flaws and all, and that authenticity is probably what I love most about Price's writing.
stevem0214's review against another edition
1.0
Probably among the bottom ten of books I've ever forced myself to read. It ranked down there with Mosquito Coast for me as one of my all time least favorites. It just dragged out FOREVER!!
I know Mr. Price is an excellent writer and this is an acclaimed book, but I thought it was just awful!!
I know Mr. Price is an excellent writer and this is an acclaimed book, but I thought it was just awful!!
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
A drug dealer is gunned down in a diner and the brother of another drug dealer is the prime suspect. Did he do it? That's what Rocco Klein wants to find out. But can he get the suspect's brother, a crack dealer named Strike, to cooperate?
This is the fourteenth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.
Like most people who have read this in recent years, I loved HBO's The Wire and Price was one of the writers. This feels like the novelization of four Wire episodes in the best way possible.
Clockers is a crime book but it's also a window into the lives of cops and the crack dealers they're trying to catch. Much like The Wire, Clockers shows that both sides of the conflict are fairly ordinary human beings, not knights in shining armor or scene-chewing villains.
Strike and Rocco, the two leads, are both well-drawn, conflicted characters. Neither is particularly happy with his lot in life. Rocco sees an actor as his way out of the cop's life and Strike just wants to make enough money to get out.
The mystery is actually secondary. The real focus is on the lives of Rocco, Strike, and the rest. The crack business is a lot more complicated than I thought and now I'm even more keenly aware of why so many cops wind up divorced, alcoholic, and/or eating their guns.
The writing is a notch above most crime books, akin to Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos. I thought the plot meandered a bit but not as much as in the last Price book I read, Lush Life. The city of Dempsey is almost a character.
Four out of five stars. Maybe it's time I rewatch the entire run of The Wire.
Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $77.48.
This is the fourteenth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.
Like most people who have read this in recent years, I loved HBO's The Wire and Price was one of the writers. This feels like the novelization of four Wire episodes in the best way possible.
Clockers is a crime book but it's also a window into the lives of cops and the crack dealers they're trying to catch. Much like The Wire, Clockers shows that both sides of the conflict are fairly ordinary human beings, not knights in shining armor or scene-chewing villains.
Strike and Rocco, the two leads, are both well-drawn, conflicted characters. Neither is particularly happy with his lot in life. Rocco sees an actor as his way out of the cop's life and Strike just wants to make enough money to get out.
The mystery is actually secondary. The real focus is on the lives of Rocco, Strike, and the rest. The crack business is a lot more complicated than I thought and now I'm even more keenly aware of why so many cops wind up divorced, alcoholic, and/or eating their guns.
The writing is a notch above most crime books, akin to Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos. I thought the plot meandered a bit but not as much as in the last Price book I read, Lush Life. The city of Dempsey is almost a character.
Four out of five stars. Maybe it's time I rewatch the entire run of The Wire.
Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $77.48.
mrsfligs's review
5.0
I read this book ages ago and I still remember the rawness, grittiness and despair. This is a book populated by people trapped in a life of despair, violence and few options -- yet who still find hidden pockets of dignity and decency. The tension and stress of living in the projects is so realistically rendered that you feel that you are there ... living on the street and hustling to make a living. One detail that has remained in my mind this whole time is one character who constantly drinks Yoo-Hoo. For some reason, this detail has always stuck with me. In my mind, it was his way of treating the ulcers created by his way of life. A masterful novel that examines the American inner city during the heyday of the crack epidemic, Clockers is a riveting read and one not easily forgotten. Not for the faint of heart or those easily turned off by a way of life different from their own.
library_ann's review against another edition
Picked this up at a used book store after hearing a couple interviews with Price on Fresh Air, once for his work on The Wire, once about his new book that is out (Fresh City? Free World? something like that). The story of Strike, a young drug dealer in the projects somewhere in New Jersey. We never really get Strike's full story, how he came to hold that "job," but I suppose the business is insidious like that. It took me a long time to get into the story. As I analyze it now, I cannot decide whether I liked it. I guess I'd say that the author was true in sticking to the points of view of the two main characters, dealer Strike and cop Rocco, showing their confusion in trying to sort out exactly where they stand with other players at any given time. "There's a little good in the worst of us, and a little bad in the best of us" also comes through during the course of the narrative, but mostly "there's a little stupid in all of us" was the biggest impression I was left with.
bunnieslikediamonds's review
5.0
Years back, I got my mom hooked on The Wire. She's more of a Steel Magnolias and Marley & Me kinda lady, so it says something about the quality of the show that she enjoyed it, despite the violence and foul language (plus I suspect she found McNulty hot). We also spent that weekend going "yo" and "muthafuckah", the most fun we'd had in a long time. Oh yeah, and I still call her Stringer Bell sometimes (she has poppies growing in the garden = opium). I'm not particularly interested in Baltimore's drug wars, but adored the show anyway. Same thing with Clockers, you don't have to be fascinated with the subject matter to appreciate it. It is set in a fictional city in New Jersey, and depicts the same kind of The Wire-misery from which there is no escape (circle of shit, our main cop Rocco poetically calls it). There is little action and not a lot of suspense. Everyone is miserable and it's depressing as hell. It's still mesmerizing though. You care about the characters despite, or thanks to, their many, many flaws.
The story is told from two points of view. Rocco is the burned-out cop whose ideals are long gone. He still has a sense of decency and is pretty good at his job, unlike some of his crooked colleagues, but he's no hero. He behaves like an ass sometimes, he can be childish and ingratiating, and is the first to cringe at his own shortcomings. I found it refreshing that his flaws do not include those more common and acceptable for a cop protagonist: drinking and cheating on his wife. He perks up when a murder case leads him to young Strike, who is sort of a team lead for a bunch of clockers (boys selling cocaine). Strike has the boss from hell and an ulcer to match. He's a serious guy, neat, responsible and smart with no real taste for a life of crime. In different circumstances he'd be a well-adjusted college boy. After a bizarre run-in with the police, sorry, the five-oh, his partner in crime asks:
"You got your high-school diploma?"
"Unh-uh", Strike said, trying to unclench.
"Can I say something to you without disrespect?"
Strike waited.
"You should go back to school or something".
Strike looked up at Buddha Hat in surprise. Buddha Hat winced apologetically, then gently added, "Cause you in the wrong line of work". Go, Buddha!
I wouldn't recommend this to my mom (too depressing without the relief of McNulty's firm butt and wolfish grin), or to anyone looking for a more traditional, plot heavy crime novel. To everyone else: do read it, it's really good. I wish I could give it four and half stars, because honestly, it does drag a wee bit here and there, but four stars just isn't enough, so five it is.
The story is told from two points of view. Rocco is the burned-out cop whose ideals are long gone. He still has a sense of decency and is pretty good at his job, unlike some of his crooked colleagues, but he's no hero. He behaves like an ass sometimes, he can be childish and ingratiating, and is the first to cringe at his own shortcomings. I found it refreshing that his flaws do not include those more common and acceptable for a cop protagonist: drinking and cheating on his wife. He perks up when a murder case leads him to young Strike, who is sort of a team lead for a bunch of clockers (boys selling cocaine). Strike has the boss from hell and an ulcer to match. He's a serious guy, neat, responsible and smart with no real taste for a life of crime. In different circumstances he'd be a well-adjusted college boy. After a bizarre run-in with the police, sorry, the five-oh, his partner in crime asks:
"You got your high-school diploma?"
"Unh-uh", Strike said, trying to unclench.
"Can I say something to you without disrespect?"
Strike waited.
"You should go back to school or something".
Strike looked up at Buddha Hat in surprise. Buddha Hat winced apologetically, then gently added, "Cause you in the wrong line of work". Go, Buddha!
I wouldn't recommend this to my mom (too depressing without the relief of McNulty's firm butt and wolfish grin), or to anyone looking for a more traditional, plot heavy crime novel. To everyone else: do read it, it's really good. I wish I could give it four and half stars, because honestly, it does drag a wee bit here and there, but four stars just isn't enough, so five it is.
jimmypat's review against another edition
4.0
This is the 22nd book in a series I am calling "quarantine life." With all of our public libraries closed due to the corona virus, I have turned to my own bookshelves to find something to read.
I had read this book a number of years ago, but had forgotten how good it was. This novel was a nuanced, sympathetic, and thoughtful look at two aspects of the inner city and the plague of drugs: police and dealers. It was also a very engaging and thrilling crime novel with an ending that surprised me (as well as the main characters) that should have been obvious the whole time.
I had read this book a number of years ago, but had forgotten how good it was. This novel was a nuanced, sympathetic, and thoughtful look at two aspects of the inner city and the plague of drugs: police and dealers. It was also a very engaging and thrilling crime novel with an ending that surprised me (as well as the main characters) that should have been obvious the whole time.
beuckelssen's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kingfan1993's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0