A Firing Offense

Infobox Book |
name = A Firing Offense
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = New edition cover (Serpent's Tail)
author = George Pelecanos
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Nick Stefanos series
genre = Crime novel
publisher = St Martins Press
pub_date = April 1992
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 216 pp
isbn = ISBN 0312069707 (Hardcover first edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"A Firing Offense" is a 1992 crime novel and the debut from author George Pelecanos. It is set in Washington DC and focuses on marketing executive Nick Stefanos as he investigates the disappearance of a colleague. It is the first of several Pelecanos novel's to feature the character and the first of a trilogy with Stefanos as the main character. The other books in this series are "Nick's Trip" and "Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go".

Plot introduction

Nick Stefanos is a marketing executive for electrical goods chain Nutty Nathan's. When a stock boy from the company disappears he is convinced to locate the boy by his grandfather.

Explanation of the novel's title

Stefanos is fired from his job at Nutty Nathan's but the reason for his dismissal does not become clear until the end of the book.

Characters

Nick Stefanos is a marketing executive and one time process server. He works for a chain of electrical goods stores. He was once a floor salesman. He remains friends with his old sales colleague Johnny McGinnes. Both Stefanos and McGinnes drink heavily and abuse recreational drugs.

Major themes

The novel is concerned with substance abuse both by the main characters and facilitated by the drug distributors.

Literary significance and reception

The novel was positively compared to Charles Willeford and Daniel Woodrell by a reviewer. The reviewer commented that the plot was perfunctory and that the novel was more concerned with examining the lives of the salesmen. He praised the book for drawing such interest from a seemingly mundane profession. The reviewer commented on Pelecanos frequent use of music references.Cite web|url=http://www.crimetime.co.uk/bookreviews/firingoffense.html|title=A Firing Offense by George P. Pelecanos|accessdate=2007-11-06|publisher=Crime Time|year=2007|author=Gerald Houghton]

The series as a whole has been described as tightly plotted with "intricacies to rival Hammett or Chandler".Cite web|url=http://www.thrillingdetective.com/stefanos.html|title=Nick Stefanos|accessdate=2007-11-06|publisher=Thrilling Detective|year=2007|author=James Stephenson and Kevin Burton Smith]

Footnotes