Third and Indiana: A Novel
by Steve Lopez
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"Someone is painting bodies on Philadelphia's Broad Streetone more boldly drawn chalk outline every time another life is lost to the violence of the drug wars. A sixteen-year-old dealer; a priest; a nine-year-old girl. The images pile through the summer and fall, moving closer each day to the doorstep of City Hall." "Ofelia Santoro rides her bicycle over the bodies and through the dark, decaying streets of the neighborhood known to police as the Badlands. She is looking for her show more fourteen-year-old son, Gabriel, who disappeared a month earlier. His father skipped two years ago, and she's been losing her boy ever since." "Gabriel got his first job when he was twelve, as a lookout, spotting cops for the coke sellers working the car trade. Now he's a dealer himself, the youngest guy in the Black Cap gang, holding down the most dangerous corner and hiring his own lookouts. He feels guilty getting kids involved the same way he got involved, but he needs them, or he'll be caught." "Gabriel tries to outrun the neighborhood, taking cover with a drifter who is the father he might have had. But Gabriel is already trapped, at the mercy of Diablo, the ugliest of the dealers, a man who kills for fun." "Steve Lopez's plot, dialogue, and pacing are masterful. With searing precision, he portrays a world of evil so routine that its seems inevitable. Yet Lopez endows his characters with such humanity that redemption and radiance lighten this darkness. Third and Indiana is an extraordinarily compelling and powerful debut."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved show lessTags
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Member Reviews
It's easy to see how Lopez's time as a columnist in big cities has left him somewhat cynical. There is a sense of hopelessness in many characters throughout this novel. Yet there is an underlying eternal hope in some of their actions that make this book an engaging read.
From describing characters motivations and mindsets, to explaining the details of a drug riddled neighborhood I got the feeling that this author had been there and done that. Although the semi predictable converging storyline of 3 main characters seemed to struggle at times. The feelings and actions of the mother seemed obvious and gave her very little depth and made her actions seem redundant.
Not a bad book from a sociological, understanding peoples actions, standpoint. But shallow as far as some of the characters actions and development.
Not a bad book from a sociological, understanding peoples actions, standpoint. But shallow as far as some of the characters actions and development.
Brutally accurate depiction of inner city life in Philadelphia and the various cultures that live or exist within its boundaries.
Excellent Philly fiction by Inquirer writer Lopez.
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Author Information
7 Works 1,656 Members
Steve Lopez is a California native who has written for seven newspapers and Time magazine. He is the author of three novels and Land of Giants, his observations on life in Philadelphia. His book The Soloist won the Pen USA Literary Award and was the basis for a Dream Works film starring Jamine Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.
Awards and Honors
Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Important places
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, USA
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Statistics
- Members
- 131
- Popularity
- 249,295
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.11)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, German, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 2
