Product Description

Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell had had only one affair in his twenty-two years of happy matrimony. Unfortunately someone caught his indiscretion on film and now wants Harry to fork over one hundred grand to keep his infidelity a secret. And if Harry doesn't pay up, the blackmailer and his associates plan to press a lot harder -- up to and including homicide, if necessary. But the psychos picked the wrong pigeon for their murderous scam. Because Harry Mitchell doesn'tget mad...he gets even.

Customer Reviews (13)

I'd rather be reading Elmore Leonard
You know how some guys put an "I'd rather be fishing" bumper sticker on their cars?I should put an "I'd rather be reading Elmore Leonard" sticker on mine.Sure, 52 PICKUP isn't among his very best, but even mediocre EL is miles above most other crime novels, including the guys and gals who sell gazillions of copies.Whenever I breakdown and try one of those books, I always think, "What's so great about this?"and feel cheated.Anyway, 52PU is one of his early crime books, and he was still fiddling with the knobs, getting his groove down.But that's no reason to ignore it.The classic EL elements are all there.

Elmore is timeless
I know this is one of Elmore's earlier works, but he is so good.He just keeps you reading. I love the way he works history into his novels, whether they are in Cuba, Detroit or anywhere else.And his characters are alive, and they do the darndest things!Always a good read, that Mr. Leonard!

Too sleazy for my liking
This is the 19th Elmore Leonard novel that I have read and I would class it among the bottom four of those (along with "The Big Bounce", "Pronto" and "Bandits"). This tale of a businessman who is blackmailed after a brief affair and who then turns the tables on the blackmailers is, in many ways, typical Leonard. It has the dumb bad-guys, intelligent females and double-crosses that show up in all of Leonard's books. However, "52 Pickup" lacks the black humour that is what made me love Leonard's novels in the first place. I also found this novel to be way too sleazy for my liking. A lot of this book takes place in strip clubs, nude model studios and dirty movie cinemas, and by page 50, I just wanted the characters to go some place else. Admittedly, even a bad Elmore Leonard novel is better than most books that are out there, but since better Elmore Leonard novels exist ("Touch", "Out of Sight", "Gold Coast", and "Freaky Deaky" are four of the best), why not read one of those instead?

Entertaining, but no masterpice!
This novel was definitely entertaining.It served its purpose.It gave me something to read that held my attention.As most Leonard novels, there is plenty of hip lines, drug use, sex, and of course the crime.

I do not generally enjoy Leonard's novels.I enjoy the movies that are made from them.After reading "Unknown Man #89" and being extremely disappointed, it has been a few years since I have even attempted to read one of his novels.I must say that I now know how to read a Leonard novel.Not expecting much!

The story starts off easy enough and runs smoothly.Not a time in the reading did I feel there was anything unnecessary or boring.The plot is not too original, but easy to accept as a possible real situation.

I would suggest this to anyone who is looking for something fun, quick, and easy to read.There is a lot of inappropriate sex and language, so not recommended for anyone under 17.

Well Written, but the Story Falls Apart in the Second Half
52 PICK UP is, like all of Elmore Leonard's novels, very well written.This book was originally written in the early 1970s, but holds up very well.With a few minor adjustments, it could take place in modern times.

The story essentially deals with a blackmail plot against an adulterous businessman in Detroit.The first half, which is very strong, shows how the businessman is blackmailed, and how he initially responds.The second half, which is far weaker, deals with how the businessman decides to strike back and take justice into his own hands.

The second half of 52-PICK UP is something of a letdown, because it is not particularly believable.Leonard sets up a great, realistic story in the first half, only to resolve the story with an "action movie" type conclusion that requires a major suspension of disbelief.

This novel is further hampered by the absence of any likable characters, with the exception of the wife of the protagonist.Many of the players in this book act in a venal, brutal manner toward one another.I understand that Leonard is trying to be dark and gritty, but the non-stop nastiness does get repetitious and tiresome after a while.This novel lacks the humor of Elmore Leonard's later work.

52 PICK UP is a decent early effort, but I'd recommend trying some of Leonard's later crime books first, or one of his westerns. ... Read more

Product Description

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. But they didn't figure the lowlife husband wouldn't want his lady back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing -- with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

Customer Reviews (14)

A Tennis Mom is kidnapped
This gripping crime story is about two wealthy and two ambitious pairs of people in Motown, Detroit in the late 1970's. Real estate developer Frank and his cute wife Margaret ("Mickey") have been married for 15 years, but cracks are appearing. Frank is drinking too much, verbally abusive and not always where he claims to be. Mickey is a sweet, non-confrontational, faithful wife devoting much of her time to their 13-year old son Bo, a tennis talent. She is a tennis mom.
Ordell Robbie (OR) gives his old friend Louis Gara (LG) a tour of Detroit when he is released from prison to show him what is new, incl. the derelict tenements renovated with his help. OR supplied much of the building materials and appliances by arranging them to be stolen from other building sites. He has done pretty well over the years and thinks he can do still better. He knows the man he deals with in his materials racket is a straw man. The real big man is not on any billboard or letterhead, but taking monthly trips to the Bahamas to move a small fortune from his cash-paying renters beyond the grasp of the tax authorities.
OR and LG agree simple blackmail is not enough to force the tycoon to turn over a cool million to them. So they decide to kidnap his wife. And she is Mickey...
Will it work? How will she react? Will Frank pay? How will the crime duo's third accomplice, an American neo-Nazi, perform?
Elmore Leonard (EL) is a superlative writer. He combines a deep fascination with senseless violence, human stupidity and doomed individual ambition with awesome plotting skills and dialogues. His often sorry protagonists come across as completely authentic. He has rightly been called the Grand Master of American crime writing. Every one of his books (many turned into Hollywood films) is a great work of entertainment and a study of America's underclass.

Kidnapped Wife Finds Herself
Two small time hoods decide they can get away with kidnapping the wife of a wealthy businessman and scoring $1,000,000 ransom. They hook up with a rent-a-cop who collects Nazi memorabillia. While being held hostage the victim comes to the realization that her life as a wife, mother and country club goer was quite empty. She decides to go over to the hoodlums. Kind of like a Stockholm syndrome situation.A decent but not particularly gripping read.

Slow, terse, and unfocused
Slow, terse, and unfocused. Elmore Leonard's 'The Switch' is one of his more convoluted works. A testament to late `70's upper-crust living and a some shady characters quick-money scheme that falls flat - much like this book.

Leonard's talent for developing personalities in small doses stands shaky in `The Switch'. Leonard quickly develops Mickey Dawson, a well-to-do wife living the country club lifestyle in suburban Detroit. Her life is set on appeasing her husband, Frank, a real estate businessman with a penchant for golf and booze. When two ex-cons contrive an idea to kidnap the wife, the plot then takes a twist even the ex-cons didn't anticipate. The book's ending, which leaves you with some intentions, is uninspiring.

Slow in reading and heavy in dialogue - leaning between insight and contemplation, this book is not one of Elmore Leonard's better offerings.

Elmore's best ending...
This book was just okay for Elmore (which is still pretty damn good by anyone elses standards) but I found the ending paid off well - I should have seen it coming, but I didn't!

Uninspired, Formulaic
I really like Elmore Leonard and have enjoyed and respected much of his work.But when reading this book I felt that Elmore had really mailed it in this time.The big "surprise" ending comes as no surprise, and the book fizzles rather than sizzles.In this book, the characters are more like cartoons than people.All in all, I was disappointed, and was glad when it was over so I could read something better.

Just so you know I'm not an Elmore basher, I just finished reading "The Hot Kid" and loved it. ... Read more

Product Description

A Michigan woman was blind and now she can see, after being touched by a young man who calls himself Juvenal. Maybe it was just coincidence, but Bill Hill -- who used to run the spectacular Uni-Faith Ministry in Dalton, Georgia, and now sells RVs -- can see dollar signs when he looks at this kid with the magic "touch." The trouble is that others see them also, including a wacko fundamentalist fascist with his own private army of the faithful and an assortment of media leeches. But everyone who's looking to put the touch on the healer is in for a big surprise -- because Juvenal's got a trick or two up his sleeve that nobody sees coming.

Customer Reviews (14)

Not just a genre writer
So-called genre writers are typically treated like second-class citizens in the literary world.("Oh, he/she's just a mystery/romance/sci fi/ whatever writer.")To manyreaders, unless a book is long and a chore to read, it isn't a serious work.Well, I think Elmore Leonard disproves that pile of poop with TOUCH.This is a departure from his usual good guy/bad guys set-up, but his wry, economical style works like a charm.Sure, the charlatans in this book could have shown up in any of his crime novels, but the stakes are higher here.If you start reading with no preconceived expectations and just go with it, you will not be disappointed.

A twist for Leonard, but a great book
This is definitely off beat for Leonard as he takes a look at religion and balances the sincerity of Juvenal against the typical con man and fanatic hangers on who want to use him to their own ends.This is classic Leonard and reveals an admirable tolerance for sincere beliefs often lacking in today's writing.

Disappointing
I have read everything by Leonard and this one ranks at the bottom.Just could not get into it.

Miracle Faith Healer Finds Love
A young man who calls himself Juvenal served as a Franciscan monk in Brazil for about ten years. He came to the U.S. and worked helping to rehabilitate alcoholics in Detroit. Juvenal had the ability to heal. He allowed a blind woman to see, cured cancer in a young boy and had success healing broken and deformed bones. He was stigmatic. When he performed the miracles blood appeared on his body at the same places where Christ was crucified. Several people wanted to promote and take advantage of his gift for their own purposes. Mainly, a promoter and a right wing Catholic traditonalist. Their plans were not to be. As Juvenal fell in love with an attractive rock 'n roll promoter. This is the third book I've read by Elmore Leonard. Previously I read Split and The Switch. This book moved along fairly well. But, the ending just didn't satisfy my taste.

Nice small-scale story
Excellent, really more of a novella than a novel. The "August" character is prevented, I'm thankful, from taking over the story. Nice to see that Dutch has thrown in some descriptions of settings and some narrative passages to go with all the dialog this time. ... Read more

Product Description

Sweet Honey Deal's not sure what compelled her to marry Walter Schoen, possibly the most boring man on Earth. So she quickly rectified the situation by leaving the dour German-born butcher to start a new life. A good thing, too, now that America's at war with Adolf Hitler and Walter's loyalty to his adopted country was always questionable. Even better, now U.S. Marshal Carl Webster wants to come up to Honey's room for an official "chat" . . . and for something more intimate, if Honey has anything to say about it.

Customer Reviews (51)

Bombs at the end
Without giving it away, Carlos Webster, the so-called "hot kid," ends up looking like a rookie knucklehead, ignores the obvious time and again, and lets Vera, the evil spy lady, save his pathetic naked ass. The writer rushed it, trying to meet a deadline, a few too many whiskeys, and pulled the plug.It starts off much better than that.Beautiful, elegant Honey Deal walks out on her humorless Nazi husband, and here comes Carlos Webster hunting Nazis in America near the end of WWII.The first half of the book is fantastic, even with political ramifications for today, the popularity of American Nazis at Madison Square Garden, waving the flag, etc. The third quarter of the book, however, makes the hunted Nazis seem like goofballs, like who cares about them.And as I mentioned, everything fizzles at the end; I can't believe Elmore did it.

Loved it!
This was the first book I've "read" by Elmore Leonard.I was interested in the comments by readers who had read many, counted themselves as "fans" and felt that this was one of the poorest.
I should add that I did not read it, but listened to the Audio version.The actor who read it was so good that he grabbed me immediately.It's possible that if I had read the print version that I might not have stuck with it.

(Unfortunately I do not have the Audio version in front of me and I don't recognize the covers of the ones that are shown here.So I don't know if this is the same as what I heard.)

Getting back to the story, I fell in love with the characters, especially the heroine, Honey Beal.She is a true original, smart without knowing it, funny, and leads with her heart.She does make a few mistakes, however, and one of them was marrying a Nazi, who believes he is the separated twin of Heinrich Himmler.Well, she does learn and left him after a year.Another reader said he couldn't find anything to like in this character---I guess it's a question of personal taste.I thought she was terrific.

The novel is populated by other originals, too, and each one is not only quirky but it's obvious that the writer holds great affection for each one.That's why I loved the book---Even the poor Himmler lookalike is sort of humanized by the end.

If this is one of Leonard's lesser books, I'm going to have to read some of the others.Or, better yet, I'd like to find others that were read by the same terrific actor!

Fiction straight from 1950's pulp!!
God, what a terrible book. I gave this an extra star thanks to the enjoyment Elmore Leonard has given me over the years, but "Up In Honey's Room" is total gibberish, and not the type of gibberish like WHY ARE WE IN VIETNAM?, which was at least interesting for it's extreme weirdness, but the type of gibberish that leads to your seeing a whole shelf of this title at Goodwill or Value Village, or discarded copies in bus stations or laundromats.
The idea behind the plot that was described on the flaps sounded good: star US Marshal heads to Detroit to catch escaped German POWs. Leonard, WWII, escaped Kreigsgefangeners? Sounds good. Unfortunately, this really is not a good book. It's not even a decent book, and thank God, I got it at the library.
The plot was all over the place, and the book chock full of historical inaccuracies. It isn't as bad as some, such as the horrible Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper, but it really reminds me of some of the pulp fiction I used to find in 2nd hand stores in the 1960's, except that the sex is more explicit now. I give this as high of a rating as Leonard's Westerns I tried to wade through, or the hideously overrated The Postmistress, which is also on the short list for "Worst Books Of The New Millenium". Just stay away!

Lousy
I have read all of his books, most of them are great, this wasn't.Too many characters, plot not interesting enough.The first few pages were ok, after that it's downhill.

Is Elmore Leonard paid by the word?
I'm reading 4-5 crime fiction novels a week in order to study the genre.That being said, I am well of Elmore Leonard's legendary body of work, and looked forward to reading the book from its jacket description. I was bored, really, really bored.

The story has a very interesting premise, German POW's and German espionage in America during WWII, but that's where "interesting" ends.His writing is flavorless, and when Leonard's creates outrageous characters to populate the story, its comes across like a gimmick. Not once did I feel tantalized in this story, I just prayed for it to end.

... Read more

Product Description

Al Rosen was doing just fine, hiding out in Israel -- until he decided to play Good Samaritan and rescue some elderly tourists from a hotel fire.Now his picture's been carried in the stateside press, and the guys he's been hiding from know exactly where he is.And they're coming to get him -- crooked lawyers, men with guns and money, and assorted members of the Detroit mob who are harboring a serious grudge.Playtime in paradise is officially over; Rosen's a million miles from home with a bull's eye on his back.And his only ally is a U.S. Embassy marine who's been looking for a war . . . and who's damn well found one.

Customer Reviews (12)

Early Leonard
An early example.Not as refined as his later books but a good read never the less.

In the land of milk and honey.
The Hunted is one of Elmore Leonard's lesser known novels.Written in the 1970s, this book is best described as a dark comedy with elements of both crime and action-adventure.Though not quite a top tier Elmore Leonard work, The Hunted is worthwhile reading nonetheless.
The title character or the person being hunted is Al Rosen, a shady businessman from Detroit who was coerced by the U.S. Justice Department to give grand jury testimony against some not so nice criminals.If he had stayed in Detroit, his life wouldn't have been worth a plug nickel.So he flees to, of all places, Israel where he manages to live under the radar.A retired American expat who resides in the best hotels Israel has to offer.
But one fateful night there's a hotel fire that draws the attention of the media and Rosen gets photographed.The wire services pick up the photograph and it subsequently appears in the Detroit Free Press.Now Rosen's enemies know where he is and they immediately descend on the Holy Land for the purpose of rubbing him out.
Surprisingly, Al Rosen is not the book's main protagonist.That particular honor falls to Sgt. David Davis, a Vietnam tested marine who takes a liking to Rosen and decides to prevent him from falling victim to those determined to murder him.
The Hunted has good dialogue, plentiful helpings of dark, ironic humor and some fast paced action.A worthwhile read worthy of a 4 star rating.

Action and Being
Elmore Leonard's THE HUNTED gives us an education in being the prey of some killers bent on destruction and revenge.

We learn a lot from protagonist Al Rosen's philosophy of life, his new philosophy of just accepting whatever happens. We learn to reject his naive philosophy as Detroit hit men track Rosy through the desert in Israel and pin him down in a house.

Lucky for Rosy, he's got a Marine on his side. And from him we learn the most. Come fully armed to any confrontation with killers. Concentrate on a plan of attack. Don't philosophize. Instead, pick your targets carefully and kill them immediately. Or else, you will lose any advantage.

Finally, Leonard's tale repeats a lesson found in many westerns. Women are useless in a crisis. They either break down in tears or they cop out immediately and leave us all alone.

Of course, Leonardadmits they can offer some pleasure in our idle moments, but he urges it's best to rent them and not buy them.

Wonder what my wife would think of that lesson.

by Larry Rochelle, author of the thrillers BLUE ICE, GULF GHOST and DANCE WITH THE PONY

No Good Deed...
Al Rosen stuck his neck out to help the government put some goons in prison, only it didn't go according to plan. Now Rosen is in hiding for his life. Life was still good until Rosen helped some old timers get out of a burning hotel, and wound up getting his face in the papers. Now he's on the run in Israel with three killers on his tail and a U.S. Marine for company. The Marine wants to help. Maybe he should ask Rosen what happens to do-gooders.

Elmore Leonard in 1977 was still years away from being embraced for marrying suspense stories with witty dialogue, quirky characters, and off-center humor, but he was well on his way toward perfecting that approach when he wrote "The Hunted." In some ways echoing Leonard's past as a writer of westerns, with Mexican standoffs by dry wadis, "The Hunted" isn't exactly scintillating by Leonard's later standards, but it more than holds its own.

You can almost see Quentin Tarantino adapting it for the screen, with Rosen's way of wooing 40-something women to bed and characters who digress about God while waiting for the guns to start blazing. The bad guys are not without their enjoyable qualities, and there's Mel Bandy, a fat lawyer of no discernable morals whose idea of wooing an attractive assistant involves walking around her in a towel and inviting her to bed with him by telling her she can close her eyes and pretend it's someone else.

Leonard throws some nice philosophy here, too, though it doesn't get in the way of the terse narrative:

"Don't let people scare you; because nine times out of ten they don't know any more than you do," Rosen explains to the Marine. "Or even less. They got there pushing and shoving, acting, conning...If they had to get by on basic intelligence - most of the people I've done business with - they'd be on the street selling Good Humors and probably ------- up the change."

"The Hunted" didn't amuse me like great comic Leonard novels such as "Maximum Bob" and "Freaky Deaky." It didn't thrill like "Rum Punch" or "Bandits." The plot is actually kind of threadbare, and a little nonsensical, when you think about Rosen's unresolved financial situation and how it's supposed to be resolved by a visit from the untrustworthy Bandy.

But "The Hunted" manages to keep you reading, and surprises you more than a little at the end. You'll enjoy the amiable company of both the good guys and bad guys while appreciating Leonard's mastery of his craft. He hadn't entirely moved out of the Western idiom even as he left the American West, but considering that he was the author of westerns like "Hombre," why should he have been in any rush?

Enjoyable story of mid-budget movie level
This book is pretty entertaining.The story is interesting but not super.Leonard's strength seems to be in his character development and crisp dialogue.There's not much to write about this book that is deep and insightful.If the story sounds interesting and you like Leonard you won't be disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description

Daredevil Dennis Lenahan has brought his act to the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi—diving off an eighty-foot ladder into nine feet of water for the amusement of gamblers, gangsters, and luscious belles. His riskiest feat, however, was witnessing a Dixie-style mob execution while atop his diving platform. Robert Taylor saw the hit also. A blues-loving Detroit hustler touring the Southland in a black Jaguar, Taylor's got his own secret agenda re the "Cornbread Cosa Nostra," and he wants Dennis in on the game. But there's a lot more in Robert Taylor's pocket than a photo of his lynched great-grandfather. And high-diver Dennis could be about to take a long, fatal fall—right into a mess of hoop skirts, Civil War playacting . . . and more trouble than he ever dreamed possible.

Customer Reviews (72)

Great Leonard characters
The array of tasty characters Elmore Leonard creates in book after book is truly astounding, and he outdoes himself in TISHOMINGO BLUES.The use of a stunt diver, Civil War reenactors, and Dixie Mafiosi keeps the twists coming.My only criticism is the meandering plot.I've heard that his method of writing is to create the characters and let them loose to see how they interact, but this time I think they got away from him a bit.The unfolding of the story isn't as crisp as it is in most of his other books, but don't let that stop you from reading TISHOMINGO.Even lesser Leonard is a whole lot better than most other writers' best.

Review of Audio CD
I was surprised to read that Paul Rudd was reading this audio version of Tishimungo Blues.I fell in like with Rudd, the last season of Cheers, when he played Phoebe's boyfriend.I know he's made some major movies since then...Anyway I guess he did this when he was a struggling actor.He is very good!This is only the third novel I've "heard" by Leonard so can't judge it by the full range of his work, but it wasn't my favorite.He does create some memorable characters, namely the too-ccol-for-school Detroit drug dealer, Robert Taylor.It sounds like Leonard had a lot of fun writing Robert and Rudd does such a good performance that it had me laughing out loud.

The plot is complicated and I got lost in the mess of characters, even though, again Rudd does a heroic job in creating different voices for the crazy bunch.I wonder how he did it...and I hope they paid him well!

As others have said, this isn't Leonard's best but it has some good moments.I don't think I would have enjoyed reading the print version; if Rudd hadn't kept me laughing I might not have finished it.Three and a half stars.

Lamest Leonard Ever
I'm a big Leonard fan, but this piece of crap is far from his ususal standard.The intro to the main character, Dennis, piques your interest, and placing him in Tunica, MS with its' gambling and assorted lowlifes brings the plot forward.But it falls apart quickly, with Dennis being let off with a warning after witnessing a murder.Leonard is a master of character development, but outside of Dennis, there is none.Charlie, the former baseball pitcher, is a bore.The character of Verniece has no development, or place in the plot, at all.We get to meet the local bad guys, who maintain interest for a while.But then Leonard goes completely off in a new direction with the introduction of new lowlifes, Robert (and later his pals).The plot (such as it is) meanders around, going nowhere, for a long while, then devolves into the basics of what will be the action, Confederate re-enactment of a Civil War battle.It turns out that Robert and his bad guys want to take over the drug trafficking from Arlen and his worse lowlifes (they are worse because they are also racist).Robert is shown as some kind of genius because he uses psychological wiles to "control" what is going to happen.Slowly (and I do mean slowly) both sets of bad guys try to set up the others for a real-life shootout during the re-enactment.By this time it is hard to care about any of the characters (and hard to keep many of them straight).By the last 40 pages or so, I was so bored I didn't even care if I finished the book, but I did, glancing quickly to see if anything of interest was going to happen (trust me, nothing does), I skimmed the last few chapters and read the last page to find out how things turn out.

The problems with Tishomingo Blues are several: No character development; an incredibly lame plot; uniteresting characters; more information than you'll ever want to know about civil war re-enactment; a late introduction of a love interest that is piss-poor; SLOOOOOOW action.

But the worst part of this book is what Leonard in the past has done so well is missing, making his main character, even though a lowlife, interesting, compelling and likeable (think Chili Palmer in "Get Shorty").Dennis is none of these things, especially likeable.Instead he comes off as a disinterested, what's happening to me kind of nudnik.

Save yourself the time and money and skip this installment of Leonard.

a study in cool restraint
A less over-the-top story than many Leonard books, this book is a study in cool, both on the part of the author and the main character. Leonard's rhythm is perfect, creating an effortless, casual tone that any writer knows is truly hard work to pull off. Likewise, his protagonist is cool as ice - he has to be to make those death-defying dives - without being an implausible super-hero. No, Leonard shows just the right level of restraint in his storytelling. Readers looking for another Get Shorty may be disappointed, but those interested in the literary equivalent of a long cool drink will find this a refreshing read.

The Man Delivers
That Elmore Leonard has kept writing the same kind of novels for over 40 years is impressive. What's amazing is that, far from losing a step or getting stale, he's finding new ways to deliver the goods.

At one level, 2002's "Tishomingo Blues" is another story about a guy who more or less wanders blindly into the midst of a deadly game. But the setting, the characters, and a surprisingly dense thicket of a plot all conspire to surprise even the most jaded of Dutch's readers, while entertaining most everyone else.

Dennis Lenahan is a professional high diver who routinely plunges from 80 feet in the air into a tub of water that looks more like a half-dollar coin from Lenahan's perspective. When Lenahan executes one such dive after witnessing the murder of his vagrant assistant at a Mississippi casino and resort, it impresses an onlooker named Robert Taylor, a Detroit drug-runner who wants to break into the Dixie Mafia.

Taylor's hardly what you'd call a level customer, but his admiration for Lenahan is genuine. "How many people you know can do what he does?" he asks his lady, Anne.

"He ever saw what you get into he'd die of fright," Anne replies.

Dennis gets a good look when Robert decides to make him his partner, whether Dennis wants to or no. Robert is the kind of guy who talks up his great-grandfather being lynched for talking to a white woman, then makes a point of being a Civil War re-enactor - for the South, riding for Nathan Bedford Forrest, no less. Or at least the guy who is acting the part of Forrest, and who also is connected to the Dixie Mafia in a big way. Watching Robert push buttons like he does is to feel Dennis's dilemma about staying on the right side of the law.

It's the same with Leonard. He sets up a great story with an assortment of odd characters, an offbeat premise, and tangy dialogue. There's even a nice use around the theme of crossroads, as Robert tells Dennis the story of how bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for the gift of music (and never looked back, as Taylor tells it), while the big payoff takes place around the reenactment of Brice's Crossroads, Forrest's greatest victory. The "blues" of the title thus refer both to music and the color uniform Dennis unhappily finds himself in as the bad stuff goes down.

"Tishamingo" fades toward the end a bit as things pan out a bit pat, including a shoehorned romance for Dennis. But the moral ambiguity at the story's center remains firm, providing both the most entertainment and lingering food for thought in this dense but never dull book.

Leonard readers may notice the Indian pitcher Chickasaw Charlie Hoke also appears in Leonard's other 2002 book, "When The Women Come Out To Dance", in the short story bearing his name. Another short from that collection, "Fire In The Hole", details the story of what happened to the Temple of the Cool and Beautiful J.C., a storefront church and marijuana clearinghouse Robert tells Dennis about here.

It's nice catching those connections, especially if you're like me and want to read more Leonard first chance you get. ... Read more

Product Description
They laughed at Roberto Valdez and then ignored him. But when a dark-skinned man was holed up in a shack with a gun, they sent the part-time town constable to deal with the problem -- and made sure he had no choice but to gun the fugitive down. Trouble was, Valdez killed an innocent man. And when he asked for justice -- and some money for the dead man's woman -- they beat Valdez and tied him to a cross. They were still laughing when Valdez came back. And then they began to die...

Customer Reviews (15)

Tell Them, Well Tell The This Might Be The Best Modern Western
This novel is one of the best western novels that I have read. The character is compromised from the start. His environment and choices place him in an environment that prevents him from acting in a manner more common to a Louis Lamour novel. The depravity of the environment is something that Leonard does a very good job in portraying. Its impact upon the main character is very important because it allows the author to illustrate the impossibility of being a hero in an environment that does not want a hero. Valdez is trying to what is needed, but his environment makes it all but impossible to do so. So, he struggles to do what he can. In the process, we are given a great western. A western full of detail, plots, and vibrant characters. It is a read you will not wish to put down once you start. Get it and enjoy.

Just Like the Movie...........
Bought the book after reading "Hombre" and seeing how close to the movie it was. "Valdez..." is just as good as well. It is rare that a movie can be "just-as-the-book" because of the differences of the genres. In this case the movie followed the book rather closely and just as well.

Leonard Classic
I have been on a Leonard spree, just finished Ride the Rap and Out of Sight.I have been wanting to watch Lancaster in Valdez is Coming, but thought I would read the book, since I haven't yet.As usual, it was a page turner.

Even though this came out originally in 1970, it's still a bit ahead of it's time.The lead character -- Robert Valdez is a low key peace officer and former Apache hunter.Leonard is brave enough to have the Mexican warrior-hero getting over on the everyone who wants to just push him off and ignore him.But he doesn't ignore so easy.

Valdez just wants justice for a man's widow but can't seem to find anyone willing to do the right thing on their own.So Valdez has to "convince" them in his own way.

The real value in this story is that Valdez' mores and individuality begin to rub off on the other characters.He earns the respect of the beautiful woman and his enemies who, in the end, find themselves siding more with Valdez than their boss, learn that there is more to respect in a man than his money -- and that there are some things worth fighting for.

In the end, even Valdez has trouble remembering what it was all about.He started off doing something selfless and that turned into finding some things about himself and possibly even a future he never envisioned.But all this did not deter him from enforcing his own code.And finally, it is the code that wins out, even in the face of money and guns.

The ending is more about honor than vengance and is a bit of a surprise.It is a different message than you might find in most pulp westerns.But you have to read the book, I'm not going to spill 'em for you.

Total pleasure.I hate Leonard's books because nothing gets done until you finish it.

Valdez is Coming
This was my first Elmore Leonard western.It was very enjoyable, and it kept me interested all the way.The dialogue was wonderful.I'm very close to giving it 5 stars, but will make it 4. I purchased Leonard's Hombre and will be reading it soon.

Elmore Leonard's "Valdez Is Coming."
I read Leonard's "Gunsight's", & I didn't really care for it, but I tried this book anyway. It was better than "Gunsights", but I still believe that William W. Johnstone's books are a better read. My advice to any western novel fan is try it anyway, --don't miss out because of someone elses opinion. ... Read more

Product Description

Now that his mom's gravy train has derailed, gambling, debt-ridden Palm Beach playboy Warren "Chip" Ganz has decided to take somebody rich hostage—with the help of a Bahamian ex-con, a psycho gardener/enforcer, and the beautiful, if underfed, psychic Reverend Dawn. The trouble is they choose bookmaker Harry Arno as their victim, and Harry can scam with the best. The BIG trouble is ace manhunter U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is sleeping with Harry's ex-exotic dancer ex-girlfriend, and Joyce wants Harry found. And since nearly everyone has guns, locating and springing the captive bookie most probably can't happen without some measure of lethal difficulty.

Customer Reviews (35)

The return of Raylan Givens
In this sequel to PRONTO, Leonard brings back his favorite hero, US Marshal Raylan Givens.Leonard creates a collection of realer-than-life crazies, oddballs, and losers, deftly mixes them together, and comes up with another winner.The man never fails to please.

Great for what it is...
...light, quick, entertainment reading that's always well written, stylish and effortlessly absorbing.I finished it in less than a day.

One does not pick up an Elmore Leonard book hoping to find Dostoyevsky.You don't want to read too many of his books at one time because after a while they quickly feel repetitive; but once every month or two is just about right.Would be great for a transcontinental flight.

Taking Responsibility
Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard

Even though I never read crime thrillers, I read the first chapter of this novel as a short story in the New Yorker and thought it was one of the best things I'd ever read. Not only does Leonard have the perfect ear for a certain kind of dialogue, but his talents extend to description, plot and even purpose.
The story just trips along, light in tone but building sympathy for the good guys, and for the bad guys--not sympathy, but a kind of humorous condescension, knowing as we do that they're going to lose.
Actually, there is a sympathetic moment for one of the crooks, who suffers with dignity a death in the family, when it turns out he is being wrongly suspected of a crime for racist reasons. But no worries: Rayland Wayans, the hero, gets it all sorted out. He's the perfect modern cowboy lawman: cool, terse, and stoic.
He makes a point--on which the title is based--about taking the consequences of one's actions; thus, the crooks he catches learn it's not personal.
Profoundly, Wayans himself must ride the rap: although he is as brave and virtuous as a person can be, he does use a gun for lethal purposes in the line of work, and this fact alone costs him the affections of someone important. Worse, he risks all to rescue a worthless man who turns out to be his rival in romance. It's his job.
But you leave the story feeling that all's right with the world, however unfair things may look. The book does a beautiful job of contrasting those who think life's not fair, and can't be reconciled, with those who get it. Here's Wayans explaining things to two carjackers and a third criminal:
"I don't take what you did personally. You understand? Want to lean on you. Or wish you any more state time'n you deserve. What you'll have to do now is ride the rap, as they say. It's all anybody has to do."

Misses the top mark, but still darn good
Having read ROAD DOGS, I picked this one up to catch the introduction of psychic Dawn Navarro.Unfortunately, I found her disappoingly ambiguous, but the other characters such as U.S. marshall Raylan Givens, Harry Arno, and the three bad guys...Chip Ganz, Bobby Deo, and Louis Lewis.Dialogue and characterization is good here, but the story seem to wander nd become much longer drug out than necessary.This is an entertaining enough story, but not up to the standard of OUT OF SIGHT, GET SHORTY, and ROAD DOGS.

Good, but not great
Ellmore Leonard can't be beat for character development and pacing, but he's asleep at the wheel on this one. Good to see Raylan Givens in action again. He's even more confident in this book. The bad guy, Chip Ganz, wasn't completely believable, but his no good sidekicks were. Lots of cross/double cross action. I'm ambiguous about the psychic character (which is probably how the author meant her to be). ... Read more

Product Description

Working at his brother-in-law's New Orleans funeral home isn't reformed jewel thief Jack Delaney's idea of excitement -- until he's dispatched to a leper's hospital to pick up a corpse that turns out to be very much alive ... and under the care of a beautiful, radical ex-nun in designer jeans. The "deceased" is the one-time squeeze of a Nicaraguan colonel who's ordered her dead for trying to "infect" him, and Sister Lucy's looking to spirit the young woman away from his guns and goons. Plus Lucy's getting ideas about spiriting away some of the colonel's millions as well -- and someone with Jack Delaney's talents could come in very handy indeed.

Customer Reviews (26)

Sexy nun
A sexy ex-nun in an Elmore Leonard novel--need I say more?Sure, BANDITS has the usual great dialogue, colorful characters, and gritty situations, but it also has a sexy ex-nun.If you went to Catholic school or just have a thing for nuns (and I know you're out there, guys), BANDITS is the book for you.All kidding aside, this book is yet another winner from the master of modern crime fiction.

Here's How He Does It. . .
Elmore Leonard has an ear for character. He usually starts with a bad good guy and immediately adds a 'good' and very desirable woman. Then we meet one or two really bad guys and a couple of less good good guys. There's usually a not-so-good desirable woman and one or two totally off-the-charts whackos.
This is not to say that Leonard writes to a formula. It's just that he, like Jimmy Breslin and Vladimir Nabokov Walter Moseley and a few dozen others, returns to the people he loves.
His characters in this book are well-drawn. Jack and Lucy are the heart of the matter-the bad good guy and the good hot woman. They are involved with sleazeleeches who are hustling American right-wingers for cash under pretext of fighting communists in Central America. The action is a bit slow, but the characters and the suspense make up for it.

Lynn Hoffman, author of Bang Bang

Not his best
Elmore Leonard has been lauded as America's greatest living crime writer and having read all of his crime books, I can see why.However, Bandits is clearly not one of Leonard's better works.Leonard claims that he never knows how his books will end, that he lets the characters lead him.In the case of Bandit's it they do not lead him to any strong finish.The characters are always the best part of any Leonard novel, and this cast is rather boring.

In an earlier review, a reader commented that this was an "issue" book and cited both Pagan Babies and Cat Chaser as being in the same category.While Pagan Babies (an excellent read) and Cat Chaser (also good)may have both had issues or causes woven into the story, neither of these suffered from the boring cast of characters and slow moving plotthat Bandits did.Fortunately this kind of disappointment is rare with Leonard's works.

Dialog, dialog, dialog
Superficially, "Bandits" is a caper novel, and not a particularly good one. What saves it is Leonard's characters and especially their dialog. Ignore the plot -- Just sit back, relax, observe, and in particular listen to the characters.

In your list of...........
.............crummy books, you can add this one.Three stars because of the cute writing.The story line sucks. ... Read more

Product Description

Hard-ass Palm Beach County judge Bob Isom Gibbs enjoys sending even petty offenders away to do hard time—which has made the list of miscreants who want him dead longer than a fully grown Florida gator's tail. And a good number of his ill-wishers are probation officer Kathy Baker's clients, including young Dale Crowe and his psycho uncle Elvin. Suddenly Kathy's got an even more daunting task than keeping BIG's horny hands off her: keeping "Maximum Bob" alive. Because Gibbs's many enemies seem to be willing to go to any lengths—be it death by amphibian or some more tried-and-true method—to permanently end the career of an oversexed, racist jurist who's more interested in scoring than saving his own red neck.

Customer Reviews (27)

Elmore Leonard's Twist on The Little Mermaid...
May it please the court... e.g. the reader in this case. Elmore Leonard throws down the gavel in this 1991 crime satire Maximum Bob. Judge Bob Gibbs, aka Maximum Bob is notorious for throwing the book at criminals and dispensing a tough sentence on those miscreants who grace his courtroom, hence the name: Maximum Bob. However Bob, who resembles actor Harry Dean StantonTwister, is a bit of an oddball himself behind the scences, and out of his robe, and is above the law and does not mind engaging in abuse of power. Stranger still is Maximum Bob's wife, Leanne who used to be a mermaid in a Seaworld type show when he first met her, until an accident with an alligator killed that showbiz career, but the near-death experience did cause her to become psychic (she communicates with a dead 12 year old slave girl named Wanda Grace who was killed by an alligator in 1855) which drives Bob up the wall and remains unhappily married until he contrives a way to scare off his little mermaid wife... with what else? An alligator.

Maximum Bob's troubles begin the day Dale Crowe Junior enters his courtroom with probation officer, Kathy Baker (the heroine of the book)--someone MB has taken a special interest in--Dale's uncle is Elvin, a familiar recidivist to Judge Bob Gibbs and a classic Elmore Leonard con and is going to get even with MB before the conclusion of the book.

If you read Carl HiaasenStormy Weather you'll appreciate Elmore Leonard's use of the Florida backdrop in Maximum Bob... and as always, his judicious, street-smart dialogue.

Objections overruled! Maximum Bob is drop-dead funny.

minimum book ?
My 2nd step into Elmore's world (the 1st one was Tarantino's adaptation of Jackie Brown a.k.a. Punch Creole) and it somehow felt like I already had been here before.
Just like QT's movie, it is full of witty dialogues, crazy&stupid bad guys facing heroes that are so "Johndoesque" it is almost boring...and that's the main issue about this book : characters lack of density, there's the good ones and the bad ones and a clear line between both - but it doesn't do much good to thenovel. As a fan of James Ellroy I miss the "dostoievskian" approach to crime he develops in his novels, I missed his epic, bigger than life plots ; EL seems to dwell in writing Cats and Dogs stories mixed with a pinch of love story and a spoonful of craziness, a cocktail many people seem to enjoy...I don't.
It's inventive, dialogues are witty, easy to read (you can skip any page of the book, you won't get lost in here)but not much more than that.

Good Genre Work
Alligators in Florida novels = snakes in Indiana Jones movies.They do make you pay attention and creep the skin.

Elmore Leonard has certainly written better mysteries, but I enjoyed this one well enough.A couple of the characters, particularly the judge of the title, are memorable and the rest are not entirely unidimensional, the fault I find with many crime fiction novels. Writing briefly from the perspective of an alligator has to be a first, and Leonard succeeds in making it believeable.He is ruthless about eliminating characters to scarify the plot, but he is much better at sextual tension than sex scenes, which lean toward the comic though intended to be loving.

Overall, a good entertainment for a long airplane ride or a beach day.

Maximum Bob
Another of Leonard's fast paced, witty and charming mysteries accompanied by a cast of charcters who mix, at times, like oil and water. Nevertheless a wonderful read and funny as all get out!

hyped-up hack-work
Only in latter-day America could a pure hack like Elmore Leonard earn praise from supposedly serious critics, who, like the popular culture they represent, have sunk to levels that would have been unimaginable a generation ago.

Leonard is a commerical writer trying to appeal to the airheaded, politically-correct prejudices of the kinds of "hip" upper-middle-class urbanites and suburbanites who, for example, read the editorial pages of the big metro papers (and write their book reviews) and imagine this kind of thing has something to do with reality or something to do with literature. The characters, dialogue and situations Leonard is noted for in fact ring false on every page. These are the same kind of caricatures and sitcom-esque back-and-forth that could only fool the demographic I just described, that is, people who know nothing about the sub-culture, the legal system, the South, and the other things this poser pretends to be telling them about (to make them feel better about their own pointless collective existence, I suppose).

The worst offense among the lit-pimps are the comparisons of Leonard to Raymond Chandler (a true great), which are simply insulting on every level. Please add a little bit of sanity to this world and go re-read one of Chandler's classics yet again (or, if you like Florida as a setting, read John D. MacDonald, the best of the Chandler imitations) rather than waste time or money on this tone-deaf sleaze merchant, who quite typically pounds out another one of these modern-day pulp jobs about once every other month. ... Read more

Product Description

Trust was rare and precious in the wide-open towns that sprung up like weeds on America's frontier—with hustlers and hucksters arriving in droves by horse, coach, wagon, and rail, and gunmen working both sides of the law, all too eager to end a man's life with a well-placed bullet. The New York Times-bestselling Grand Master of suspense deftly displays the other side of his genius, with seven classic western tales of destiny and fatal decision . . . and trust as essential to survival as it is hard-earned.

Customer Reviews (8)

For those who enjoy western fun
I like the short story format.These short stories are no exception (if you enjoy westerns).A few of these are far better than others, but the book is good on a whole.Surprisingly, one of the weaker stories (but still good) is the title story.The best story in the collection of seven, is the story called "The Captives."This is more than a short story, but less than a novella.It gives the writer a chance to develop some characters and gives more time for the story to evolve.I really ate this story up.I plan on moving onto a full length western novel by Leonard.You may know this name from the GET SHORTY story or movie.

Pardner, Let Me Say They Are Short Stories Not Novels
Ok, first off this is a collection of short stories. It is not a novel, does not even pretend to be. That being said, you might not like this itemif you feel a need to know when a cowboy cooks biscuits, makes water in the mesquite, or remembers his old sweetheart. There are other works for that, such as Lonseome Dove or Last Stand At Saber River, or How the West Was Won. If you need that much detail, skip this book. It does not have it. If you can handle a quick trip to the old west this book is for you. Leonard does provide grit and quick thinking in each story. The tails are chock full of emotion and action without being overdrawn. So, if you can handle a tail in which every action of the characters is not included but this book. If not ride down the trail.

Good
This is a good set of tales by Elmore Leonard, whose writing is lean and efficient, but could do with a few more details.

Some Great Little Stories
I bought this for "3:10 to Yuma," after seeing the most recent version of the film and then the Glenn Ford version (which is now my favorite), and it was interesting to see what a simple story inspired both films, and how the tale grew in the telling (the short story begins at the hotel!). But I ended up enjoying most of these short Western gems and appreciating how well Leonard crafts his tales with grit and humor and the pure desire to entertain.

The Movie was better
This story, from which the movie was taken, is not carried off as well as the movie----which is generally the reverse. This story is kind of 3rd class fiction, and not very endearing to the reader----at least this reader. ... Read more

Product Description
War in Cuba isn't Ben Tyler's concern. Still, sailing mares and guns into Havana harbor in 1898--right past the submerged wreckage of the U.S. battleship Maine--may not be the smartest thing the recently prison-sprung horse wrangler ever did. Neither is shooting one of the local Guardia, though the pompous peacock deserved it. Now Tyler's sitting tight in a vermin-infested Cuban stockade waiting to face a firing squad. But he's not dying until he gets the money he's owed from a two-timing American sugar baron. And there's one smart, pistol-hot lady at the rich man's side who could help Ben get everything he's got rightfully coming...even when the whole damn island's going straight to hell.Amazon.com Review
Elmore Leonard has a long track record of creating memorablecharacters--enough to bring life to many movies, the two most notablebeing GetShorty and Jackie Brown(based onLeonard's Rum Punch). Both are pretty good movies, but thenovels are much better. Today Leonard writes mostly "crime"novels, labeled as such because his characters struggle to be good ina world so full of temptation that some kind of crime isalways involved.

Cuba Libre finds Leonard reachingfor a broader audience than those which appreciated either his crimenovels or the westerns he once wrote, which he accomplishes by combiningelements of both. Ben Tyler is a cowboy who robs banks, but only thosethat contain money of people who owe but won't pay him--he only takeswhat they owe. Charlie Burke is a businessman who buys horses cheap inthe west, then sells them to exporters, while heroine Amelia Brown isthe mistress of one of the truly bad men in the novel and struggleswith dilemmas similar to those endured by other cast members.

Begining around the time that the Maine is sunk in HavanaHarbor and ending when Teddy and others storm San Juan Hill, thestory is at its best when its colorful characters are turned loose inone of the novel's colorful settings. If you like Leonard, you'll love Cuba Libre, and if--for somereason--you haven't yet discovered the author, prepare for a realtreat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (79)

Different time, different setting, same great Leonard
All of Elmore Leonard's books are at heart Westerns--a lone good guy going head-to-head with detestable bad guys,romancing a beautiful woman with a liquid sense of morality and a heart of gold.In CUBA LIBRE he takes us back to 1898 and shows us Cuba at the dawn of the Spanish-American War.It's a history lesson that goes down easy mainly because of EL's considerable storytelling abilities.The pace is a little slower than his contemporary crime novels, but that's understandable because this isn't Detroit or Miami of the 1970s or '80s.But as usual his villains are nasty, his hero flawed but honorable, and the short and sweet dialogue a delight.CUBA LIBRE is a departure for Leonard but a trip well worth taking.

Elmore Leonard fun with a western twist
Elmore Leonard is one of those authors that I almost can't go wrong with. I haven't read more than half a dozen of his books but they've all been pretty good.This one is too.Basically a western transplanted to Cuba.The main character is a cowpoke who just got out of jail for robbing banks (he was just trying to get the money he was owed though) who gets involved with a scheme to ship horses from America to Cuba and sell them for a handsome profit.

Things go awry though when he falls for a gal and then ends up in prison and war breaks out. And $40,000 on a train too.

I liked it.

The history lesson is a bonus
Cuba Libre represents a masterful handling of a middling genre. Leonard breathes life into a fascinating historical period (Cuba, 1989), but this isn't historical fiction in the literary sense.

Rather, this is a pulse-pounding modern suspense novel transposed into an authentic, western-friendly setting. The character development is significant and neatly woven into the text, but all aspects of the story are subservient to fast-paced action and crowd-pleasing plot twists.

People who like historical fiction may be pleasantly surprised by the way this book zips along, running us through a variety of historical settings and events at a breakneck pace. I would also recommend this to those who enjoy a good yarn-- fans of Louis Lamour or even Thomas Harris might find that this book injects that type of story with a little bit of weight.

Slow build-up going nowhere
This was my first Elmore Leonard novel, and I have to say, I thought it was just okay.The historical setting was interesting, the protagonists (Ben and Amelia) were quite likeable, and the villains were suitably vile, and for a while there the plot looked like it was really going somewhere, albeit slowly.However, the climactic train heist, with a good half dozen separate parties after the loot (one hell of a set-up), basically fizzled, and after that not much of interest occurred.

I wouldn't say Cuba Libre was a waste of time to read, and I might try another Elmore Leonard novel again sometime, but if I'd had a bit more advance warning about this one I probably would have skipped it.

Leonard is always good, but this isn't his best
I have read quite a few Elmore Leonard novels and short stories and always find them fast paced, easy reads.Cuba Libre, however, was harder than most to relate to.It is set in Cuba around the time of the Spanish American War and I think it was an odd setting to choose.That doesn't necessarily hamper the novel, but I think it makes it not so representative of Leonard's work.If you are an Elmore Leonard fan, by all means read it and enjoy it.If you haven't read his work before, I would start with something more representative, like Get Shorty or Tishomingo Blues.Then come back to this. ... Read more

Product Description

Before he brilliantly traversed the gritty landscapes of underworld Detroit and Miami, the incomparable Elmore Leonard wrote breathtaking adventures set in America's nineteenth-century western frontier&#8212elevating a popular genre with his now-trademark twisting plots, rich characterizations, and scalpel-sharp dialogue.

Customer Reviews (4)

Leonard is always great
I have read all of Elmore Leonard's novels except the Western ones, which I was not attracted to, however I have now read three of them and they are great too. You just can't go wrong with Leonard.

Talent always shows
I'm not a big fan of western, and seldom buy short story collections. That said, I'm a huge Elmore leonard fan, and it seems that no matter what genre he is writing, or what form (short stories), he almost never misses.

Many of the stories here are traditional westerns like the kind pulps used to publish, but Leonard always gives way more than the average writer no matter the form. Several didn't seem up to the usual standards except where dialogue crackles and gives the story a jolt of life even with a soft plot. But as $8 paperbacks go, even if half the stories are satisfying - for me more like two thirds - the cost is well worth it. All the stories share the Leonard style, and the kind of sparce writing he has created makes them come alive.

Surprising twists mixed with interesting plots and tense drama, even in the western genre make this collection well worth the effort.

Old Leonard in the Old West
I don't know if it's ever been a huge genre, but the western has definitely diminished over the years.At this point, most major bookstores don't even list it in a separate area anymore.The number of western authors who are commonly recognizable names can probably be counted off on a single hand:certainly Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey, and if you're of a more literary bent, Cormac McCarthy.For most people, the name Elmore Leonard invokes thoughts of urban crime stories, but long before he made a name in mysteries, he was also a western writer.

Blood Money and Other Stories is a collection of Leonard's western stories from the 1950s.The opening story, Apache Medicine deals with a cavalry scout's encounter with a son of an Apache chief.Red Hell Hits Diablo Canyon is another cavalry and Indians story.The Last Shot is a Civil War story; Blood Money deals with bank robbers under siege; Saint With a Six-Gun is the story of a young man recruited to be a prison guard for a wily but doomed convict; Man with the Iron Arm is the tale of redemption for a Civil War veteran and The Longest Day of His Life chronicles a day in which a railroad man is robbed, finds love and confronts some old enemies.

All these stories are pretty short; the longest is less than fifty pages of relatively large print.For those familiar with Leonard's later works, there may be a sense of disappointment.These tales were written when Leonard was still honing his craft, and his dynamic dialogue and sly humor is not really present.There is, however, nothing really wrong with any of these stories; even early Leonard is well-written.True to the classic western, there is plenty of action.

I've read a lot of Leonard's western stories, and while I prefer his novels in this genre, even the short stories are entertaining.If you are a fan of either westerns or Leonard, this collection is worth reading.

Western Action from a Mystery Master!
Who woulda thunk one of America's top mystery writers started out writing westerns? Back in the '50s, Elmore Leonard cranked out a number of western short stories and novels, the short stories subsequently being collected in the 2004 hardcover book entitled COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD. This book is one of at least three PBs featuring some of the stories from that 2004 volume.

BLOOD MONEY features seven stories. To be honest, they aren't all that memorable. For one thing, the characters aren't very well-developed. I enjoyed the villain in 'The Longest Day of His Life' story but the story's hero didn't ring true. He seemed much too contemporary, much too glib. 'Apache Medicine' was the story I liked best wherein a Cavalry Scout cleverly kills two birds with one stone. Another story - 'Red Hell Hits Canyon Diablo' - started out well, involving a Cavalry troop looking for a deserter only to be ambushed by Indians. Then the story went Hollywood with the Indians-Cavalry standoff being decided by a mescal drinking contest! Sorry, Elmore, I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that far.

Likewise Leonard didn't evoke the setting of the old West as effectively as, say, Frank Bonham or Fred Grove or Ray Hogan.

In some ways, I think the stories didn't trip my trigger because they're too short, too terse. The skeleton is there but there ain't much meat on the bones.

But, at $5.99, what the heck. Buy a copy; you may like it.
... Read more

Product Description
Father Terry Dunn thought he'd seen everything on the mean streets of Detroit, but that was before he went on a little retreat to Rwanda to evade a tax-fraud indictment. Now the whiskey-drinking, Nine Inch Nails T-shirt-wearing padre is back trying to hustle up a score to help the little orphans of Rwanda. But the fund-raising gets complicated when a former tattletale cohort pops up on Terry's tail. And then there's the lovely Debbie Dewey. A freshly sprung ex-con turned stand-up comic, Debbie needs some fast cash, too, to settle an old score. Now they're in together for a bigger payoff than either could finagle alone. After all, it makes sense...unless Father Terry is working a con of his own.Amazon.com Review
After 30-odd novels, one might think that Elmore Leonard has nothing left to prove. But Pagan Babies, a novel filled with hissignatures (tight plotting, scathing wit, and that grittilyrealistic dialogue), shows once again why he sets the standard againstwhich other crime novels are measured. In fact, Leonard has raised thebar. How many authors would dare use the Rwandan genocide as backdropfor a story that moves gaily between romantic comedy and a massive,labyrinthine con? More to the point, how many of them would pull itoff?

Father Terry Dunn doesn't have qualms about substituting punishment forpenance. If that means killing four Hutu murderers who slaughtered hisTutsi congregation, so be it. Being an instrument of divine wrath hascertain disadvantages, however, so Dunn breaks camp and heads forDetroit, where he's welcomed by family, a five-year-old federalindictment for tax fraud, and a fast-talking fireball named DebbieDewey. Fresh from a stint in prison for assaulting her formerfiancé, Randy, with a Ford Escort, Debbie is out for revenge:

"I still can't believe I fell for it. He tells me he's retiredfrom Merrill Lynch, one of their top traders, and I believed him. Did Icheck? No, not till it was too late. But you know what did me in,besides the hair and the tan? Greed. He said if I had a savingsaccount that wasn't doing much and would like to put it to work... Heshows me his phony portfolio, stock worth millions, and like a dummy Isaid, 'Well, I've got fifty grand not doing too much.' I signed it overand that's the last I saw of my money."

Customer Reviews (72)

Chilling and Very Good to Boot
Genocide is raging as Hutu thugs storm into a church and kill everyone except Father Terry Dunn, who is on the alter saying his first mass. There is nothing he can do about the slaughter, but one day he faces off several of the killers and exacts a chilling penance from them. But who is Terry Duun, really? Is he a priest as he says? He goes home to detroit and runs into Debbie Dewey who is working at a comedy club, doing stand up. Debbie spies and pries until she learns the bizarre truth about Terry.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this super story that will open your eyes to a great injustice even as the story pulls you in deeper and deeper.

Sloppy Leonard work misrepresents reality of Rwanda
I am generally a fan of Elmore Leonard but this work was a terrible piece of junk.It is typical schlock of the kind written by what are called in the political world "useful idiots"; i.e. naive westerners who buy the propaganda of a brutal dictatorship.

In Leonard's Pagan Babies, the Hutus are evil and the Tutsis are noble victims and/or supermen.As a former UN human rights investigator in Rwanda, I know the reality to be very different.The truth is that for centuries, the Tutsis [the last African ethnic group to settle in Rwanda] had, despite being only 10-15% of the population, ruled over the 80-88% Hutus and the 1-2% Twa [the first inhabitants] as the aristocracy or apartheid elite.Then came the Germans who established a protectorate, leaving in place the Tutsi monarchy and ruling through them.When the Belgians took over the colony after Germany's loss in the First World War, it pretty much kept the same system. Unlike in neighbouring Congo, there was not widespread abuse nor much European settlement.At independence, the Hutus gained power and the Tutsi hegemony was ended. Used to being in charge, much of the Tutsi elite did not take this very well.There were several failed rebellions to try to restore their control, all brutally put down and resulting in massacres of innnocent civilians: the sort of scenario one could anticipate if the Boers tried to re-establish control in South Africa.Many Tutsis went into exile in neighbouring countries, particularly Uganda, Burundi [where the Tutsis had managed to maintain control] and Congo [Zaire].Similar to today's Hutu rebels, they often attempted to stage invasions from these neighbouring countries.In the 60's in the Congo, they even allied themselves with the Communist advnturer Che Guevera.Unlike today however, the Hutu government of the day did not invade its neighbours in an attempt to wipe them out.

During the late 70's and early 80's, Tutsi exiles allied themselves with the rebel movement of Yoweri Museveni in Uganda.When he came to power, they occupied key security posts in the Museveni's regime.Fred Rwigema was in charge of the army and Paul Kagame was head of military intelligence.Despite the massive aid they received from Britain and the US, these were not "choir boys".Killings and other human rights abuses were common.At the same time, Ugandans were asking why "foreigners" were playing such an important role in the country.Museveni therefore allowed the elite of his army to form an invasion force - the Rwandan Patriotic Front - to attempt to take over Rwanda.Ostenibly multi-ethnic, it was heavily dominated by Tutsi military serving in the Ugandan army. During one incursion, RPF leader Rwigema was murdered by his fellow Tutsis, possibly linked to Kagame who then took over the movement. Unprovoked, they first invaded in 1990, committing numerous massacres and raising the temperature in the country. They were more successful in 1993, effectively occupying the northern part of Rwanda.This forced the Arusha Peace Accords which were supposed to lead to elections in the small African autocracy.But the Government had no intention of sharing power with the former ruling minority and the RPF knew that, as a primarily Tutsi organization [with a base of 10% of the population], they could never win a democratic election.Both sides continued to prepare for war and in Spring 1994, the RPF shot down the plane carrying the Hutu presidents of Rwanda and Burundi [allowing the Tutsi military in Burundi to retake the power they had never really given up there].Pandemonium broke out in Rwanda.The Tutsi RPF re-started its campaign to take over the country while the Rwandan [Hutu] security forces and [Interahamwe] militias started massacring all Tutsis and moderate Hutus as fifth columnists.The RPF also massacred civilians as reported in the suppressed Gersony Report.Once the RPF had established control, they successfully manipulated Western politicians and other useful idiots like Leonard to put out their own version of events to justify their continued repression.More Hutus, particularly intellectuals, were murdered.Millions of Hutus took refuge in Tanzania and mostly in Zaire [Congo].In Congo, the former security forces and Interahamwe militias controlled the camps and attempted to invade and re-take control.

In 1996-1997, the RPF invaded Zaire with the help of Uganda and other countries, committing many massacres of a genocidal nature similar to what it had done under areas of its control during the genocide [ex. calling peasants to a meeting only to massacre them].With Congolese dictator Mobutu out the way, they set up a puppet government under the leaership of Laurent Desire Kabila, an old comrade in arms from the 60's when they were allied with Che Guevera.The security forces were under Rwandan control: a Rwandan general [James Kabarebe] was in charge of the army and Tutsis occuied many of the key positions.A UN investigation into the massacres carried out by Rwanda and its allies was stymied and buried by Bill Clinton and his administration.When the Congolese got fed up with being run by Rwandan Tutsis, Kabila asked them to leave. Kagame then invented a new "rebellion" and invaded again.

The UN human rights mapping exercise in the Congo recently re-started.The final report had to be leaked in August 2010 in order to prevent it being completely watered down by Rwanda, the US and UK. It is estimated that about 6 million have died in the [re-named] Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of Kagame's invasions and occupations [from massacres but mostly from the pillage and resulting humanitarian conditions].Kagame -and to a lesser extent his former friend Museveni [they fell out over the pillage from the Congo] have continued to stir the pot in order to better exploit the Congo's natural resources. This is mostly done by supporting rebel warlords like Thomas Lubanga [now at the International Criminal Court] and Laurent Nkunda [in exile in Rwanda].

Meanwhile back in Rwanda, Kagame has managed to recreate the Tutsi hegemony of old days.Virtually every position of any importance is held by a Tutsi, usually one that came from Uganda.Opponents are assassinated or thrown in jail, now including many Tutsis who used to be his comrades.Westerners who helped him with his killing and pillaging, like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, continue to sing his praises.UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, known for toadying to dictators, made him co-chair of the Millenium Development Goals Advisory Group, even though he knew him to be a war criminal and World Bank statistics show [despite massive aid, debt relief and pillaging] that higher and higher percentages of Rwandans live in poverty and inequality has doubled.

Perhaps Mr. Leonard should stick to garden variety American criminals.

Improbable characters that work
Who else but Elmore Leonard could come up with a phony priest and an ex-con standup comic as his hero and heroine?I'm guessing the Catholic Church left its marks on him in one way or another because he's had Catholic characters in other books, most notably TOUCH and BANDITS.I went to Catholic school, and the title PAGAN BABIES alone was enough to stir memories and draw me in.(And a tip of the hat to the person who thought to put a mission box on the cover.Perfect!)Leonard unfolds this story of scammers and scumbags with a deft hand, giving us a generous helping of his signature humor and bull's eye dialogue.No one writes like him, and thank God he's so prolific.The man is a national treasure.

Mixing Oil with Water?An Unusual Gangster Story
Elmore Leonard's PAGAN BABIES is a bit of a strange ride so far as gangster stories go.The protagonist is Father Terry Dunn, who may or may not be a real priest (the answer is revealed in the story).As the story opens, we find him in post-genocide Rwanda, hearing confessions nearby his church, which, at the behest of authorities, is still filled with the decaying bodies of the dead, a supposed monument to a massacre that occurred while Terry was presiding over Mass.After a Hutu involved in that massacre confesses that he's about to commit another atrocity, Terry takes action to stop him, and then flees Rwanda for the States.

Back in Detroit, Terry falls in with an ex-convict, Debbie, who is trying to exact revenge on a former boyfriend who had swindled her.(It was because, out of anger, she had run over her boyfriend Randy with her car that she was sent to prison for three years.)Terry and Debby hatch a plan to extort from Randy the money owed Debby, and at the same time benefit Terry.In short order, the plan is modified to hit the gangsters with whom Randy consorts.

Leonard is a master of dialogue, plot, and finding humor in the absurd or grim. The story's rapid dialogue, spun of the patois of Detroit street thugs and gangsters, drives the story almost as much as the intricate plot he weaves.This is a story of deals and double-deals; it's fun to see it all unwind towards the end.Leonard tones down the absurd humor a bit, I suspect because of the Rwanda background story, though it emerges subtly in the stateside scenes.

I found this a great read, but I was troubled a bit by Leonard's use of the Rwanda background story.Might one question whether it's right to use that terrible recent history of genocide as backdrop for what is essentially a contemporary American gangster story? Granted, the horror of that event doesn't feel cheapened in Leonard's hands.At the very least, its appropriateness might make a good topic for a book club discussion.

The Ugly American with a conscience?
This novel is my fourth by Elmore Leonard: I have a great admiration for his style and ability as a writer. This one in characterizations resembles
"Get Shorty". He sort of has the decadence of modern America where priests, lawyers, Gangsters and police seem to leave ordinary people very little
of the pie. The anti-hero is a man who pretends to be a priest, but is actually a small time hood. He runs into the rule that you sometimes become what you are pretending to be, while falling for a female stand-up comedian who is also a tough semi-hood who works for lawyers.
Money for the orphans comes between them... ... Read more

Product Description
Three Complete Novels
From "the best American writer of crime fiction alive" (Newsweek), three thrilling, bestselling mysteries in one hardcover volume. La Brava, Cat Chaser, and Split Images received rave reviews and make it clear why this New York Times bestselling author has been hailed coast to coast as the hottest thriller writer of our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Hard-hitting, sneaky success
I'd only read Get Shorty before this compendium,
and I wanted to further explore Leonard's work (I
saw the movie before I read Get Shorty, so I felt
I'd tainted the experience). This collection turned out to
be just what I needed.

Leonard's characters sneak up on you from the edge of the
page. It's quite a feeling to realize that your
preconceptions about character development are
being ground under Leonard's bootheel. I guess my
next step is buying three more Leonard tales and
supergluing them together to regain that
back-to-back, slug-in-the-gut feeling. Thanks,
Elmore, from a fellow Michigander ... Read more

Product Description

Vincent Majestyk saw too much death in the jungles of Southeast Asia. All he wants to do now is farm his melons and forget. But peace can be an elusive commodity, even in the Arizona hinterlands -- and especially when the local mob is calling all the shots. And one quiet, proud man's refusal to be strong-armed by a powerful hood is about to start a violent chain reaction that will leave Mr. Majestyk ruined, in shackles, and without a friend in the world -- except for one tough and beautiful woman. But his tormentors never realized something about their mark: this is not his first war. Vince Majestyk knows more than they'll ever know about survival ... and everything about revenge.

Customer Reviews (12)

A Solid Early Effort from Leonard
When Elmore Leonard published Mr. Majestyk in 1974, mass success was just around the corner. But Leonard hadn't made his name and he was still polishing his style. Mr. Majestyk contains many of Leonard's trademarks - tough guys, beautiful women, great dialogue, and vivid atmosphere. Still, it is a cut below Leonard's very best.

Mr. Majestyk is a very short novel and the plot is basic. Vincent Majestyk is a Vietnam Vet and a convicted felon who wants to escape his past by growing melons in Arizona. Of course, it doesn't quite work out that way as people try to muscle in on his business.

Leonard fans will notice many similarities in Mr. Majestyk and Leonard's later work. Mr. Majestyk evokes the "feel" of the Arizona desert. It also has the usual assortment of great Leonard rough characters who help create the gritty atmosphere. Consider this description:

"The gas station attendant said to himself, ---- Get up at five in the morning to sell three bucks' worth. Wait around all day and watch the tourists drive by. Four-thirty sell the migrants a buck's worth. ----"

Leonard's novels seem simple, but he introduces some complex elements. For instance, at the end of Mr. Majestyk he uses "cross cuts" - in which he describes a sequence of events, but uses multiple narrators to tell the story. The reader has no trouble following what is happening - which is a tribute to Leonard's skill.

This novel differs from Leonard's later work. The plot has more action, and less snappy dialogue. Also, Leonard's characters aren't as "hip" and they don't behave absurdly - which are weaknesses in some of his novels.

Mr. Majestyk isn't Leonard's best novel. But it's great fun and easy reading - a perfect beach book.

Majestyk Melon Wars
Another in a long line of Elmore Leonard thrillers.Apparently this one started out as a Charles Bronson film, with the screenplay by Leonard. Story is Clint Eastwood turned down the role so it went to Bronson, dont know if they considered Sylvester Stallone or not.

Anyway, this is a short read, only 4.5 hours on the audio version.Majestyk is a tough Army Ranger who has retired to Arizona to grow melons.I never knew how dangerous that occupation is, but apparently is it fraught with big-time gangsters, small-time hoodlums, racists, and very pretty union organizers. Of course, our protagonist overcomes all this, and still gets the melons picked in time. The cops start out arresting Majestyk, then come to support him when they realize he personifies all that is good in our free enterprise system and is a lot tougher than they are.

As is typical in Leonard's books, we have great characters (unfortunately the bad guys kill one in a hit and run of a roadside porta-potty), lots of local color, insights into the inner workings (who knew you had to turn melons over by hand if not sufficiently ripe), tough guys, even tougher girls, wine-heads, and gritty dialogue.We even have a crime syndicate run by a corrupt lawyer, who has converted the mob into a limited partnership with an HR department to provide annual performance reviews, corporate housing and bimbos.

Everyone should take these Elmore books to the beach or listen to them in the car, always great fun, suitable for all ages.

The First Rambo?
Written in 1974 and then re-released in a new 2002 edition, Mr. Majestyk
is an average crime, revenge, Western action novel.In 1981 First Blood, the original Rambo novel by David Morrell appeared, and the two books have
some similarities: The protagonist was in Viet Nam, learned to kill skillfully and silently in the jungle; upon return to a sparsely populated
area, he wanted to live alone; when hasselled by the police, his steely
nature appeared; both characters spend the rest of the novel seeking to
avenge wrongful treatment.Maybe this is true of many novels during the post-war period, but the parallels were interesting.
As for style, it's lean prose with fairly ordinary dialogue.Overall,
not a word wasted.

Outstanding suspense wrapped in character development
The more I read Elmore Leonard the more I appreciate movies made from his authentic, down-to-earth stories.

Every scene he depicts is shown through the eyes of someone each of us knows as a friend or an acquaintance instead of from some hifalutin artistic writer in love with words or his own voice.

Mr. Majestyk, the movie, is one of those rare movies that is both as good as the novel and stays true to the novel itself. Probably it stays true because Elmore Leonard writes in pictures instead of in five syllable words. Also, perhaps, because Mr. Leonard is a master story teller - C. William Anderson, aka Travis C. Ward.

There is more --- the book has bonus materials for your reading enjoyment and to ease your effort to complete your collection of Elmore Leonard titles.

I promise you this...Read one Elmore Leonard story and you'll bust a gut to get the next, and the next, and the next.

Guard those melons
Elmore Leonard's 1974 pulp thriller owes much of its renown to a film treatment starring Charles Bronson.But as a freestanding novel, 'Mr. Majestyk' is a sturdy piece of craftsmanship and a benchmark for the genre.Just 216 pages long in the recent HarperTorch softcover edition, it is the engaging story of Vincent Majestyk, a former POW from the American tactical missions in Laos, who finds his Arizona melon-growing business under siege by local mob bosses.

'Mr. Majestyk' uses an intricate storyline, placing Vincent at odds with mob head Frank Renda, the police, and his loyal farmhand Nancy Chavez, with whom he falls in love despite a stoic attitude.The novel is mostly driven by Majestyk's intense self-respect and desire to live on his own terms.Leonard keeps a fairly good pace in advancing the story, providing balanced character insights and a limited but well-made helping of shootouts and car chases.

During lulls in the action, 'Majestyk' interestingly portrays migrant farm work that still employs thousands of Chicanos in the United States each year.Leonard's Arizona setting is a living, breathing one, allowing us to feel the dust, intense sunlight, and stillness.The lead players are given enough color and shape for readers to stay interested, although character development is typically lacking.Plot gaps and far-fetched situations (two chronic symptoms of thrillers) also have their place in 'Majestyk,' but the story is far too entertaining, at least in my opinion, for these weaknesses to jump off the page and spoil a reader's enjoyment.

'Majestyk' is recommended for thriller fans and available from HarperTorch in an October 2002 printing.A sneak preview of Leonard's 'Tishomingo Blues' is also provided after the novel's conclusion.
... Read more

Product Description
Ordell "Whitebread" Robbie makes a fine living selling illegal high-powered weaponry to the wrong people. Jackie Burke couriers Ordell's profits from Freeport to Miami. But the feds are on to Jackie -- and now the aging, but still hot, flight attendant will have to do prison time or play ball, which makes her a prime "loose end" that Ordell needs to tie up permanently. Jackie, however, has other options. And with the help of Max Cherry -- an honest but disgruntled bail bondsman looking to get out -- she could even end up with a serious nest egg in the process.

Customer Reviews (56)

Forget the movie if you can
It's always hard to read the book after you've seen the movie, and in this case it's particularly difficult to erase Quentin Tarantino "Jackie Brown," one his rare missteps.But don't let that keep you from reading RUM PUNCH, the novel that was the basis for that film.Leonard's losers, dreamers, and baddies seemed out of place in Tarantino-land, and the book's taut, hyper-real dialogue didn't translate well to the screen.In the book Jackie Burke (not Brown) and Max Cherry are great together, and gunrunner Ordell Robbie is just too much.Like all of Leonard's best books, RUM PUNCH is tart and tangy.(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I love the Leonard women...
Women definitely star in this novel with with Jackie, Melanie, and even Simone.All in all, this is Elmore Leonard at the top o his style with twists and keen insight into the human character.

quinten tarriotinos JACKIE BROWN
this is the book that quinten tarrintinos movie Jackie Brown came from. it was a good read and alot like the movie. its about a flight attendant that gets busted transporting coke into the USA. she strikes a deal with the ATF to set up a gun smuggler that she knows... what happens.. ? read it and find out!

Pretty Good Elmore Leonard
Rum Punch is a pretty good representation of Elmore Leonard's style.The story focuses on a flight attendant attempting to bring half a million dollars into the country, and then in true Leonard style, all the colorful characters (some on the side of law, others not) who try to gets their hands on the money.

The book features some strong dialogue, particularly when the gun runner Ordell Robbie is speaking.Another strong element is the way that Leonard easily switches perspective--from the flight attendant to the gun runner to an ex-con to a bails bondsman.While the book is good, it is not on the same level of Leonard's Get Shorty.I think the book's one flaw is that while the twists are good and the story rings true, there is nothing particularly unique about the story.

The book was made into a movie titled Jackie Brown, which despite changing the title and locale (from South Florida to Los Angeles), is surprisingly faithful to the book.The movie is okay, but the book is better.

couldn't get into it
I enjoyed the film based on this novel, but couldn't get into reading it. I don't know why, maybe it's just me.Maybe because the characters in the movie were changed too much...I don't know...but I just lost track of the book less than half way through. ... Read more

Product Description
Itwas Prohibition, and a big, hell-raising SonMartin had himself something special: $125,000 worthof Kentucky's finest home-made whiskey, no one wasgoing to steal it. Because when it came toshooting, fighting, and outsmarting the Big Boys, SonMartin wasn't just good. He was bad . . .dangerous.. . and deadly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Grade ALeonard
"The Moonshine War," is Grade-A Leonard.Written in 1969, one could say it was written at a time when Leonard was still a wonderful secret, and not yet a trendy discovery for People Magazine.What makes "The Moonshine War" a bit different than some of Leonard's crime novels, is that it is set in the not too distant past - 1931.So to some extent it is a historical novel. The setting is Eastern Kentucky. True,Leonard skates pretty lightly over the regional specifics (dialect, land descriptions, etc.) - the kind of things that make Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy so authentic in a literary sense.But Leonard does throw enough in to make it thriller believable.Authentic details regarding the making of moonshine, historical nods, such as the Spanish flu, WW 1, and the kind of overalls men wore, for the most part root the reader well enough.The characters are as solid as any Leonard has created. Son Martin, the novel's hero, is your typical Leonard tough-guy.Quiet, operating on the edge of things, something of an outlaw himself.The bad guys are what you would expect.Vicious, erratic, and often kind of stupid.Of particular note, however, is Dr. Taulbee, a murderous bootlegger, who is smarter than your average Leonard criminal, and a difficult opponent for Son Martin.But he has a weak spot - Miley, a beautiful (and amoral) prostitute, who's along for the ride, though she's always looking for a reliable man.Son, with his internal code of honor, is closer to fitting that description than the good doctor, and Miley, who recognized this, is in her own way a more admirable character than Mrs. Lyons, Son's long-running love interest from town.

The plot in "The Moonshine War," is pretty simple: bootleggers trying to steal Son's hidden whiskey, and Son's reluctance to let that happen.There are echoes of "High Noon," as Son's friends and neighbors abandon him to the bootleggers.One questions whether mountain folks would abandon one of their own to an assault from outsiders, but Leonard seems to anticipate this, when he has a neighbor of Son's tell him that the difference in their predicament is that Son has no family being threatened.In essence, to what extent Son cares for his neighbors is thus returned, in kind, which makes the ending appropriate, and well done.Leonard's endings can sometimes be disappointing.I have remarked on this myself ("52 Pickup").But my complaint had more to do with the fireworks leading up to the end of that novel.If you look at the range of Leonard's work, you see an author who likes the open ended ending.It is a deliberate artistic choice by Leonard. At his best (for example, "Valdez is Coming," "City Primeval") he leaves the reader with a vivid, even mythic, tableau that invites the reader in. Leonard loves his High Noon moments, and will often freeze it, in novel after novel, like a photograph of opponents squared away on Main Street, guns drawn, with the sun beating down."The Moonshine War," to my mind sits up there with the best of Leonard.

One of my all-time favorites
Maybe I'm biased because I'm from Kentucky and my mother's side of the family ran a still during prohibition.Nonetheless, this book dazzled me.The story and characters are of course fantastic, even gauged against Leonard's many other fine novels.But, the language and dialogue make Moonshine War a really phenomenal experience.As you read it, you can feel Kentucky staring back at you from the pages.

If you've paged down this far, then you've already heard about the unique ending.Albeit abrupt, the ending still justifies the rest of the story.Pick up this hot little story in paperback and enjoy.

GOOD BOOK--BAD ENDING!!!!!
Son Martin has 150 barrels of mooonshine that have been ageing for eight years. It is time to go to market and then Frank Long shows up. He is an old Army buddy plus a Prohibition Agent. Does not take long for Frank to realize he needs to be a partner with Son and get his share of the whiskey money and forget about being an Agent. He calls Dr. Emmett Taulbee, a former dentist and now a mooonshiner his self, to help. Befor long Taulbee, Dual Meaders, his hired killer, an others take over. There is lot of breaking up stills and shooting before it all ends. Son is tough and smart, will he win out? A lot of action, a quick read and you won't want to put it down. I was thinkingfive stars until the last few pages. It seems like the book just quit. There was no real ending. There are a least four people, that you care about, that you don't know what happened to them. I won't name them so it won't ruin the book for you. I guess it is a five if you write your own ending.

Intriguing characters, good suspense
I picked up this older Elmore Leonard at a used book sale -- very glad I did.It is one of the best Leonard books I've read.The main (male) character is a strong, silent type -- even more inscrutable than many of Leonard's other leading men.And there's a nice mixed bag of bad guys.The plot has very good momentum, and though it may seem to end somewhat "abruptly" I liked the ending because it wasn't pat.

Great story about the Prohibition era - Highly recommended
I loved this book!It was so good, I couldn't put it down and finished it within 24 hours.The ending surprised me....I had another ending in mind.Don't get me wrong ...it was a good ending...it just surprised me. HappyReading! ... Read more

Product Description

Brendan Early and Dana Moon have tracked renegade Apaches together and gunned down scalp hunters to become Arizona legends. But now they face each other from opposite sides of what newspapers are calling The Rincon Mountain War. Brendan and a gang of mining company gun thugs are dead set on running Dana and "the People of the Mountain" from their land. The characters are unforgettable, the plot packed with action and gunfights from beginning to end.

Customer Reviews (9)

Once upon a time
Once upon a time in the 50's and the 60's Westerns were the story of choice for readers and writers.Many a boy devoured westerns late at night and learned to read with horses, Indians, and blazing guns as guides.All writers wrote a werstern or two to pay the bills while they worked on other books.Some writers learned to write by doing westerns. Elmore Leonard is one of those who began in westerns and some people have said he rose out of those depths to become a serious writer.Well folks they are wrong.Leonard's westerns are classics.His HOMBRE and VALDEZ IS COMING were the bases for some of the best western movies ever made.THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is Leonard's first novel according to the back cover of the book.For a first novel it doesn't have any of the teething problems that are found in most first books.No Leonard was good right out of the box.THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is a great example of what made westerns popular.Basic story of good and evil with fully developed heroes and very bad vilians.The Indians are treated fairly and are show in a realistic light.The action is straight forward and realistic.The prose is the same prose of Leonard today.No this book is a trip to another time and place in American history, those times of the 50's and 60's when things were peaceful and the only action was in books.I miss this time in Americanliterature.So you might take a look at this and see where Leonard began and compare it to his present works.It is worth the time to read it and think about the time it was written in.

Let's hear it for the girls
The women are more interesting than the guys in this one. As with many of Leonard's works, toughness goes beyond gender. A fine straight ahead story of guys posturing and gals kicking butt.

wstrnnut
Having been familiar (and a huge fan) of works like "Valdez is Coming" and "Hombre", I was really looking forward to this book.It may have been just me, but I had a hard time getting into it.Staying the course, I did enjoy it.I appreciated how Mr. Leonard played off the two main characters (Dana Moon and Brendan Early) and interlaced the plot with historical places and events.But I was somewhat disappointed in the ending.Again, that may just be me.With all the wonderful books he has penned, he deserves the utmost credit.

Elmore Leonard's "Gunsights"
It's worth a try for any western novel fan, but I thought that the plot dragged, & I didn't care for the prose. William W. Johnstone's books make for a better read.

Can't get the drop on Elmore Leonard out West...
I have a problem. I came to the Western recently, sort of as an accident after getting involved in single-action revolver shooting. I started with L'Amour, as perhaps most newcomers do, because he's so well known and has so many titles out there. I read a few; they're good, solid 3-star books. Then a friend says: "Elmore Leonard wrote mysteries. Read them. Start with Valdez is Coming". So I did, then with Hombre, and now with Gunsights.
Gunsights is a "land war" Western with several twists; it's really a buddy story where the pals, tough gunfighters of different temperaments who've been through a lot together, end up on opposite sides of the war later on in their careers. They work it out.
The narrative shifts points of view and provides the backstory in flashbacks during the main thread of the tale; this is handled very well by Leonard, as is his use of newspapermen covering the "war"; which gives a "late West" flavor that lends a sense of irony sometimes. The narrative structure is very different than "Valdez is Coming" or "Hombre", but is very effective.
But Leonard's genius is in the way he lets the story speak through the characters' words and actions. He eschews all of the internal soliloquies in the protagonists thoughts that are usually only an author's way of making heavy-handed points. This seems uncommon in this genre. He lacks utterly the unrealistic sentimentality of L'Amour (and many other Western writers better than L'Amour, such as Elmer Kelton), and yet his stories are not dark, and often have strong moral points to make. But they are integral to the action of the story itself, which is the thing.
My problem? Where do I find someone as good in this genre when I'm done with Elmore Leonard? ... Read more

Product Description
One of America's favorite writers captures the wild and glorious spirit of the American West.

Set against a breathtaking landscape painted with eloquent stories, here are the extraordinary characters, the desperate odds, and the spirit of a wild frontier as only Elmore Leonard can evoke them. In these three classic novels, Leonard has crafted raw, hard-bitten tales of courage, treachery, and redemption. In The Bounty Hunters, a cavalryman turned Indian scout rides after an Apache renegade&151;while he himself is pursued by a hate-filled relationship with a powerful army commander. In Forty Lashes Less One, two prisoners search for a way out of a hellhole of hatred and suffering—and find it in a crazed, violent contest. And in Gunsights, an Arizona land war draws a carnival of reporters, photographers, and spectators, while it puts two fierce frontier fighters and best friends on opposite sides of a deadly serious fight.

Elmore Leonard’s electrifying western novels, many captured on film, stand as some of the most vivid writing of his career. Crackling with Leonard’s trademark dialogue, set against a beautifully evoked landscape, here are classic works that capture the wild and glorious spirit of the American West. ... Read more