Swag by Elmore Leonard
Despite being a longtime Elmore Leonard fan, Swag is about the only well-regarded book of his I have yet to read. And I don’t know why I put it off for so long. I made excuse-after-excuse because there was always something else to read. But when I saw it at a used book store (bless them), I figured it was time to get to it. And thanks to this pandemic (sarcasm), I decided to knock it out. Yeah, there was no reason to wait. This book was […]
Swag by Elmore Leonard
Swag is classic Elmore Leonard. Criminals who think they’re smarter than they actually are, heists that are too complex for their own good, double-crosses motivated by greed and mistrust, and crisp pose packed with crackling dialogue. When used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches Ernest “Stick” Stickley trying to drive off the lot with a stolen car, he decides to see it as an opportunity. Refusing to identify Stick in court, Ryan approaches him with a business proposition. He wants the two of them to join up […]
The Switch by Elmore Leonard
You can always count on Elmore Leonard. If you’re in the mood for an entertaining caper written in fluid, clean prose than Leonard’s your man. The Switch is no exception. Mickey Dawson is increasingly dissatisfied with her life as a housewife in the tony Detroit suburbs. Her husband Frank is a boorish drunk whose miserable everywhere but the golf course and their teenage son is starting to remind her too much of his dad. She’s also angry at herself for never summoning up the courage […]
What’s with you, kid? You think the death of Raymond Chandler left an opening in the Rat Pack? Im amused that my pick for Home Sweet Home’s bingo square, Bloomfield Hills Michigan’s own Elmore Leonard, spends about two lines on Detroit before moving the action to California, in this apparent sequel to Out of Sight. I dunno. It was a buck and I needed that home square space, I saw the movie when I was in middle school, but I remember the plot points neatly […]
Presumed Innocent: 4/5 Stars So I didn’t realize this was the same as the Harrison Ford movie until about halfway through the book. I picked it up for two distinct reasons: 1) It was listed as one of the best legal thrillers (old school, we’ll call it) and that reason checks out and 2) the audiobook was read by Edward Hermann, which is obviously great. I have heard him read one book before and it was so good. So the novel itself is told from […]
After Djibouti I needed some classic Leonard to get me back on track as a fan. The aforementioned novel was one of his last, and is quite the slog, so I was eager to give him another go as I am enamored with his characters as I have seen them in the hit show “Justified.” Get Shorty, later made into the film starring Travolta, is a hoot and a half. I am always a fan of mobsters (I adore Casino, Goodfellas, etc) and a touch […]
