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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Dated, but enjoyable. Well-drawn characters and Stick has unbelievable nerve. Had to read the ending twice before I realized what had happened; good one!
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have always enjoyed reading an Elmore Leonard book. The stories are always entertaining. This book was no exception.
Forget that earlier review (way down below) from 2013.
This is from my most recent (2019/October) re-read of possibly my all-time favorite Elmore Leonard novel.
This is the 2nd novel with Ernest Stickley, Jr, 42 years old, originally from Norman, Oklahoma most recently from Jackson, Michigan. From a prison they have up there.
Stick was doing a seven year stretch for events that occurred in the novel [bc:Ryan's Rules|13596703|Ryan's Rules|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334090247l/13596703._SY75_.jpg|941808] aka [bc:Swag|17885827|Swag|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367796394l/17885827._SY75_.jpg|941808] which is why you need to read that novel before reading this one, [bc:Stick|288950|Stick|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347897425l/288950._SX50_.jpg|3167348] .
Stick has killed four men but for god's sake, please don't tell anyone else about those previous unfortunate events.
All he wants to do now is go straight.
He's down in Florida to see his now teenage daughter.
Maybe look for a job.
Just following the flow of the currents of his life.
It all goes to hell in the first chapter.
Read it and weep.
Suffice to say he runs afoul of some pretty terrifying characters.
Stick lays low for a while.
Moves south, closer to Miami but then returns. He really wants to get to know his teenage daughter.
Months later, in that Florida sun he's lost his prison pallor and he's looking like a life guard and nursing a vengeance trip.
He's sitting on the steps of an upscale bar contemplating going back to stealing cars and he's got his eyes set on a vintage Rolls Royce when the owner of the Rolls, a screwy lawyer/stock investor winds up hiring him as a chauffeur.
The gentleman likes to play the streetwise tough guy.
Trying to sound on the muscle now, a hard-nose. The guy should try out for the movies. See if in about a hundred years he could take Warren Oates's place. Christ. Why wouldn't he just relax and enjoy being rich? One the phone again, talking to his Rorie. The little asshole big-dealer sitting in the back seat of his limo in his tennis whites trying to sound like a hardass and coming off like Eddie Fisher doing Marlon Brando.
Soon, Stick is part of the happy family, living in his bachelor pad in the live-in garage apartment on the man's multi-million dollar estate.
This is an action packed thriller that is laugh-out-loud funny. Certainly Dutch Leonard's funniest situations and dialogue up to this point in his career.
I finished the last page and a quarter laughing.
Which is a rarity when it comes to reading crime thrillers.
Along with RYAN'S RULES aka SWAG, I would recommend this to Dutch Leonard newcomers and
longtime fans.
==============================================================================
Recommended to new Elmore Leonard fans and old.
This was the third Elmore Leonard book I read after reading Unknown Man No. 89 and City Primeval.
Probably best enjoyed if you read [b:Swag|288987|Swag|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408929227l/288987._SY75_.jpg|941808] first.
I read most of early novels out of sequence and I've been a fan for over 30 years.
This is from my most recent (2019/October) re-read of possibly my all-time favorite Elmore Leonard novel.
This is the 2nd novel with Ernest Stickley, Jr, 42 years old, originally from Norman, Oklahoma most recently from Jackson, Michigan. From a prison they have up there.
Stick was doing a seven year stretch for events that occurred in the novel [bc:Ryan's Rules|13596703|Ryan's Rules|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334090247l/13596703._SY75_.jpg|941808] aka [bc:Swag|17885827|Swag|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367796394l/17885827._SY75_.jpg|941808] which is why you need to read that novel before reading this one, [bc:Stick|288950|Stick|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347897425l/288950._SX50_.jpg|3167348] .
Stick has killed four men but for god's sake, please don't tell anyone else about those previous unfortunate events.
All he wants to do now is go straight.
He's down in Florida to see his now teenage daughter.
Maybe look for a job.
Just following the flow of the currents of his life.
It all goes to hell in the first chapter.
Read it and weep.
Suffice to say he runs afoul of some pretty terrifying characters.
Stick lays low for a while.
Moves south, closer to Miami but then returns. He really wants to get to know his teenage daughter.
Months later, in that Florida sun he's lost his prison pallor and he's looking like a life guard and nursing a vengeance trip.
He's sitting on the steps of an upscale bar contemplating going back to stealing cars and he's got his eyes set on a vintage Rolls Royce when the owner of the Rolls, a screwy lawyer/stock investor winds up hiring him as a chauffeur.
The gentleman likes to play the streetwise tough guy.
Trying to sound on the muscle now, a hard-nose. The guy should try out for the movies. See if in about a hundred years he could take Warren Oates's place. Christ. Why wouldn't he just relax and enjoy being rich? One the phone again, talking to his Rorie. The little asshole big-dealer sitting in the back seat of his limo in his tennis whites trying to sound like a hardass and coming off like Eddie Fisher doing Marlon Brando.
Soon, Stick is part of the happy family, living in his bachelor pad in the live-in garage apartment on the man's multi-million dollar estate.
This is an action packed thriller that is laugh-out-loud funny. Certainly Dutch Leonard's funniest situations and dialogue up to this point in his career.
I finished the last page and a quarter laughing.
Which is a rarity when it comes to reading crime thrillers.
Along with RYAN'S RULES aka SWAG, I would recommend this to Dutch Leonard newcomers and
longtime fans.
==============================================================================
Recommended to new Elmore Leonard fans and old.
This was the third Elmore Leonard book I read after reading Unknown Man No. 89 and City Primeval.
Probably best enjoyed if you read [b:Swag|288987|Swag|Elmore Leonard|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408929227l/288987._SY75_.jpg|941808] first.
I read most of early novels out of sequence and I've been a fan for over 30 years.
Minor Leonard is still pretty entertaining in a low stakes kind of way. The stakes are SO LOW that you never at any point doubt Stick's superiority over antagonists Moke and Chucky. Two other antagonists sort of let their beef with him go because they are rational adults. He constantly outwits his boss. He fucks three different women without really trying on the same day (which, to be fair, is painted as a once-in-a-lifetime event almost near to magical realism).
It's literally 300+ pages of hanging out with this guy.
The twist in the final chapter might as well have had Leonard end it with doing a circle wipe on Stick's face as he grins sheepishly into the camera, shrugging.
It's literally 300+ pages of hanging out with this guy.
The twist in the final chapter might as well have had Leonard end it with doing a circle wipe on Stick's face as he grins sheepishly into the camera, shrugging.
This book is awful. What a letdown after loving Swag. It’s so bad that now I wonder about my assessment of that book. This just goes on and on, if they’d edited out half the book it would still have been far too long.
I wasn’t reading this to get smarter, I feel like a crime novel only has to pass one test. Don’t be boring. Cheap thrills? Bring them on. What, you want to test my credulity? Please, go right ahead. Just don’t put me to sleep. I’m actually angry at this book right now, if it wasn’t on my iPad I would throw it on the floor.
I wasn’t reading this to get smarter, I feel like a crime novel only has to pass one test. Don’t be boring. Cheap thrills? Bring them on. What, you want to test my credulity? Please, go right ahead. Just don’t put me to sleep. I’m actually angry at this book right now, if it wasn’t on my iPad I would throw it on the floor.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This month I found myself on a cruise. I figured that Elmore Leonard would be perfect cruise reading, and I had this one sitting around from my last dive into Leonard's oeuvre.
If you like Leonard's crime novels, you'll like this one. Far from his best, but entertaining in the same way the others are.
Perfect for reading on a cruise.
If you like Leonard's crime novels, you'll like this one. Far from his best, but entertaining in the same way the others are.
Perfect for reading on a cruise.