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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
This book was as much fun as the last crime novel by Elmore Leonard that I read and is every bit as good as the next crime novel by Elmore Leonard that I intend to read.
This was the third time I've read this novel.
The 1st time I read this was back when the book was 1st published in 1987.
I read it again in the mid 1990's.
Odd thing about reading it a third time: it came to me as fresh as the first time.
I found that I'd forgotten key plot details.
My question: does plot even matter when it comes to an Elmore Leonard novel?
Reason I read Elmore Leonard novels is not because I'm all into the heist or the scam the main characters are planning. I don't read them because I want to find out how aggrieved parties exact revenge from an offending villain.
I read and re-read Elmore Leonard's novels because I love his characters.
I love the way he creates distinctive voices for the various characters in his novels.
I love the dialogue.
Amazon's plot description reads:
Reformed jewel thief Jack Delaney was going straight - until he met sexy ex nun Lucy Nichols. Jack's in the funeral business and when he's sent to collect a body from a leper hospital, he finds it in Sister Lucy's care - and very much alive. Lucy's on a goodwill mission, hoping to smuggle the 'deceased' away from her dangerous ex, a Nicaraguan colonel with guns and goons aplenty. And it just so happens the colonel's also got several million dollars that could aid Lucy's quest to help mankind. With a crazy plan in hand and ex cop Roy Hicks on board, they plot to rob the colonel's coffers, and they're sure to make out like bandits - if they live that long...
Well sure, that's the basic plot ...although that synopsis fails to mention one of Elmore Leonard's most unforgettable characters: Franklin De Dios –an especially intriguing -and violent- man of honor.
Great fun.
It's not noir.
It's not really a crime novel.
It's not even a caper novel in the Donald Westlake tradition.
It's out there in a field uniquely "Dutch".
This was the third time I've read this novel.
The 1st time I read this was back when the book was 1st published in 1987.
I read it again in the mid 1990's.
Odd thing about reading it a third time: it came to me as fresh as the first time.
I found that I'd forgotten key plot details.
My question: does plot even matter when it comes to an Elmore Leonard novel?
Reason I read Elmore Leonard novels is not because I'm all into the heist or the scam the main characters are planning. I don't read them because I want to find out how aggrieved parties exact revenge from an offending villain.
I read and re-read Elmore Leonard's novels because I love his characters.
I love the way he creates distinctive voices for the various characters in his novels.
I love the dialogue.
Amazon's plot description reads:
Reformed jewel thief Jack Delaney was going straight - until he met sexy ex nun Lucy Nichols. Jack's in the funeral business and when he's sent to collect a body from a leper hospital, he finds it in Sister Lucy's care - and very much alive. Lucy's on a goodwill mission, hoping to smuggle the 'deceased' away from her dangerous ex, a Nicaraguan colonel with guns and goons aplenty. And it just so happens the colonel's also got several million dollars that could aid Lucy's quest to help mankind. With a crazy plan in hand and ex cop Roy Hicks on board, they plot to rob the colonel's coffers, and they're sure to make out like bandits - if they live that long...
Well sure, that's the basic plot ...although that synopsis fails to mention one of Elmore Leonard's most unforgettable characters: Franklin De Dios –an especially intriguing -and violent- man of honor.
Great fun.
It's not noir.
It's not really a crime novel.
It's not even a caper novel in the Donald Westlake tradition.
It's out there in a field uniquely "Dutch".
An ex-nun, ex-con and ex-cop get together to pull off a heist. What more do you need to hear?
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hehehe Elmore? He tell you which side of the cold war he on in this one...
A breezy read that is oddly millennial, what with the communist sympathizing and cuddles instead of sex (twice!).
Very good Leonard crime starter, I would say.
A breezy read that is oddly millennial, what with the communist sympathizing and cuddles instead of sex (twice!).
Very good Leonard crime starter, I would say.
not really my genre, but I've never read a book by EL, so gave it a try. Entertaining adventure tale set in N'Orleans with an ex-con jewellry thief who works as an undertaker 's assistant and teams up with a nun who worked in a leper hospital in Nicaragua. they plan to steal millions from a colonel in the contras who wants to beat the sadinistas.
well written and a good page turner.
well written and a good page turner.
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'd like to see a TV series that follows Franklin's adventures m
Not everyone is satisfied with a steady job, a two-story house, and a white-picketed lawn. Elmore Leonard characters, for instance. Leonard's books usually showcase men who have spent time in prison or who were slightly crooked, burned-out cops. Often these gentlemen in the beginning of a Leonard story are in the middle of an attempt to go straight or retire, working at present in regular normal jobs. Most of the time, they are natives of the American South, and they tend to have links particularly to Florida. Cubans and South Americans who want guns generally cross paths with people in the books, along with drug dealers with various degrees of intelligence. Some characters have a great capacity for killing, but most are reluctant to go that far in their plans to steal money or in resolving an issue from their pasts. Most of them are reluctant to kill. The psychopaths keep everyone guessing...
Perhaps, gentle reader, you are familiar with some of Leonard's specific fictional crowd of ne'er-do-wells as he has been writing bestsellers for decades, and some of his books have become movies. Some of his novels are clearly literary, but others do not quite go there. All are highly entertaining. All of them are fun, whatever their quality. 'Bandits' is a fun beach read, although not quite as special as some of the other of Leonard's books.
Jack Delaney is an ex-con, a jewelry thief, who is working at his brother-in-law's mortuary near Carville, Louisiana. Jack's sister Raejeanne is married to Leo Mullen, Jack's boss. Jack and Leo get along fine, despite the differences in their personalities. However, Jack knows he is treading water. He is missing something in his life, an excitement which has been missing since he got out of Angola Prison three years previously.
Jack reluctantly drives the mortuary's hearse to Charity Hospital, a leprosy colony in Carville. He is a squeamish ex-criminal, which is why he limited his burglaries to hotel rooms before he got caught. Handling a body which had leprosy is not ok for him. However, his contact person, Sister Lucy, turns out to be a stunning beauty - young, fashionable, wealthy and energetic. She is nothing he was expecting. Neither is the corpse. For one thing, the corpse is not dead. For another, both the Sister and the young fugitive from Nicaragua are in the run from a murderous colonel who wants revenge against the young girl - a girl who was kidnapped from her family and forced into concubinage until she contracted leprosy.
Jack reluctantly helps the two women leave the hospital in his hearse, until he discovers from Sister Lucy the colonel is scamming the Reagan administration out of $5 million for weapons for the Contra War against the Communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Jack realizes he wants the money more than helping Sister Lucy save the girl and Nicaragua. Jack knows some good people from Angola who would love a piece of the action and the money, too. But first he has got to handle the Nicaraguan killers following the hearse from the hospital. Plus, the corpse is stirring around in the back. She needs to pee, not having thought to go to the restroom before they left the hospital. Jack is not armed. Is he going to call the police and step out of this unfolding drama of which he is not yet fully involved? What do you think, gentle readers?
Perhaps, gentle reader, you are familiar with some of Leonard's specific fictional crowd of ne'er-do-wells as he has been writing bestsellers for decades, and some of his books have become movies. Some of his novels are clearly literary, but others do not quite go there. All are highly entertaining. All of them are fun, whatever their quality. 'Bandits' is a fun beach read, although not quite as special as some of the other of Leonard's books.
Jack Delaney is an ex-con, a jewelry thief, who is working at his brother-in-law's mortuary near Carville, Louisiana. Jack's sister Raejeanne is married to Leo Mullen, Jack's boss. Jack and Leo get along fine, despite the differences in their personalities. However, Jack knows he is treading water. He is missing something in his life, an excitement which has been missing since he got out of Angola Prison three years previously.
Jack reluctantly drives the mortuary's hearse to Charity Hospital, a leprosy colony in Carville. He is a squeamish ex-criminal, which is why he limited his burglaries to hotel rooms before he got caught. Handling a body which had leprosy is not ok for him. However, his contact person, Sister Lucy, turns out to be a stunning beauty - young, fashionable, wealthy and energetic. She is nothing he was expecting. Neither is the corpse. For one thing, the corpse is not dead. For another, both the Sister and the young fugitive from Nicaragua are in the run from a murderous colonel who wants revenge against the young girl - a girl who was kidnapped from her family and forced into concubinage until she contracted leprosy.
Jack reluctantly helps the two women leave the hospital in his hearse, until he discovers from Sister Lucy the colonel is scamming the Reagan administration out of $5 million for weapons for the Contra War against the Communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Jack realizes he wants the money more than helping Sister Lucy save the girl and Nicaragua. Jack knows some good people from Angola who would love a piece of the action and the money, too. But first he has got to handle the Nicaraguan killers following the hearse from the hospital. Plus, the corpse is stirring around in the back. She needs to pee, not having thought to go to the restroom before they left the hospital. Jack is not armed. Is he going to call the police and step out of this unfolding drama of which he is not yet fully involved? What do you think, gentle readers?
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes