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luana420's review
2.0
Elmore followed the Captain Phillips hostage saga on CNN and then went "I can do that", Mickey Rooney in Radioactive Man style.
Ron Howard voice: It was a bad idea, and he couldn't.
It takes 52% of the book for the plot to get going, which would be fine if the characters we were hanging out with were interesting, but they are unfortunately Late Period Leonard Letter To Playboy wish fulfilment characters. Xavier is probably the most Old Man Mary Sue he's done yet! Hmmmm, getting him some fine Naomi Watts booty... (the female lead is described as Naomi Watts having to play her in a fictional account of events which is basically Leonard going this is who I was thinking of)
Billy Wynn, Texas oil billionaire, wants to blow up an oil tanker before Al Qaeda will get to it. The collateral damage will probably kill the crew and cause a huge amount of fires on the mainland. None of our Cool Main Characters really ever wanna talk him out of it (Al Qaeda has abandoned the target and they can just kill the one psycho who wants to go through with it).
The climax is the most "ok whatever I'm tired, wrap this shit up" I have ever seen Leonard pull like DAMN
Well I guess he was pretty tired by 2009 so I can't really hate but this is really SORTA starting to feel like the third Gormenghast here!
Ron Howard voice: It was a bad idea, and he couldn't.
It takes 52% of the book for the plot to get going, which would be fine if the characters we were hanging out with were interesting, but they are unfortunately Late Period Leonard Letter To Playboy wish fulfilment characters. Xavier is probably the most Old Man Mary Sue he's done yet! Hmmmm, getting him some fine Naomi Watts booty... (the female lead is described as Naomi Watts having to play her in a fictional account of events which is basically Leonard going this is who I was thinking of)
Billy Wynn, Texas oil billionaire, wants to blow up an oil tanker before Al Qaeda will get to it. The collateral damage will probably kill the crew and cause a huge amount of fires on the mainland. None of our Cool Main Characters really ever wanna talk him out of it (Al Qaeda has abandoned the target and they can just kill the one psycho who wants to go through with it).
The climax is the most "ok whatever I'm tired, wrap this shit up" I have ever seen Leonard pull like DAMN
Well I guess he was pretty tired by 2009 so I can't really hate but this is really SORTA starting to feel like the third Gormenghast here!
deadamericanwriter's review
1.0
One of the few books that I've actually regret reading. The storyline is one load of nonsense and the characters are just awful.
ferencb's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
heyhawk's review
3.0
This is probably more like a 3.5 stars book, mainly because of the first act. However, by about the halfway point the narrative gets back on track. A strong ending, and the fact that Leonard gets the benefit of the doubt from me means that in this case I round up.
edit: after further thought, I'm rounding down.
edit: after further thought, I'm rounding down.
plantbirdwoman's review
3.0
Much of the first half of Elmore Leonard's latest is taken up with a conversation betweeen his two main characters, Dara Barr, a 30-something award-winning documentary film maker and her right-hand man, six-foot-six, 72-year-old Xavier LeBo, able seaman, cameraman, schlepper and somewhat of a sexual athlete as written by the 85 year-old Leonard. Hmmm...
Dara and Xavier are from New Orleans and they met there in the aftermath of Katrina while Dara was filming the catastrophe. That film won an Academy Award for them. Now Dara is interested in filming the modern-day pirates of Somalia, and Xavier, with his seafaring experience and all-round super cool, is just the man to help her.
That long expository conversation in the first part of the book takes place after they have shot the action in and around Djibouti and they are looking at it on Dara's laptop and deciding how to edit it and whether it should be another documentary or a full-length feature film. Frankly, the book drags a bit during these parts, but finally, as we meet the characters in Djibouti, the action begins to pick up.
There's the successful pirate who tools around Djibouti in a Mercedes and may or may not be a good guy. Dara wants him to be a good guy.
There's the Texas billionaire, Billy Wynn, who is sailing around the world with a red-haired fashion model named Helene who is auditioning to be his wife. Billy has a gun fetish - the bigger the gun the better - and he dearly wants to blow something up.
Finally, there is Jama Raisul, formerly James Russell of the United State, an African-American who converted to Islam while in prison and who is now one of al Qaeda's operatives with a promising future. He, too, has vowed to blow something up. Something big.
How Dara and Xavier step into the middle of this combustible situation, film it and manage to (Spoiler alert!) get out alive, makes for a fast-moving typical Leonard story, once we get all of that annoying conversation out of the way.
Dara and Xavier are from New Orleans and they met there in the aftermath of Katrina while Dara was filming the catastrophe. That film won an Academy Award for them. Now Dara is interested in filming the modern-day pirates of Somalia, and Xavier, with his seafaring experience and all-round super cool, is just the man to help her.
That long expository conversation in the first part of the book takes place after they have shot the action in and around Djibouti and they are looking at it on Dara's laptop and deciding how to edit it and whether it should be another documentary or a full-length feature film. Frankly, the book drags a bit during these parts, but finally, as we meet the characters in Djibouti, the action begins to pick up.
There's the successful pirate who tools around Djibouti in a Mercedes and may or may not be a good guy. Dara wants him to be a good guy.
There's the Texas billionaire, Billy Wynn, who is sailing around the world with a red-haired fashion model named Helene who is auditioning to be his wife. Billy has a gun fetish - the bigger the gun the better - and he dearly wants to blow something up.
Finally, there is Jama Raisul, formerly James Russell of the United State, an African-American who converted to Islam while in prison and who is now one of al Qaeda's operatives with a promising future. He, too, has vowed to blow something up. Something big.
How Dara and Xavier step into the middle of this combustible situation, film it and manage to (Spoiler alert!) get out alive, makes for a fast-moving typical Leonard story, once we get all of that annoying conversation out of the way.
jakekilroy's review against another edition
3.0
This book was surprisingly confusing and humdrum at times. As always with Leonard's stories, it had sharp, realistic dialogue that delightfully bounced with a catchy rhythm to the narrative, but it came and went rather than stick around from start to finish. It was curious to read such a Criminal Americana author explore mayhem and antics in the Middle East.
mw_bookgraph's review against another edition
2.0
I finished it, but only because it was the only book I had with me. Not his best work.
kfan's review against another edition
What a weird book. It is different from other Elmore Leonard books.