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austinburns's review against another edition
4.0
elmore leonard character name watch: norb bryn
this was one of the darkest elmore leonard novels yet
this was one of the darkest elmore leonard novels yet
colophonphile's review against another edition
A friend heard I'd never read a book by Elmore Leonard. He knew I'd been reading the Parker series by Donald Westlake, who wrote them under the name Richard Stark. I was up to number nine in the Parker series, when a package arrived in the mail -- two cheap paperbacks of Leonard novels, the sort of slim volumes that fit easily in the back pocket of a pair of jeans -- sent by my Leonard-liking friend. I dove immediately into City Primeval, which is subtitled High Noon in Detroit.
I'm only really just beginning to read novels like the Leonard books, and the Parker series. After a life in literary fiction and science fiction, I'm making my way through hardboiled fiction -- mysteries, crime, thriller. It's been a lot of fun. I'm not totally new to this stuff. I'd read some Mickey Spillane in college, under the influence of John Zorn, who wrote a great suite in Spillane's honor. I read a lot of the Black Lizard crime novels as they were being reissued, especially enjoying Jim Thompson, Paul Cain, Charles Willeford's Burnt Orange Heresy (which is a hardboiled novel that arts critics should read), stuff like that. I've read (or listened to unabridged audio books of) pretty much all of John le Carré, up until the last two or three of his books.
And that's just novels, a point I'll get back to at the end of this, a point that was very much on my mind as City Primeval was making its pleasures clear to me. For when it comes to television and movies and comics, this fictional mode that I mostly avoided in written work is something I actively seek out in visual storytelling. So by the time I got to Elmore Leonard, I was already a fan of heists and criminal pursuits and urban detection. I just have, in the past, consumed it not as a novel but as The Wire, or NYPD Blue, or The Shield, and so on. Hong Kong action flicks. Hollywood crime thrills, like Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, itself based on an Elmore Leonard book.
Anyhow, as for City Primeval, it's subtitled High Noon in Detroit for a reason. That's what the book is -- a long tense plot with limited violence, leading up to an all-but-inevitable confrontation. The confrontation will, it seems like, be between the two main characters: Cruz, a recently divorced cop with a penchant for being clean cut despite his city's high scum quotient; and Mansell, a self-proclaimed wildman who, as put by one person who knows him better than she would prefer, was born about 100 or so years too late. You know how Sawyer, in an early episode of Lost, says that he's no longer in civilization; he's in the wild? That's how Mansell acts, even when he's in civilization. (Yeah, another TV reference from me.)
The book opens suddenly, with Mansell unwittingly killing a prominent and much-hated Detroit judge after a bad case of road rage on both their parts. It's a brief tour-de-force, moving back and forth quickly between the points of view of the judge and Mansell. That taut format is then expanded for the rest of the book, which cycles with ease from Mansell to Cruz and back again, making stops along the way for the viewpoints of Mansell's girlfriend and lawyer, Cruz's fellow detectives, and some criminals with their own reasons to want Mansell off the streets.
Leonard keeps things moving, which is especially to his credit since omniscience is rarely in the favor of a thriller. We, the reader, know just about everything. There's one point toward the end where the cops clearly know what they're going to do, and he keeps this from us, but otherwise, we know pretty much everything -- most importantly that Mansell didn't single out the judge. It was coincidence that the guy Mansell killed was a notable part of the justice system. That's a red herring that keeps Cruz and his peers off course for quite a stretch. Watching Cruz track Mansell and trap him is great fun, and I'm sure this won't be my last Leonard book.
Back to TV for a moment, I've long wondered why The Wire wasn't as popular as The Sopranos. After reading City Primeval, I guess I know why. There's so much of the Wire in City Primeval, that it's clear to me that as new as The Wire was to me, it wasn't to everyone. Perhaps it wasn't the series' much-praised complexity but its familiarity that caused it to be less special to a broader audience. There are, simply put, far more city-crime novels packed with characters than there are mafia novels disguised as family dramas.
I'm only really just beginning to read novels like the Leonard books, and the Parker series. After a life in literary fiction and science fiction, I'm making my way through hardboiled fiction -- mysteries, crime, thriller. It's been a lot of fun. I'm not totally new to this stuff. I'd read some Mickey Spillane in college, under the influence of John Zorn, who wrote a great suite in Spillane's honor. I read a lot of the Black Lizard crime novels as they were being reissued, especially enjoying Jim Thompson, Paul Cain, Charles Willeford's Burnt Orange Heresy (which is a hardboiled novel that arts critics should read), stuff like that. I've read (or listened to unabridged audio books of) pretty much all of John le Carré, up until the last two or three of his books.
And that's just novels, a point I'll get back to at the end of this, a point that was very much on my mind as City Primeval was making its pleasures clear to me. For when it comes to television and movies and comics, this fictional mode that I mostly avoided in written work is something I actively seek out in visual storytelling. So by the time I got to Elmore Leonard, I was already a fan of heists and criminal pursuits and urban detection. I just have, in the past, consumed it not as a novel but as The Wire, or NYPD Blue, or The Shield, and so on. Hong Kong action flicks. Hollywood crime thrills, like Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, itself based on an Elmore Leonard book.
Anyhow, as for City Primeval, it's subtitled High Noon in Detroit for a reason. That's what the book is -- a long tense plot with limited violence, leading up to an all-but-inevitable confrontation. The confrontation will, it seems like, be between the two main characters: Cruz, a recently divorced cop with a penchant for being clean cut despite his city's high scum quotient; and Mansell, a self-proclaimed wildman who, as put by one person who knows him better than she would prefer, was born about 100 or so years too late. You know how Sawyer, in an early episode of Lost, says that he's no longer in civilization; he's in the wild? That's how Mansell acts, even when he's in civilization. (Yeah, another TV reference from me.)
The book opens suddenly, with Mansell unwittingly killing a prominent and much-hated Detroit judge after a bad case of road rage on both their parts. It's a brief tour-de-force, moving back and forth quickly between the points of view of the judge and Mansell. That taut format is then expanded for the rest of the book, which cycles with ease from Mansell to Cruz and back again, making stops along the way for the viewpoints of Mansell's girlfriend and lawyer, Cruz's fellow detectives, and some criminals with their own reasons to want Mansell off the streets.
Leonard keeps things moving, which is especially to his credit since omniscience is rarely in the favor of a thriller. We, the reader, know just about everything. There's one point toward the end where the cops clearly know what they're going to do, and he keeps this from us, but otherwise, we know pretty much everything -- most importantly that Mansell didn't single out the judge. It was coincidence that the guy Mansell killed was a notable part of the justice system. That's a red herring that keeps Cruz and his peers off course for quite a stretch. Watching Cruz track Mansell and trap him is great fun, and I'm sure this won't be my last Leonard book.
Back to TV for a moment, I've long wondered why The Wire wasn't as popular as The Sopranos. After reading City Primeval, I guess I know why. There's so much of the Wire in City Primeval, that it's clear to me that as new as The Wire was to me, it wasn't to everyone. Perhaps it wasn't the series' much-praised complexity but its familiarity that caused it to be less special to a broader audience. There are, simply put, far more city-crime novels packed with characters than there are mafia novels disguised as family dramas.
showlola's review against another edition
4.0
So this was my very first Elmore Leonard and I guess I can see what all the fuss is about. He is very readable and the dialogue is snapping. Even though this was written nearly 30 years ago everything feels seedy and fresh and deliciously scandalous.
I don't read a lot of crime fiction or mysteries generally but I think I would go back to him if I found myself in the mood for this kind of thing in the future. If you're a big Leonard fan, I'd love to hear what you recommend.
I don't read a lot of crime fiction or mysteries generally but I think I would go back to him if I found myself in the mood for this kind of thing in the future. If you're a big Leonard fan, I'd love to hear what you recommend.
antij's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
luana420's review against another edition
4.0
Blink and you've finished it because this is another Leonard wild ride! Plot is straightforward as hell: hick killed some people, cops wanna nab him. Whip-crack dialogue and an intriguingly matter-of-fact darkness under the surface of our seemingly straight-laced protagonist make for an entertaining read.
completebore's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
clayton_moser's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jhoffmann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
dsands's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
(3.5) Standard fare from Leonard with one memorable guy (Clinton Mansell, seriously one of his best characters ever), one good guy trying to do what's right, a handful of scenes that have no reason being there in the first place, and great dialogue. This one was a solid three star read but the last ten pages made me give it an extra half.