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luana420's review against another edition
3.0
The Dying Earth series taught me the concept of "the fix-up novel," a novel comprised of several bits of previously published material kinda massaged together into something book-length. This is technically not a fix-up, but it really feels like it: Raylan is essentially a first draft for a couple of Justified episodes, with a few B-plots running through the different ones.
It's nice, and Leonard is at his best writing hillbillies for sure, but it's also just a guy with nothing left to prove doing a victory lap.
It was nice readin' ya, uncle Elmore! I wish more young authors did!
It's nice, and Leonard is at his best writing hillbillies for sure, but it's also just a guy with nothing left to prove doing a victory lap.
It was nice readin' ya, uncle Elmore! I wish more young authors did!
faintingviolet's review against another edition
4.0
It's bittersweet coming to the end of the Raylan books. Leonard created an interesting corner of the world through a unique set of eyes. The audio narration on this was fantastic.
https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/raylan-cbr8-17/
https://faintingviolet.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/raylan-cbr8-17/
tombradleyjr's review against another edition
3.0
Not the master's best work, but highly enjoyable nonetheless.
Even though it's based on a (terrific) TV series featuring a character first introduced in a couple novels and a short story collection, reading "Raylan" nonetheless left me with the feeling I was watching reruns of three "Justified" episodes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I had hoped for so much more from my literary hero.
Still, the novel bristles with Elmore's trademark sharp dialog, dry wit, and dark humor, not to mention a cast of memorable characters and the greatest U.S. marshal in the history of crime fiction.
Many of his other works are far superior, but "Raylan" is at least entertaining. However, if you want to get a true feel for Raylan Givens, be sure to read "Pronto" and "Riding the Rap" first.
Even though it's based on a (terrific) TV series featuring a character first introduced in a couple novels and a short story collection, reading "Raylan" nonetheless left me with the feeling I was watching reruns of three "Justified" episodes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I had hoped for so much more from my literary hero.
Still, the novel bristles with Elmore's trademark sharp dialog, dry wit, and dark humor, not to mention a cast of memorable characters and the greatest U.S. marshal in the history of crime fiction.
Many of his other works are far superior, but "Raylan" is at least entertaining. However, if you want to get a true feel for Raylan Givens, be sure to read "Pronto" and "Riding the Rap" first.
greeniezona's review against another edition
3.0
There was a day, in the crazy lead-up to Christmas, where we had to divide and conquer. The kids were sick of shopping and each other, so I volunteered to let Andrew drop Jefferson off with me at the bookstore (I was totally buying presents! For people who were not me!), while he took Solomon to the grocery store. Well, once we made our purchases we needed to hang out by the front door to see Andrew come by. And I thought, the Mystery section, not being one of my usual genres, should be safe.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Well, before we were picked up, I'd found five books I totally needed to live right this second. Somehow, I kept from buying any of them that day, but I soon went back for this one.
I love the series Justified. I love the character Raylan. I love the snappy dialogue characteristic of the film adaptations of Leondard's work. I expected this to be a ridiculously easy sell. But I can only say that I liked this book.
Part of the problem was timing. Leonard wrote this book prior to season 2 and invited the show's writers to "strip it for parts," which they did. Aspects of this book were pulled for season 2 (which I'd seen), and season 3 (which I hadn't). Many characters appearing in the book were vastly expanded in the TV show as the writers fell in love with the actor's depictions. So that was disorienting. But really, the problem is, I love the Raylan and Boyd of the television show. The Raylan & Boyd of the book are similar, but of course not the same, and I had a hard time letting go. It wasn't all disappointment, though. Now that I'm halfway through season 3, I can say I prefer the kidney storyline in the book to the tv show, and I'm still waiting to see if our poker wunderkind shows up on Justified, and seriously, what the hell did they do to Winona in season 3 on the show?
Enjoyable, though. Seems likely to be problematic for many Justified fans, though they've really marketed it straight to them.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Well, before we were picked up, I'd found five books I totally needed to live right this second. Somehow, I kept from buying any of them that day, but I soon went back for this one.
I love the series Justified. I love the character Raylan. I love the snappy dialogue characteristic of the film adaptations of Leondard's work. I expected this to be a ridiculously easy sell. But I can only say that I liked this book.
Part of the problem was timing. Leonard wrote this book prior to season 2 and invited the show's writers to "strip it for parts," which they did. Aspects of this book were pulled for season 2 (which I'd seen), and season 3 (which I hadn't). Many characters appearing in the book were vastly expanded in the TV show as the writers fell in love with the actor's depictions. So that was disorienting. But really, the problem is, I love the Raylan and Boyd of the television show. The Raylan & Boyd of the book are similar, but of course not the same, and I had a hard time letting go. It wasn't all disappointment, though. Now that I'm halfway through season 3, I can say I prefer the kidney storyline in the book to the tv show, and I'm still waiting to see if our poker wunderkind shows up on Justified, and seriously, what the hell did they do to Winona in season 3 on the show?
Enjoyable, though. Seems likely to be problematic for many Justified fans, though they've really marketed it straight to them.
bstratton's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed it, but I found myself wishing for more depth and complexity. It read like a handful of episodes from JUSTIFIED, which is ultimately what it was turned into, but this is one case where the original novel was not superior to the adaptation.
emiwan_kenobi's review against another edition
2.0
Actual rating: 2.5
Raylan
Really, really tired of the racial slurs and the sexism that Leonard Elmore has his “villains” throw around like candy at a parade.
I still love Raylan as a character but tbh at this point that’s mostly show!Raylan. Like if I’d read any of these books without ever having heard of the show I don’t think I’d care about him at all. The show takes all the good and weeds out a lot of the bad which helps make it more enjoyable.
Also I never get much of a “suspense” vibe from any of these books? Which is wild since Elmore is the “king of suspense”.
Anyway. 3 stars for general story, writing, etc. Didn’t really care for the first arc (kidney thieves) but the other two were better.
-1 star for just excessive racial slurs and sexism that add nothing to the story.
+1 for the scene where Raylan was naked except for his boots.
-0.5 for Raylan ending up with a college student in the end??
Total of 2.5/5
Can’t say if I’d read it again but I will buy it for my shelf.
Also though honestly if the (rumored) Raylan miniseries doesn’t give us the scene where Raylan is naked as a jaybird except for his cowboy boots like the book does then what even is the point?
Raylan
Really, really tired of the racial slurs and the sexism that Leonard Elmore has his “villains” throw around like candy at a parade.
I still love Raylan as a character but tbh at this point that’s mostly show!Raylan. Like if I’d read any of these books without ever having heard of the show I don’t think I’d care about him at all. The show takes all the good and weeds out a lot of the bad which helps make it more enjoyable.
Also I never get much of a “suspense” vibe from any of these books? Which is wild since Elmore is the “king of suspense”.
Anyway. 3 stars for general story, writing, etc. Didn’t really care for the first arc (kidney thieves) but the other two were better.
-1 star for just excessive racial slurs and sexism that add nothing to the story.
+1 for the scene where Raylan was naked except for his boots.
-0.5 for Raylan ending up with a college student in the end??
Total of 2.5/5
Can’t say if I’d read it again but I will buy it for my shelf.
Also though honestly if the (rumored) Raylan miniseries doesn’t give us the scene where Raylan is naked as a jaybird except for his cowboy boots like the book does then what even is the point?
readingpanda's review against another edition
2.0
I am a huge fan of the TV show Justified, and I've never before read any of Elmore Leonard's stories involving Raylan Givens. So I knew it would be a little difficult to avoid picturing the actors from the show as I listened to this. As it turns out, some of the plot points are the same as things that happen in the show, although there are very different outcomes in the book.
Elmore Leonard is justly famous for his handling of dialogue and his colorful characters. The characters came through pretty well here, although for me, the dialogue suffered in the audio version. Typical of Leonard, there were criss-crossing plots and people all shades of moral grey. Not nearly as much fun as Out of Sight or probably any of a number of other Leonard books. I think I'll probably go back to Raylan's beginnings and see if those are better, before the cross-pollination of the TV show happened. (This was actually written after the show started, so it puts this one in a sort of strange Inception-esque limbo of book-inspired-by-tv-show-inspired-by-book.)
Elmore Leonard is justly famous for his handling of dialogue and his colorful characters. The characters came through pretty well here, although for me, the dialogue suffered in the audio version. Typical of Leonard, there were criss-crossing plots and people all shades of moral grey. Not nearly as much fun as Out of Sight or probably any of a number of other Leonard books. I think I'll probably go back to Raylan's beginnings and see if those are better, before the cross-pollination of the TV show happened. (This was actually written after the show started, so it puts this one in a sort of strange Inception-esque limbo of book-inspired-by-tv-show-inspired-by-book.)
whitney210's review against another edition
3.0
Everytime I look at this book the Justified theme goes through my head... If only there was a life sized poster of Timthoy Olyphant to go with it!!