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sbunyan's review against another edition
2.0
I typically like Leonard but this book just never caught my interest. After about 7 chapters I skipped to the end just to see who lived.
brother_stephen's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
luana420's review against another edition
4.0
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.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
3.0
I love Elmore Leonard's writing but I have to say I
was a bit disappointed in this one. It starts off
too serious and with what I will call "philosophy"
about the war in Nicaragua. It only gets to his
typical plot machinations and dialogue in the
later part of the book. The ending is somewhat
of a downer too.
Still recommended as this author cannot write
a bad book, but be prepared for something a
little different than his norm.
was a bit disappointed in this one. It starts off
too serious and with what I will call "philosophy"
about the war in Nicaragua. It only gets to his
typical plot machinations and dialogue in the
later part of the book. The ending is somewhat
of a downer too.
Still recommended as this author cannot write
a bad book, but be prepared for something a
little different than his norm.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This doesn't get listed with Leonard's classics but to me, it's just as good as anything he's ever done. His characters remain so grounded despite their various backgrounds. And Leonard even takes the time to be political without being preachy, something that's nearly impossible to do by fiction writers this day in age.
monty_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Even after reading 20ish books by Elmore Leonard, I've never thought of him as a political writer. Small-p political, maybe. Gender politics, politics among scoundrels, some business politics, sure. But not global politics, even when some of his novels take place outside the U.S. Politics, however, are inescapable in 1987's Bandits, a novel firmly entrenched in the mid-80s anxiety about Nicaragua and the conflict between the contras and the Sandinistas. But that actually makes it sound more serious and political than it actually is. The Nicaraguan conflict is more than backdrop, but to say Bandits is about that conflict is sort of like saying The Book Thief is about the Holocaust. It's part of the narrative fabric, but it isn't the whole tapestry.
Because, as in pretty much every Leonard novel, it's really about schemes and double crosses and flirtations played at least partially for laffs – in this case, a scam conceived by an ex-nun and a funeral home worker to steal five million dollars from a Nicaraguan colonel who's come to the U.S. to kill a woman who he suspects gave him leprosy. If you've read more than a couple of Leonard's books, you'll recognize that description as being sort of quintessential Leonard. But this time around there's a very real undercurrent of dread permeating the goings-on, and Leonard seems to be making an uncharacteristically serious point about global politics.
The nun, Lucy, worked at a leper colony in Nicaragua and saw firsthand how the Sandinistas (led by Colonel Dagoberto) came in and brutally killed patients and doctors alike in the search for the patient Dagoberto (falsely) believes infected him. When Lucy encounters Jack Dancey, a hearse driver tasked with sneaking the leper colony patient into New Orleans (it's a long story), the two of them quickly connect in typically Leonardian fashion and immediately begin plotting how to steal money that had been illegally funneled to Dagoberto.
Bandits has all of Leonard's trademarks – razor sharp dialogue, byzantine plotting, noble scoundrels – but the verisimilitude of that global context makes it one of his rare novels that feels like there are real-world consequences to the characters' actions. Most of his novels could take place in any contemporary time period (which I consider a significant strength of his work), but Bandits is indisputably a product of its time, rooted in the very real existential angst of the Reagan era.
Because, as in pretty much every Leonard novel, it's really about schemes and double crosses and flirtations played at least partially for laffs – in this case, a scam conceived by an ex-nun and a funeral home worker to steal five million dollars from a Nicaraguan colonel who's come to the U.S. to kill a woman who he suspects gave him leprosy. If you've read more than a couple of Leonard's books, you'll recognize that description as being sort of quintessential Leonard. But this time around there's a very real undercurrent of dread permeating the goings-on, and Leonard seems to be making an uncharacteristically serious point about global politics.
The nun, Lucy, worked at a leper colony in Nicaragua and saw firsthand how the Sandinistas (led by Colonel Dagoberto) came in and brutally killed patients and doctors alike in the search for the patient Dagoberto (falsely) believes infected him. When Lucy encounters Jack Dancey, a hearse driver tasked with sneaking the leper colony patient into New Orleans (it's a long story), the two of them quickly connect in typically Leonardian fashion and immediately begin plotting how to steal money that had been illegally funneled to Dagoberto.
Bandits has all of Leonard's trademarks – razor sharp dialogue, byzantine plotting, noble scoundrels – but the verisimilitude of that global context makes it one of his rare novels that feels like there are real-world consequences to the characters' actions. Most of his novels could take place in any contemporary time period (which I consider a significant strength of his work), but Bandits is indisputably a product of its time, rooted in the very real existential angst of the Reagan era.
peggy56dj's review against another edition
1.0
Leonard has a great reputation but I found the writing jerky. It didn't grab my by the end of the first chapter, so back to the library it goes!
jamiereadthis's review
4.0
There’s something so... sweet about this one. Tenderhearted. There’s all the usual crime and craziness but then there’s an ex-nun who has been in the shit and everyone wants to be on the side of the good guys but no one is sure which side that is. It’s such an odd duck of a story. A beautiful one. I loved it.
Ask him why he didn’t kill you.
Ask him what he was doing.
Ask him what side he was on.
Franklin de Dios was wondering if he was certain about the sides. If there were more than two sides. If he was on the side he thought he was on or a different side. He was getting a feeling, more and more, that he was alone.
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