Book Report #81 - Fifty-Two Pickup by Elmore Leonard

Book 5 of 52

Page count - 239

After the adventures of Max Fisher from Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, I just had to pick up a classic Elmore Leonard.

Published in 1974 it still stood fresh and believable 40 years later.  What I love best about Leonard's writing is how delves into the world of the criminals, something I find fascinating. 

Harry Mitchell, owner of a Detroit auto parts manufacturing business, is targeted for some classic blackmail.  His affair with a younger woman was filmed and shown to him along with their demands for money.  But the bad guys have targeted a man who decides to fight back.  Harry knows that if he pays, the bad guys will not just go away.

The book was a fun read.  One of the things I like about reading older books is how they can be a snapshot of the past.  Technology is a fun one; it's easy to forget how important payphones were or how different life was without the Internet.  In the opening scene Harry is shown the movie from a portable screen and home projector.

I was a few chapters in when my wife mentioned the line at the bottom of the cover: "Soon to be a Major Movie!"  An INDb search brought up the 1986 production starring Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret.  I'll have to track it down and watch it.

If anyone is interested in the vintage paperback book itself, leave a comment and I'll contact you for a mailing address.

Elmore Leonard

Book Report #46, Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard

Up in Honey's Room

by

Elmore Leonard

Set in Detroit in the spring of 1945.

Since this is a Leonard story with all the interesting characters and twisting plot lines; I'll let the Amazon website describe it:

German-born Walter Schoen, now living in Detroit, is a dead ringer for Heinrich Himmler. Walter's American wife, Honey Deal, doesn't know he's a German spy, but she's tired of telling him jokes he doesn't understand—it's time for a divorce. Along comes Carl Webster, the hot kid of the Marshals Service. He's looking for a German officer who escaped from a POW camp in Oklahoma. Carl's pretty sure Walter's involved, so Carl gets to know Honey, hoping she'll take him to Walter. Honey likes Carl and doesn't much care that he's married. But all Carl wants is to get his man without getting shot. It's Elmore Leonard's world—gritty, funny, and full of surprises.

Was it any good? Oh, yes it was. Every time I thought I had a scene figured out it would twist suddenly into something unexpected.

The book is well titled; in the end every character is in Honey's room for a surprising conclusion.

My trouble, as a reader, is that I like to read a series from the first book to the current entry. This paralyzes me and I wind up with a bunch of books I won't read until I fill in the gaps. I recently read somewhere that if an author is doing his job you should be able to jump in at any point. This being a sequel to The Hot Kid I would normal have shelved it but I read it instead and boy am I glad I did. Sure, there were references to the previous book, but it did not take away from the story I was reading.

You can buy the book HERE

Elmore Leonard's website is HERE