I'm a self-proclaimed fan of Elmore Leonard and agree with the critics who say he's one of the best (if not THE best) crime writers around, but this book is not one of his best works.The protagonist Jack Ryan is a fairly likable rogue (even though he takes a baseball bat to some guy's head in the very first scene of the book) who gets himself into trouble, egged along by young, self-possessed, trouble maker and vixon Nancy Hayes, who's playing a game only she knows about. It all seems like a bit of a cliche, but then I found out that the novel was originally published in 1969, so it was probably ahead of its time. Still, it didn't really do it for me. Maybe something about Nancy's character didn't really ring true, but in terms of dialogue, Elmore Leonard cannot be beaten.
Although it wasn't a fantastic book, it still had me reading to the end. Tells you a lot about the author.
Previous Elmore Leonard reviews:
Pronto
Maximum Bob
Comfort to the Enemy
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