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Sample
The Hot Kid
Unabridged
Narrated by
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Program Type
Audiobook (Fiction)
Publisher
Length
8 hrs and 14 mins
Audible Release Date
05-04-05
Audio Formats About Formats
2 3 4 Audible Enhanced Audio
Customer Rating

3.8 based on 205 ratings
 

Publisher's Summary

Carl Webster, the hot kid of the marshals service, is polite, respects his elders, and can shoot a man driving away in an Essex at 400 yards. Carl works out of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, federal courthouse during the 1930s, the period of America's most notorious bank robbers: Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson...those guys.

Carl wants to be America's most famous lawman. He shot his first felon when he was 15-years-old. With a Winchester.

Louly Brown loves Carl but wants the world to think she is Pretty Boy Floyd's girlfriend.

Tony Antonelli of True Detective magazine wants to write like Richard Harding Davis and wishes cute little Elodie wasn't a whore. She and Heidi and the girls work at Teddy's in Kansas City, where anything goes and the girls wear, what else, teddies.

Jack Belmont wants to rob banks, become public enemy number one, and show his dad, an oil millionaire, he can make it on his own.

With tommy guns, hot cars, speakeasies, cops and robbers, and a former lawman who believes in vigilante justice, all played out against the flapper period of gun molls and Prohibition, The Hot Kid is Elmore Leonard, a true master, at his best.

©2005 Elmore Leonard; (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

What the Critics Say

  • 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Mystery

"The writing is pitch-perfect throughout....It's all pure Leonard, and that means it's pure terrific." (Publishers Weekly)
"As always, Leonard's prose seems effortless, his dialogue is perfect, and his humor is as dry as a moonshine martini....A terrific pleasure." (Booklist)

From AudioFile

Arliss Howard offers a straightforward reading of Leonard's latest, a foray into the 1930s' Wild West. The hot kid of the title is a young U.S. marshal based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who wants to become the most famous lawman in America by nabbing gangsters--Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde. The gangsters, meanwhile, are striving to be number one on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list. This is perfect territory for Leonard, who makes the most of the adventure. Howard adopts the tone of a movie western, reminiscent of John Wayne or John Ford. It's gritty and direct, and it works. The only difficulty is with the high number of quote attributions in Leonard's dialogue-driven book, some of which Howard reads in the voice of the speaker, rather than the narrator. It can be confusing. Otherwise, this is an entertaining listen. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005

About AudioFile

Customer Reviews

Showing: 1-5 of 17
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Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0 "All for fame"
By: Blakely (los angeles, CA, USA)
January 03, 2009
this is a really fun book. the good guy, carl webster, is a u.s. marshall who wants to stop lawbreakers, but he mostly just wants to be famous. he keeps a crime reporter nearby, so the world won't miss a minute of his heroics and cocky quips.

jack webster is the son of an oil tycoon, who robs banks because he enjoys it, even though his dad would willingly support him. he loves being notorious, and once he starts killing people, he gets a real thrill from it.

what's interesting is that carl's motivations aren't much different than the bank robbers he's chasing. he seems to worship them in a way, always trying to outdo them and even dating their girlfriends. carl isn't even interested in any woman who isn't a "gun moll." jack tells carl he's going to kill him the next time he sees him, so carl helps jack stay out of prison to finally prove he's the better man.
Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0 "Enjoyed This."
By: John (Orangeville, Canada)
December 01, 2008
Loved the character development.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful:
Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0Rating 4.0 "Very good"
By: Michael (La Canada, CA, USA)
September 24, 2006
I like Elmore Leonard's books a lot. This one is very good, but not one of his best.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful:
Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0 "Wow"
By: Evelyn (Washington, DC, USA)
August 16, 2006
My dogs walked far more than usual since I had far better than the usual fare to listen to. It was great and was quite sad when it ended (as were the dogs).
1 of 1 people found this review helpful:
Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0Rating 5.0 "A Tale of 1930's Gangsters"
By: Moire (Linden, VA, USA)
August 01, 2006
A beautifully woven story with characters that mesh together. Howard's southern drawl adds to the feel of 1930's Oklahoma dust, crime,and poverty (while contrasting with the big bucks oil tycoons).
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