The Hot Kid

By: Elmore Leonard

Narrated by: Arliss Howard

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

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.

Critic reviews

• 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)

one of my favorite audiobooks

The main character in this audiobook is Carl Webster, the son of Virgil Webster, who just happens to be a supporting character in Elmore Leonard's other book, Cuba Libre. This is sort-of a sequel to that book, and it's written in the same style as that one. Some say it is simple and easy and some even say boring. But I like to think it is in the same pace of life as back in the early 1900's. More easy-going and simpler. But certainly not more innocent. Leonard is really great at getting inside characters of the lawful and the unlawful kind. Instead of mobsters and jaded cops, we have the US Marshalls against the infamous bank-robbers of the Roaring 20's, like John Dillenger, and Pretty Boy Floyd.
These books are really dialog-driven and if you give them a chance, you will really fall for these characters. You will root for Carl, who's a little bit of a show-off, who knows how to stare down a bad guy by looking directly in their eye and never turning his back, and who has a thing for 'gun molls'. As he extolls the virtues of staying in Tulsa with him, he seals the deal with the promise to Louly of "I'll take you out dancing". As she falls for him, you will also be smitten with these people and their 'easier' and 'simplier' time period.

Outstanding.

I have either read or listened to many Elmore Leonard books. His terse, direct dialog driven narrative has always appealed to me on several levels. "The Hot Kid" impressed me more than any of Leonard's novels in recent memory. I think it's due to the set of characters being more rounded than often. All the primary ones have back stories, plus historical events and characters frequently move across the stage. Plus, there are one liners such as, "you can't live on oil," interspersed throughout the tale.

Additionally, the protagonist, Carl, could be seen as a prototype for Raylan Givens, both being unflappable US Marshals.

The narration fits the story perfectly. I really enjoyed this one.

The Hot Kid (Unabridged)

I loved the reader. I thought he gave an authentic interruption of the main character's personality and the times...slow and easy. I was fascinated by the easy acceptance of women engaged in prostitution as if it was just a temporary career choice until something better came along.

Wow

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).

Move Over Chili Palmer

We love everything Elmore Leonard -- even watched every episode of Maximum Bob, so when we heard he set this book in the early 20th century, we were anxious to see how it turned out. While the setting has changed from balmy Miami to the Dust Bowl, Leonard's writing remains quirky and entertaining, and Carl Webster and his entourage are every bit as entertaining as Chili Palmer and his gang. Arliss Howard read the story like he had seen it all first-hand -- an outstanding combination of writing and narrartion!

Leonard does it again!

It is a little bit western and a whole lot crime novel.

I think the narrator did a fair job doing a ton of male southern accents! Sure, they are similar, but I could tell by the inflection of his voice who was speaking. I thought he was a great reader.

The characters are Leonard's interesting blend of good & bad all in one. The Oklahoma landscape makes a hot, dusty backdrop that adds to the story's overall feel. Its a great crime story that feels one part western (Carl seemed a little cowboy quick draw to me) and one part crime spree.

Its a winner!

Easy listening except for the music

Elmore Leonard tells an excellent story most of the time and this is no exception. For a change from the last three books I have heard this one is told from the lawman point of view but still manages to be engrossing and unusual. Unfortunately the director chose to insert very inappropriate and blaring musical stings before some but not all of the chapters. This tends to spoil the fine narration.

Not much humor

A good story with engaging characters but there wasn't much to laugh about in this tale. The reading was occasionally on the dry side and the music bridges placed for no obvious reason struck me as amateurish. Overall the writing is strong and that's what kept my interest.

great classic tale

I loved this book. I want more of this series of characters. looking for the next Leonard book.

Excellent novel

Quick and easy the tale of a Marshall and his Oklahoma/Texas travails around oil and gun toting outlaws of the 30s and 40s.