Swag

By: Elmore Leonard

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The smallest of small-time criminals, Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick - all of them involving guns - and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth. But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken, if one is to succeed in the world of crime, especially if the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

©2009 Elmore Leonard (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

It's Dutch, but it's Dated

Which character – as performed by Frank Muller – was your favorite?

Muller is simply superb. He always sounds like himself, but he has a great range of inflections so you recognize different characters. Plus, he always sounds good.

Any additional comments?

This is Elmore Leonard, so you know it's well done. Still, hardboiled as it often is, the setting is very much dated, and that starts to distract from the whole. It's worth remembering, too, that this is still fairly early Leonard, before the lighter-hearted work of Get Shorty. It's certainly worth reading this one, but temper your expectations. It's about a couple of pros setting out to commit crimes as pros, and that feels more or less like the challenge Leonard set out for himself as he wrote it: understated professional writing.

Couldn't get interested

What disappointed you about Swag?

I love Elmore Leonard but I just wasn't captivated by this book. Not really sure if it was the story or the narrator but I never finished it. Maybe I'll go back to it someday and try again.

Characters you hope die

Would you try another book from Elmore Leonard and/or Frank Muller?

No

Has Swag turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes

What aspect of Frank Muller’s performance would you have changed?

He should learn how people fom Detroit pronounce the street names. And he just sounds so sarcastic all the time. The characters are lousers enough, then his interpretations makes them worse.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

Any additional comments?

I tried and tried with this book. I kept thinking it would get better. But the characters and their attitudes and activities are repulsive in a way. Boring, for certain. Couldn't finish it. A waste of money and time. I listened to one Leonard book and enjoyed it. Then a second which was just ok. But this one, yuk. I'm from Detroit, so the narrator's mispronunciations of the streets and areas was annoying. Would it be so hard to get it authentic?

Not his best

Started this book after reading Be Cool, and it’s terrible. The story drags and none of the characters are likable. Not because they’re bad guys, just boring. Didn’t want to sit through three more hours of it so I gave up. Not worth your time.