The Hot Kid

This is one of my favorite Elmore Leonard books. The characters are so well developed they feel real by the end of the book. The story flowed well and really held my interest.

My highest praise goes to the narrator. As a native Oklahoman, I tire of fake southern accents which are more ridicule than reality. Arliss Howard gets the accent spot-on. The only way to fully experience this book is by listening to it as read by Arliss Howard.

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.

I was really disappointed in this book. I just finished listening to Pagan Babies and was ready for something similar. My main problem was following the story. So much of it is dialog driven, and the reader did not differentiate his voice between the characters - they all sounded the same, and it was impossible to tell who was saying what.

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I've read the other reviews and a couple seem to be complaining about the reader's voice being 'boring'. I found the reader's style anything but boring! The characters are well developed and the story is skillfully crafted. What appear to be small details become important as the book moves along. Besides being a good story, it's an excellent period piece as well. This is the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be the last!

I like Elmore Leonard's books a lot. This one is very good, but not one of his best.

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).

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).

The Hot Kid really captures the life and mood of the early part of the last century. I was born in 1938 and recall a lot of little things mentioned in this novel. It brought me back in time. Leonard is a great story teller.

Reader was boring and I really didn't care about the characters. It felt like the neverending book. I've had 20 hour books that seemed shorter than this, so when I looked back and saw it was only 8 hrs I couldn't believe it.