This book is one of the series of books, including Pronto, Raylan and others, which follow one of Leonard's most compelling characters. The character ..Show More »is the focus of the TV series Justified, and he is played by Timothy Olyphant. Once again the material sparkles, even though it may not be the absolute best of Leonard. Most other thriller writers would give an arm and a leg to be able to write something this good. The plot turns around and makes you guess something you can't possibly guess, other than the good bet that Raylan will still be standing at the end. Frank Muller continues to simply overwhelm me with his skills. His command of so many voices is dazzling. How does he manage to keep them all separated in his mind? There is a sequence of dialogue here in which he has to switch rapidly between two characters, a man and a woman, and it is hard to see how he does it. Lesser mortals can only listen in awe. The story involves the kidnapping of Harry Arno, another recurring character, a sports book writer in Miami, by an odd threesome: the Puerto Rican gunman Bobby Deograssio, the paroled convict Louis Louis, and the dessicated, stoned, babyish Chip Ganz, a guy who lives in his mother's $5 million estate, and who can't pay a single bill without her covering it. Also appearing is Dawn the spirit reader, fortune teller, palm reader, etc., and Joyce, a former stripper who has been Harry's lover, and who, in Pronto, becomes Raylan's lover. Don't try to keep track: Leonard and Muller will keep you listening and praying for more. I know that there is a finite amount of this stuff, but I wish that it just went on and on and on...

« Show Less

This is a collection of stories by Elmore Leonard. Several of the stories have recurring Leonard characters: Ben Webster, Karen Cisco, and the best st..Show More »ory in the book, which is called Fire in the Hole, is the basis for the TV series, "Justified." Taye Diggs does an excellent job of narration. His voice is comfortable and friendly. There are a number of regional American accents, particularly Kentucky and West Virginia, black and white, redneck and sophisticated urban. Diggs does them all well. He is a movie actor, and I'd be happy to hear him read more books. Fire in the Hole forms the entire basis of Justified. The story covers several episodes and many of the characters in the series. Much of the TV show, of which Leonard is the executive producer, is lifted directly from the story. Who writes better dialogue than Elmore Leonard? The main characters in Fire in the Hole are Raylan Givens, also a recurring character in a number of other books, Boyd Crowder, a guy that Raylan once worked in coal mines with, and Eva Crowder, the widow of Boyd's late brother Bowman. He is late because Eva killed him at their dinner table after suffering years of abuse at his hands. Fire in the Hole is worth the price of the book, even if you haven't seen Justified (Timothy Olyphant plays Raylan, which might motivate some of you to watch it, as he is both a great actor and incredibly handsome). I would start with the books by Leonard rather than this collection, but for many of us, any Elmore Leonard is good Elmore Leonard.

« Show Less