Mr. Paradise

A Novel

De: Elmore Leonard

Narrado por: Robert Forster

“Sharp as an ice pick….You will love this excellent book.”
—New York Times Book Review

Elmore Leonard is the undisputed master, the “King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times), in the august company of the all-time greats of mystery/noir/crime fiction genre: John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, et al. The creator of such unforgettable classics as Stick, Out of Sight, and Get Shorty—not to mention the character of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, lately of TV’s hit series Justified—Leonard is in fine form with Mr. Paradise. A riveting Detroit-based thriller enlivened by Leonard’s trademark razor-sharp dialogue, Mr. Paradise follows a smart Victoria’s Secret model’s attempt to score big after surviving a double murder in a millionaire’s mansion…with a lonely cop acting as spoiler.

Well written and great performance

Elmore Leonard was an amazing writer, especially when it comes to dialogue. I once read an interview where he said he would delete and re-write anything that read like writing. He wanted things to be natural and conversational. He succeeded. I’ve also been a fan of Robert Forster since I saw him in “The Black Hole” when I was a kid. He was a great actor and his tough guy persona is perfect for a novel like this. I highly recommend this book.

Entertaining novel with deadpan delivery

Except for the Elmore Leonard novels that have made it into film, this is my first of his novels and I am looking forward to reading some of his other books. The story is fast and entertaining. Robert Forster's reading of the novel is as dry as dry gets. Imagine a no nonsense kind of guy telling a long story. It takes a while to get used to his pacing and his subtle sense of humor. After a short while I found myself thoroughly enjoying his deadpan delivery. I can see where other listeners may not care for his understated performance but I've listened to the book twice.

Excellent

The reader has the style for Mr Leonard's books just right. Really enjoyed it.

Classic Elmore Leonard

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Right up there with other E.L. books. I did not have any problems understanding the reader, but it was clear he's not from Detroit and didn't know the correct pronunciation of names and places. But the book kept my interest during a long driving trip.

Rich, convincing characters, amazing details,

When I like a book, I really like it and I liked this one. So much so I got quite a few more Leonard books. A couple of them left me gaping in awe. "This guy is a genius, a Great American Writer," I thought, even if he writes genre material. Leonard effortlessly (seemingly) creates a world sentence by sentence rich with so much telling detail you find yourself deep within the characters, the places, the ethos of the criminal cop world. He loves his people, prostitutes, gangsters, good cops, corrupt attorneys etc. Oddly enough, his writing in this book especially is lyrical and poetic though some of the credit for that must belong to the narrator. I can listen to this book over and over.