Riding the Rap

De: Elmore Leonard

Narrado por: Frank Muller

Now that his mom's gravy train has derailed, gambling, debt-ridden Palm Beach playboy Warren "Chip" Ganz has decided to take somebody rich hostage - with the help of a Bahamian ex-con, a psycho gardener/enforcer, and the beautiful, if underfed, psychic Reverend Dawn. The trouble is, they choose bookmaker Harry Arno as their victim, and Harry can scam with the best.

The BIG trouble is ace manhunter U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is sleeping with Harry's ex-exotic dancer ex-girlfriend, and Joyce wants Harry found. And since nearly everyone has guns, locating and springing the captive bookie most probably can't happen without some measure of lethal difficulty.

©1995 Elmore Leonard, Inc. (P)1995 Recorded Books Inc.

TV's JUSTIFIED, Raylan Givens returns in book two

This is Leonard's second Raylan Givens novel, that the show 'Justified' is based on. Once again, Raylan seems to spend most of his time going off on his own, rather than sticking purely with his US Marshall services job.

Harry, from 'Pronto' , the first Raylan Givens' book, is a retired bookie who returns In this book. After running from the mob in book one, he is kidnapped by a trio of truly strange characters in this book. Raylan gets involved with a beautiful young psychic; an old woman whose memory has gone, and her druggie son who is selling everything out of her mansion; a brash you man who dreams of killing situations that make him look macho; and a truly crazy enforcer.

Raylan continues to be his own man. This quality makes him, and his stories, uniquely interesting. Sometimes I wish Elmore Leonard wasn't so stereotypically racist with every group one could possible think about in his books. The saving grace with this, I believe, is to show the stupidity of these attitudes. Gently macho is definitely in, as Raylan determines his own means of justice!!

Exceptional!

No long winded review is necessary.

Elmore Leonard, read by Frank Muller. it just doesn't get much better than than that!

Needed a better voice for narration.

Story is good but I had to force myself to finish it. The narrators voice was hard for me to take, maybe just me but it was awfully monotonous.

Classic Leonard

Where does Riding the Rap rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10 for enjoyment

What did you like best about this story?

Colorful characters with great back story description. I think all of Leonard's characters are interesting and believable.

What about Frank Muller’s performance did you like?

Narrator is very important to me. Muller does great job with character voice and inflection. Very easy to listen to. I was absorbed by the way he translated Leonard's characters and he made it easy for me to picture them in my mind.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, If I had been traveling I would have listened to the entire book.

Any additional comments?

I listen purely for entertainment. This story and the narration was just what I was looking for. I have long been a fan of Elmore Leonard and have read many of his books. I was not the least bit disappointed. I would recommend this audio book.

Elmore Leonard has got to be the best author of crime novels 

This is a book that you will not be able to put down it keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end, but so to all of Elmore Leonard‘s books everyone needs to hear at least one of his books 

Once again, Leonard and Muller rock.

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 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...

Got a love Elmore!

The book delivers as expected! His book are always fun reads, gotta love the Marshall

Easy Fun

Entertaining for a long car ride. Easy to turn off for a couple of weeks & then pick back up No problem

Smooth as he needs to be

Would you consider the audio edition of Riding the Rap to be better than the print version?

Yes, the reader had a nice cadence and did a great job with the regional accents.

What did you like best about this story?

The fortunetelling aspect and the touch-and-go relationship between Raylan and Dawn Navarro - very sexy.

What does Frank Muller bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

nice cadence and did a great job with the regional accents.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction, but I really enjoy the TV series and I have a great mental picture of Givens making his way thru the Florida hoods and hoodlums.

Any additional comments?

You can judge a book by how long you want to stay in the car and keep listening - great story and I was sorry to see the story end.

great story, better voice work

Extremely well read story that plays up characters without creating silly sounding people in an outlandish situation