Rating: 
Summary: Better than the movie.
Review: Elmore Leonard has a real ear for dialogue and for writing interesting, complex characters that might seem like average, everyday people at first glance. Small wonder Hollywood has chosen to adapt so many of his projects to the big screen ("Out of Sight", "Get Shorty") and television ("Maximum Bob").Rum Punch is the story of Jackie Burke, a stewardess looking at the twilight of her life and becomes involved in an ATF sting directed at gun-dealer Ordell Robbie. The ensuing scramble to clear her name and swindle Ordell out of some money dominates the story, as does her relationship with bailbondsman Max Cherry. Director Quentin Tarantino made a decent film based on the book called "Jackie Brown", but to truly appreciate Leonard's story and the characters in them one has to read the book.
Rating:
Summary: As always, Elmore makes it fun...
Review: Elmore Leonard has made the better part of a darned good career out of writing about small-time crooks pushed along by a good guy and a bad guy. With Rum Punch, he sticks to this formula. No sense changing what works, right? The dialogue is great as always, and the plot keeps the reader interested. Jackie Burke is an aging--yet still attractive--flight attendant who gets busted for running cash through customs for Ordell Robbie, who makes his living as an arms dealer. When the authorities put pressure on her to cooperate in their attempt to bring in Ordell, Burke enlists the help of a burnt-out bail bondsman to make the effort pay off. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues that is classic Leonard: entertaining and easy to read. Elmore Leonard is a great storyteller. He's not someone who philosophises on life's great mysteries, he simply spins a good yarn. Rum Punch, just like his other books, is entertaining and easy to read. For fans of Leonard, this is another solid read.
Rating:
Summary: As always, Elmore makes it fun...
Review: Elmore Leonard has made the better part of a darned good career out of writing about small-time crooks pushed along by a good guy and a bad guy. With Rum Punch, he sticks to this formula. No sense changing what works, right? The dialogue is great as always, and the plot keeps the reader interested. Jackie Burke is an aging--yet still attractive--flight attendant who gets busted for running cash through customs for Ordell Robbie, who makes his living as an arms dealer. When the authorities put pressure on her to cooperate in their attempt to bring in Ordell, Burke enlists the help of a burnt-out bail bondsman to make the effort pay off. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues that is classic Leonard: entertaining and easy to read. Elmore Leonard is a great storyteller. He's not someone who philosophises on life's great mysteries, he simply spins a good yarn. Rum Punch, just like his other books, is entertaining and easy to read. For fans of Leonard, this is another solid read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good crime novel
Review: Elmore Leonard is great as usual. The movies are great as are the books which they are based on eg Get shorty Jackie Browne, and Out of Sight
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: Elmore Leonard writes as if he understand nothing. He has no feel for his material.Much of the credit for the story is much deserved by Quentin Tarantino. He made the story.Leonard involves pointless conversations.Meaningless details.It is so corny I COULDN'T stand his words. The Plot was much refined when it was made into the movie, Jackie Brown. Leonard acts as if he was super cool like Ordell Robbie. Basically, he made Ordell as a joke just the same way he made a joke out of his work. It was too boring that i was dying for the last page. Good Ideas but he failed to let them flow.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch" (which was the basis of Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown") is a page-turner in the truest sense of the word - it's hard to put down. Leonard's has crafted a novel with his usual ear for fantastic and witty dialogue and fast, descriptive and fluent prose. Add a well-crafted and surprising plot and we have one of Leonard's finest works. The story revolves around Jackie Burke (changed to Jackie Brown in the film), an airline stewardess who smuggles money between locations for Ordell Robbie, an arms-dealing hot-talking crook who uses everyone he comes in contact with for his own gain. The plot takes off when Jackie is caught by the police with the money for a delivery (along with some drugs she didn't know were in there) and Ordell is forced to bail her out through a bail bondsman, Max Cherry. Jackie sets up a sting operation which has the appearance of involving everyone -- the police, Ordell, even Ordell's discontented callgirl. In the end... well, you'll have to read it for that. What makes "Rum Punch" a pleasure to read, like all of Leonard's novels, are the fringe characters which seemingly only he could dream up. The relationship between Louis, Ordell's dim-witted and short-tempered right hand man, and Melanie, Ordell's primary callgirl, is amusing, as are scenes like Ray Nicholette's bravado-style shootout with one of Ordell's arms-shipping lackeys. Leonard also intersperses interesting bits of character introspection, things like Max Cherry's contemplation about his relationship with his wife (with whom he's separated) and Jackie's three ex-husbands (although she only usually says there's two, because two of them were so similar, even in name, that they're hard to tell apart). The plot itself goes off without a hitch. There's nothing profound, and probably nothing new, but the execution is suspenseful and works because of the strong characters involved. Heartily recommended. Matthew D. Johnston
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch" (which was the basis of Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown") is a page-turner in the truest sense of the word - it's hard to put down. Leonard's has crafted a novel with his usual ear for fantastic and witty dialogue and fast, descriptive and fluent prose. Add a well-crafted and surprising plot and we have one of Leonard's finest works. The story revolves around Jackie Burke (changed to Jackie Brown in the film), an airline stewardess who smuggles money between locations for Ordell Robbie, an arms-dealing hot-talking crook who uses everyone he comes in contact with for his own gain. The plot takes off when Jackie is caught by the police with the money for a delivery (along with some drugs she didn't know were in there) and Ordell is forced to bail her out through a bail bondsman, Max Cherry. Jackie sets up a sting operation which has the appearance of involving everyone -- the police, Ordell, even Ordell's discontented callgirl. In the end... well, you'll have to read it for that. What makes "Rum Punch" a pleasure to read, like all of Leonard's novels, are the fringe characters which seemingly only he could dream up. The relationship between Louis, Ordell's dim-witted and short-tempered right hand man, and Melanie, Ordell's primary callgirl, is amusing, as are scenes like Ray Nicholette's bravado-style shootout with one of Ordell's arms-shipping lackeys. Leonard also intersperses interesting bits of character introspection, things like Max Cherry's contemplation about his relationship with his wife (with whom he's separated) and Jackie's three ex-husbands (although she only usually says there's two, because two of them were so similar, even in name, that they're hard to tell apart). The plot itself goes off without a hitch. There's nothing profound, and probably nothing new, but the execution is suspenseful and works because of the strong characters involved. Heartily recommended. Matthew D. Johnston
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie
Review: For obvious reasons, I say that this is so much better than the movie. First of all, it gives you actually FEELINGS the characters are experiencing. And thanks to Leonard's wonderful way of changing the point of view, you never lose interest. The events are fast and quick, the dialogue so good I wondered why Tarantino did a thing to it. The story is very simple, and the scenes drawn out mostly by the dialogue and a few descriptive terms to let your mind fill in the details. All I can say now is that the movie, if you have seen it, is nothing compared. This is a must-read for anyone who likes action and love and guns and a very intense ending. The last forty pages run through your fingers like sand. Vintage Leonard!
Rating:
Summary: This book was a perfect plot for the movie
Review: How do you EVER put ensemble a cast including, a 44 year old stewardess, a bail bondsman, and ex-con, a gunrunner, a dirty harry wannabe superstar ATF agent, and a spaced out beach bunny. I don't know but Mr Leonard does so with incredible style. His skills of writing and Quentin Tarantino's moviemaking make one heck of a duo.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing special
Review: I can't tell you that this is a bad book, but of course it isn't a good one, the story of a stewardess who is better that a mafia person is not very real, the book will keep you reading sometimes, the way she deceive Ordell doesn't make sense, no one makes that kind of money and he just lose it so easy.
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