Pronto

Rating:
Summary: So Criminal
Review: Harry Arno, a bookie in Miami, quietly lives the good life with a sometime girlfriend, Joyce Patton. He's skimmed money from the top of his operation without the knowledge of his boss, Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, for years and has managed to salt away nearly a cool million toward his retirement. If everything had gone the way Harry had wanted, he would have retired and moved to Rapallo, Italy, where he once saw and briefly talked to the poet, Ezra Pound. Harry was in the army at the time, and Pound was incarcerated. That was also the first time Harry killed a man. Things go sour for Harry when the Justice Department sets him up by having a snitch tell Jimmy Cap that Harry has been skimming. Everybody knows bookies skim, but nobody's supposed to be able to prove it. The Justice Department figures that Jimmy Cap will try to have Harry killed, which will force Harry to ask for witness protection and turn evidence against Jimmy Cap. Harry remains optimistic about working things out-until he has to kill a gunman sent by Jimmy Cap. United States Marshal Raylan Givens is sent to protect Harry and try to get him to come in. Raylan has a past with Harry: six years ago Raylan was escorting Harry to a court date in Chicago when Harry gave him the slip in the Atlanta airport. Raylan is an old West kind of marshal, the kind who always gets his man, so bringing Harry in this time is kind of a point of honor thing and an attempt to clean his blemished record. So when Harry gives Raylan the slip again and disappears off to Rapallo, Italy, the marshal feels compelled to go after him-even if it means stepping into the line of fire of Tommy Bitonti, Jimmy Cap's main enforcer. Tommy Bitonti-also called Tommy Bucks and the Zip-has his own axe to grind. If Harry ends up dead, the Zip gets to take over the bookie operation, which is going to mean a lot more money. Harry's on the run in Italy, and Raylan and the Zip are on a collision course.

Elmore Leonard is America's premiere crime novelist. With dozens of novels written and more movie and television deals coming every day, Leonard has become a household name. Quentin Tarantino acknowledged Leonard's influence when the young director scripted and directed PULP FICTION, and made Leonard's novel RUM PUNCH into the movie, JACKY BROWN. Early in his long career, Leonard wrote pulp western stories, then moved into the paperback market after the pulps died in the 1950s. His early western novels and pulp novellas, HOMBRE, 3:10 TO YUMA, THE LAW AT RANDADO, LAST STAND AT SABRE RIVER, and VALDEZ IS COMING were all made into movies. He wrote original western scripts for JOE KIDD, HIGH NOON PART II, and DESPERADO. Several of his crime novels, including STICK, 52 PICKUP, GLITZ, CAT CHASER, SPLIT IMAGES, GET SHORTY, PRONTO, GOLD COAST, RUM PUNCH, and OUT OF SIGHT, were made into movies. MAXIMUM BOB was made into a television series. He began his journalism career as a crime reporter in Detroit, where he worked the graveyard shift and got to know both the police officers and the criminals in the city. When his writing career took off, he started writing novels and screenplays full-time, eventually moving down to Florida where he currently lives and works.

PRONTO is a greatly simple and simply great novel. Leonard introduces his three main characters and gets them moving against each other. In the beginning, there are no clear rules or definitions between them. Harry, Raylan, and the Zip will use anyone or anything to achieve the ends each desires. Of them all, Raylan seems to be the more altruistic, but even he is not without his flaws. Joyce Patton, Harry's girlfriend, is well-drawn and carries her own depth even though she is primarily there to move the plot and action along, as well as to bring out different facets of Harry and Raylan. No Elmore Leonard novel would be complete without the cast of extras that make up the team that brings his world to life. Even these extras take on real dimensions, and the reader knows those people well, knows what they will and won't do. The dialogue is amazing, a blend of realistic street and egocentric comments and declarations that bring the characters, the scenes, and the plot to rich, crisp life. Harry, at best, is a gruff, barely likeable guy, but he rings true. Readers have known guys like him, and the fascination of what's going to happen next to a guy like Harry keeps the reader turning pages. Raylan Givens, carrying the hero's task of being the cavalry and straight-shooter, stumbles and falls a little by not stepping fully into the role, but his no-nonsense rawhide cowboy manners are a tip of the hat to the American West that spawned such men. The Zip, although he is the bad guy, carries a lot of the humor by heckling Nicky Testa, Jimmy Cap's right-hand guy, and comes across as a real person because he's only reaching for what he desires that can be his.

The pacing seemed a little off at times in this novel when compared to past Leonard books. Jimmy Cap never quite came across as the awe-inspiring menace he perhaps should have been. And the ending came a little too quickly. Also, seeing more of what happened to Raylan after the final confrontation would have been welcome.

Fans of James Lee Burke, Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, Donald Westlake, and Carl Hiaasen will find a new treasure in Elmore Leonard if they haven't already discovered this author.

Rating:
Summary: So Criminal
Review: Harry Arno, a bookie in Miami, quietly lives the good life with a sometime girlfriend, Joyce Patton. He's skimmed money from the top of his operation without the knowledge of his boss, Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, for years and has managed to salt away nearly a cool million toward his retirement. If everything had gone the way Harry had wanted, he would have retired and moved to Rapallo, Italy, where he once saw and briefly talked to the poet, Ezra Pound. Harry was in the army at the time, and Pound was incarcerated. That was also the first time Harry killed a man. Things go sour for Harry when the Justice Department sets him up by having a snitch tell Jimmy Cap that Harry has been skimming. Everybody knows bookies skim, but nobody's supposed to be able to prove it. The Justice Department figures that Jimmy Cap will try to have Harry killed, which will force Harry to ask for witness protection and turn evidence against Jimmy Cap. Harry remains optimistic about working things out-until he has to kill a gunman sent by Jimmy Cap. United States Marshal Raylan Givens is sent to protect Harry and try to get him to come in. Raylan has a past with Harry: six years ago Raylan was escorting Harry to a court date in Chicago when Harry gave him the slip in the Atlanta airport. Raylan is an old West kind of marshal, the kind who always gets his man, so bringing Harry in this time is kind of a point of honor thing and an attempt to clean his blemished record. So when Harry gives Raylan the slip again and disappears off to Rapallo, Italy, the marshal feels compelled to go after him-even if it means stepping into the line of fire of Tommy Bitonti, Jimmy Cap's main enforcer. Tommy Bitonti-also called Tommy Bucks and the Zip-has his own axe to grind. If Harry ends up dead, the Zip gets to take over the bookie operation, which is going to mean a lot more money. Harry's on the run in Italy, and Raylan and the Zip are on a collision course.

Elmore Leonard is America's premiere crime novelist. With dozens of novels written and more movie and television deals coming every day, Leonard has become a household name. Quentin Tarantino acknowledged Leonard's influence when the young director scripted and directed PULP FICTION, and made Leonard's novel RUM PUNCH into the movie, JACKY BROWN. Early in his long career, Leonard wrote pulp western stories, then moved into the paperback market after the pulps died in the 1950s. His early western novels and pulp novellas, HOMBRE, 3:10 TO YUMA, THE LAW AT RANDADO, LAST STAND AT SABRE RIVER, and VALDEZ IS COMING were all made into movies. He wrote original western scripts for JOE KIDD, HIGH NOON PART II, and DESPERADO. Several of his crime novels, including STICK, 52 PICKUP, GLITZ, CAT CHASER, SPLIT IMAGES, GET SHORTY, PRONTO, GOLD COAST, RUM PUNCH, and OUT OF SIGHT, were made into movies. MAXIMUM BOB was made into a television series. He began his journalism career as a crime reporter in Detroit, where he worked the graveyard shift and got to know both the police officers and the criminals in the city. When his writing career took off, he started writing novels and screenplays full-time, eventually moving down to Florida where he currently lives and works.

PRONTO is a greatly simple and simply great novel. Leonard introduces his three main characters and gets them moving against each other. In the beginning, there are no clear rules or definitions between them. Harry, Raylan, and the Zip will use anyone or anything to achieve the ends each desires. Of them all, Raylan seems to be the more altruistic, but even he is not without his flaws. Joyce Patton, Harry's girlfriend, is well-drawn and carries her own depth even though she is primarily there to move the plot and action along, as well as to bring out different facets of Harry and Raylan. No Elmore Leonard novel would be complete without the cast of extras that make up the team that brings his world to life. Even these extras take on real dimensions, and the reader knows those people well, knows what they will and won't do. The dialogue is amazing, a blend of realistic street and egocentric comments and declarations that bring the characters, the scenes, and the plot to rich, crisp life. Harry, at best, is a gruff, barely likeable guy, but he rings true. Readers have known guys like him, and the fascination of what's going to happen next to a guy like Harry keeps the reader turning pages. Raylan Givens, carrying the hero's task of being the cavalry and straight-shooter, stumbles and falls a little by not stepping fully into the role, but his no-nonsense rawhide cowboy manners are a tip of the hat to the American West that spawned such men. The Zip, although he is the bad guy, carries a lot of the humor by heckling Nicky Testa, Jimmy Cap's right-hand guy, and comes across as a real person because he's only reaching for what he desires that can be his.

The pacing seemed a little off at times in this novel when compared to past Leonard books. Jimmy Cap never quite came across as the awe-inspiring menace he perhaps should have been. And the ending came a little too quickly. Also, seeing more of what happened to Raylan after the final confrontation would have been welcome.

Fans of James Lee Burke, Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, Donald Westlake, and Carl Hiaasen will find a new treasure in Elmore Leonard if they haven't already discovered this author.

Rating:
Summary: Super fast and super cool
Review: I guess it's broken record time, but Elmore Leonard is the man. I've never read anyone who can absolutely glue me to the page like he does. He begins with interesting scenes, all of course moved by the amazing dialogue. Then he enters even more characters you would expect to just fade away but later on become some of the most important characters of the book. And, the strange thing is, I never FEEL like I'm reading it. I feel like its happening, a little film in my mind, with the recovering alcholic Harry, the cool cowboy Raylan and the Zip. You'll understand what I mean when you read it. They become characters you know and love and enjoy and when the book is over you want to do nothing but read on about their adventures. If this one has a follow up, I'll be first in the line to the bookstore. It glued me to the page as usual, and by the time I was finished I couldn't put it down. Rest assured one of his coolest, easy-to-fly-through novels yet.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad
Review: I've read four Elmore Leonard novels, and this was my least favorite of those. Pronto suffers from a predictable storyline and sometimes unlikeable characters (I'm referring to the good guys; the ones you're supposed to like). Not bad, but I'd recommend LaBrava, Bandits or Rum Punch over this one.

Rating:
Summary: So ... that's it?
Review: Legendary writer Elmore Leonard has been pushed into the spotlight lately due to the success of the films "Get Shorty" and "Jackie Brown", and since everyone has been gushing about Leonard's novels, I decided to check out "Pronto". I must be missing something. Maybe "Pronto" is one of Leonard's lesser efforts, and it would probably behoove me to try him again, since I thought the novel was slow, unoriginal, and rather dull. Leonard occasionally comes up with some snappy things for his characters to say, but the characters themselves didn't warrant my attention, and the story they were involved seemed pointless. I suppose my major complaint was that I knew where the novel was going, and it took an eternity for Leonard to get there.

Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Review: Miami Beach bookie Harry Arno is used to playing the odds, skimming money from gangster Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, and socking away a cool million in a Swiss bank account. The game turns sour, however, when the FBI tips off the mob about Arno's skimming in an attempt to scare and `flip' Harry into becoming a federal witness against Cap. After Cap orders the hit, Harry shoots one of Cap's trigger men and flees to Italy, where he dreams of living an idyllic existence with his girlfriend Joyce in a villa by the sea. Following Harry to Italy is mob enforcer Tommy Bucks and U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens.

Elmore Leonard is the best-selling author of more than three dozen novels. His work is often pipelined straight to Hollywood, where his novels have been adapted for several blockbuster films such as Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown (Rum Punch).

`Pronto' is a strange pot-boiler, the plot driven by three characters: Harry, Tommy, and Raylan. Harry is constantly reminiscing about World War II; Tommy carries a picture of the old crime boss Frank Costello in his wallet; Raylan is a cowboy. All three men are anachronisms, stuck in a world without honor, while pining for a nobler past.

Unfortunately, `Pronto' is primarily the story of Harry Arno, one of the most unlikable protagonists in contemporary fiction. Harry is a self-centered jerk and liar, so lacking in human grace that he seems almost autistic, unable to relate to anyone. Note the following line, after the fortyish, childless Joyce admits to Harry a yearning to be a mother:

"You're not the mommy type, kiddo."

After Joyce's hotel room is trashed by Mafia killers, she mentions Raylan's kindness after he brings her luggage to the villa. Harry replies:

"He's used to picking up suitcases, doing the heavy work. It's the kind of law enforcement he's in."

There's an emotional deadness in Harry that makes the flesh crawl. Leonard has purposely cast Harry this way, perhaps as a literary stunt, yet it ultimately cripples what could have been an excellent thriller. When a reader becomes alienated from the novel's main character, any emotional investment in the story is lost. Readers will also wonder why Raylan and Joyce care so much about Harry, who treats both with condescending disdain. After one hundred pages into `Pronto', most will be rooting for Tommy Bucks, vainly hoping that he will blow Harry's head off.

Nevertheless, Leonard has an uncanny gift for staging dramatic action sequences that keeps the reader turning pages until the final bloody climax. When depicting the dark side of human nature, Leonard is masterful; yet he flounders when depicting noble men and women. Raylan is the sheriff in this spaghetti western, and Joyce is the long-suffering hooker with the heart of gold. Yet neither seems as real as Tommy Bucks, the most compelling character in `Pronto', whose motive and ambition is clear and focused.

`Pronto' is a clever and entertaining novel, yet one senses that a piece is missing, a center to hold everything together. That missing piece is Harry Arno, who is as lifeless and vapid at the end of this novel as he was at the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Review: Miami Beach bookie Harry Arno is used to playing the odds, skimming money from gangster Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, and socking away a cool million in a Swiss bank account. The game turns sour, however, when the FBI tips off the mob about Arno's skimming in an attempt to scare and 'flip' Harry into becoming a federal witness against Cap. After Cap orders the hit, Harry shoots one of Cap's trigger men and flees to Italy, where he dreams of living an idyllic existence with his girlfriend Joyce in a villa by the sea. Following Harry to Italy is mob enforcer Tommy Bucks and U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens.

Elmore Leonard is the best-selling author of more than three dozen novels. His work is often pipelined straight to Hollywood, where his novels have been adapted for several blockbuster films such as Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown (Rum Punch).

'Pronto' is a strange pot-boiler, the plot driven by three characters: Harry, Tommy, and Raylan. Harry is constantly reminiscing about World War II; Tommy carries a picture of the old crime boss Frank Costello in his wallet; Raylan is a cowboy. All three men are anachronisms, stuck in a world without honor, while pining for a nobler past.

Unfortunately, 'Pronto' is primarily the story of Harry Arno, one of the most unlikable protagonists in contemporary fiction. Harry is a self-centered jerk and liar, so lacking in human grace that he seems almost autistic, unable to relate to anyone. Note the following line, after the fortyish, childless Joyce admits to Harry a yearning to be a mother:

"You're not the mommy type, kiddo."

After Joyce's hotel room is trashed by Mafia killers, she mentions Raylan's kindness after he brings her luggage to the villa. Harry replies:

"He's used to picking up suitcases, doing the heavy work. It's the kind of law enforcement he's in."

There's an emotional deadness in Harry that makes the flesh crawl. Leonard has purposely cast Harry this way, perhaps as a literary stunt, yet it ultimately cripples what could have been an excellent thriller. When a reader becomes alienated from the novel's main character, any emotional investment in the story is lost. Readers will also wonder why Raylan and Joyce care so much about Harry, who treats both with condescending disdain. After one hundred pages into 'Pronto', most will be rooting for Tommy Bucks, vainly hoping that he will blow Harry's head off.

Nevertheless, Leonard has an uncanny gift for staging dramatic action sequences that keeps the reader turning pages until the final bloody climax. When depicting the dark side of human nature, Leonard is masterful; yet he flounders when depicting noble men and women. Raylan is the sheriff in this spaghetti western, and Joyce is the long-suffering hooker with the heart of gold. Yet neither seems as real as Tommy Bucks, the most compelling character in 'Pronto', whose motive and ambition is clear and focused.

'Pronto' is a clever and entertaining novel, yet one senses that a piece is missing, a center to hold everything together. That missing piece is Harry Arno, who is as lifeless and vapid at the end of this novel as he was at the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: THE STORY KEEPS YOUR ATTENTION FROM START TO FINISH.
Review: MR. LEONARD HAS WRITTEN A STORY THAT HOLDS THE READERS ATTENTION FROM START TO FINISH. IT'S ONE OF THOSE BOOKS YOU JUST CAN'T PUT DOWN UNTIL YOU FINISH. THE PLOT IS EXTREMELY CLEVER AND ALL THE PIECES TO THIS WELL WRITTEN CRIME STORY FIT LIKE A PUZZLE. I DID HAVE A MINOR PROBLEM WITH THE ENDING THOUGH. THE TRUE FATE OF TWO OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS - GLORIA AND NICKY ARE A LITTLE VAGUE. DETECTIVE TORRES MENTIONS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO CHARGE HER (GLORIA) WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER, BUT IN REALITY THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO CONNECT HER TO ANY CONSPIRACY WITH THE ZIP DEAD (THOUGH EVEN AS READERS WE KNOW BETTER) AND NICKY'S FATE IS ALSO VAGUE (HE WILL NOT LAST THREE WEEKS)? WE'RE LEFT WONDERING WHAT REALLY DOES HAPPEN TO THESE TWO INDIVIDUALS?

Rating:
Summary: Uncharacteristically Weak
Review: Oddly enough, while I enjoyed the followup to this (Riding the Rap), I really didn't like Pronto. I found the prose totally pedestrian and hack. I couldn't really care about the good guys, and the "bad" guys were more interesting, but alas, not funny enough to save the experience. Of the four books of his I've read, this is definitely the weakest.

Rating:
Summary: Harry Rides a Roller Coaster
Review: PRONTO by Elmore Leonard is a joyride of a story about Harry Arno, an over the hills Miami bookmaker. Harry plans to retire in Italy on money he skimmed from his corpulent mob boss, Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto. The feds want Jimmy Cap so they set up Harry to give information about Cap's activities by putting out the word about his skimming activities. An assassin is sent to get Harry but he's faster with a gun. In a final jab at the law, before he skips town, Harry gives the slip to U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens for the second time since they first met six years ago. In addition, "Zip", another mob affiliate, wants to take over Harry's action, so he tells Cap that he'll take out Harry in Italy. Consequently, Harry has so many people following him that the small village of Rapallo, Italy, becomes inundated with U. S. mobsters and federal agents plus Harry's old girlfriend, ex-stripper, Joyce. During all of these events, the sixty-six year old Harry starts drinking seriously again which causes the situation to deteriorate fast. Harry is in real danger of losing his life, as are several of the other players.

Leonard wrote twenty-three books before being discovered by the bestseller market in l983, the year LA BRAVA was published and won the Edgar Award. In l953, his first novel, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS, was published, but the market for westerns began to dry up. Leonard is best known for his crime novels.

All of the characters in PRONTO are drawn with clarity and colors so vivid the reader would know each one if he or she ran into them on the street. U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens is a fast-draw cowboy of the Old West variety. His cream cowboy hat bobbing aloft alerts readers to his entry in any combat zone. Though Raylan laments his inability to express himself emotionally, readers come to know him and root for his success where Harry is concerned. In addition, the inclusion of the Ezra Pound stories add more spice to the understanding of Harry and his reasons for retiring to Italy. How could anyone resist researching Pound's poetry after reading a line like: "Dinklage, where art thou, with, or without, your von?" (My dictionary says "von" is a German word that indicates nobility or place of origin.) It's a nonsensical and hilarious question. Never mind what Pound meant.

PRONTO is snazzy. It's loaded with notable characters and an enticing plot. The passage where Gloria, Jimmy Caps girlfriend, tells Nick Testa about Jimmy Cap's reason for wanting to visit Butterfly World is funny. The same story is repeated later from Jimmy's viewpoint. It's still funny. But Leonard's prose might be a small problem for some readers. It reads like people talk and think at the same time. His use of the language as a tool for his stories is brilliant. However, high school sophomore English students should probably not read Leonard for a few years as many of them already use sentence fragments and run-ons without his genius.

Leonard's novels are addicitive. Try GET SHORTY which was made into a movie starring John Travolta in l995. BE COOL is the follow-up to GET SHORTY. Some of his other novels are BANDITS, FREAKY DEAKY and KILLSHOT.