Rating: 
Summary: Be Cool is lukewarm
Review: As a fan of Elmore Leonard, and particularly of his popular novel, Get Shorty, I eagerly anticipated the release of this continuation of the tale of Chili Palmer. Dismayed was I to discover, therefore, that Be Cool was so true to the original that it could have, in fact, been the same book. Don't get me wrong, I like Chili Palmer as much as the next guy, but Mr. Leonard seemed to have missed the fact that for a sequel to be successful, it must take beloved characters and place them in NEW situations. This time, we find the same Chili doing the same things he did in Get Shorty, albeit with a little less violence, only this time he's doing it in the music world instead of the movie world. Throughout the novel, I found myself getting a more than vague sense of deja vu - I've seen it all before. The book is not, of course, without a few shining moments. A distressingly macabre exchange between a myopic Jewish hitman and a jive-talking, ghetto blasting music producer concerning the best type of baseball bat when a skull is the target provides a great moment of typical Leonard black humor. Leonard's signature stylistic devices - flashback narration and wonderful use of dialect - are omnipresent throughout. Be Cool does have its advantages, but it's possible to save money - just put on an Aerosmith album and re-read Get Shorty. Sorry, folks, but we've been here and done this.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun afternoon's read
Review: Be Cool is my favorite among Leonard's recent books. The characters are colorful and the story moves quicly. It is all in all a very fun way to spend an afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: what're you talking about? it's a good book
Review: I read Be Cool for a fiction assignment in my high school English class -- since I haven't read the rest of Leonard's novels I can't compare it to them, but my impressions were that it was really a funny and observant book that lived up to its cover blurbs & favorable reviews (of which I have read a lot). On the basis of reading Be Cool I think I'd really like to read the rest of Elmore Leonard's work.
Rating: 
Summary: dreary dialogue without content
Review: this is a book of dreary and unrelated dialogue which goes on and on and accomplishes nothing unless one is interested in the use of five letter words. The plot is miniscule.
Rating: 
Summary: Take the money and run
Review: I was very disappointed with Be Cool. Elmore Leonard is one of my favorite authors, but Hollywood had managed to convince Leonard to write this sequel to Get Shorty so it could be made into a movie. The main character, Chili Palmer, manages to walk through this totally lifeless story surrounding the record business. I recommend this book for diehard Elmore Leonard fans only.
Rating:
Summary: There's something cold about Cool.
Review: When I read Get Shorty, I thought wow! this is Elmore Leonard's masterpiece--or one of them. And when I grabbed a-hold of Be Cool, that was what I was expecting, another masterpiece. Well,it's not. It's disappointing and lifeless, and just WEAK! Chilli Palmer is a great character and deserves a better story than this: another behind-the-scenes shuffle, this time centered around the music industry. This setting only serves to showcase a group of weirdos and eccentrics who's sole purpose is to make Chilli look cool. My advice, just sit tight, be cool and wait for Elmore's next book--it has to be better than this.
Rating:
Summary: Not Leonard's best, but good.
Review: I'm the Dutch translator of Elmore Leonard's novels. I did KILLSHOT, RIDING THE RAP, OUT OF SIGHT, CUBA LIBRE and today I finished translating BE COOL. I must say that on first reading I was a little dissapointed, but now, after living with this book for almost three months, I think it's good. He did - and will do - it again!.Theo Horsten Greece
Rating:
Summary: a monumental bore
Review: Nothing cool about it. Run on dialogue. Action scenes described by the characters AFTER they happened. Cliche rags-to-riches band story. Old news about the record industry, with no hint of the industry to come (such as, how the Internet will affect it). What a phenomenal waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: A fast shallow read
Review: Sorry, Elmore, but this is not up to your sterling standards of the past. Playing off the popularity of Get Shorty and the movie of the same name starring John Travolta, Elmore Leonard has written a movie script that tries to pass as a novel. He should have called it B Movie.
Rating:
Summary: Has Elmore gotten dumb or something?
Review: Get Shorty was a great book, but the sequel stinks. THats all I have to say.
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