Killshot

Rating:
Summary: Leonard On Target
Review: "Killshot" is a fast-paced, edgy and action-filled novel with strong emphasis on character, which is what one expects from Elmore Leonard. Leonard effectively paints telling portraits complete with physical details, emotions and mannerisms, and he never short-changes on plot or suspense. This book hums along. The killers are reprehensible, but Leonard makes them human, with their own particular vulnerabilities. Richie Nix is a sociopath seeing people only as objects to be used or eliminated. The Bird is somewhat more empathetic, but a cold, bloodless professional killer nonetheless. Carmen and Wayne Colson are a married couple who get caught up in a shakedown scam by mistake, and they end up having the two killers on their trail. Leonard does an outstanding job with minor characters as well giving them pivotal roles, especially Donna, the woman who becomes a lover to both killers, and the egotistical deputy sheriff. While the reader might find him or herself rooting more against the evilness of Richie or Bird, rather than for any compelling traits in the Colson's, there is more than enough tension inherent in "Killshot" to make this a very good read.

Rating:
Summary: Killshot Is Not Great, It's Mediocre!
Review: A total slam bang hoot by the master of the hilariously dark satire.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: An ironworker and his wife are being hunted down by a professional hitman and a murdering ex-con. Wayne Colson and his wife Carmen found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Armand and Richie, two lifelong criminals, are very poorly attempting to extort money from Carmen's boss. The inept thieves harebrained scheme is to walk into his office and take the money. But they are in for a surprise.

Wayne is visiting his wifes office the day the gangsters attempt to grab the money. They mistake him for Carmen's boss and a melee ensues. Wayne gives the crooks a real good lambasting and they take off empty handed.

When the goons trackdown the man responsible for giving them the beating, they want revenge. The Colsons, in an effort to save their lives, enter the Witness Security Program. They soon find out they might have been better off to try and make it on their own.

This book was the first I have read from Elmore Leonard. The dialogue is funny and smart. But I felt that the story was lacking in some areas. I believe Quentin Tarantino is supposed to be writing a screenplay based on this novel. I'm sure he won't disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary people in extraordinary situations
Review: Carmen and Wayne Colson are unwilling witnesses to the collision of killers Richie Nix and Blackbird. Partly to avoid retribution and partly to avoid being caught, Nix and Blackbird decide that the world needs two witnesses fewer.

Leonard is excellent at taking ordinary people like the Colsons and turning them into heros. The detailing of the characters is up to his usual standard, and the book kept me reading eagerly until it was over.

Rating:
Summary: Leonard hits the bullseye
Review: Elmore Leonard strikes again with Killshot. Killshot, one of Leonard's best books, greatly emphasizes Leonard's outstanding writing talent. The story is of a hitman named Armand Degas, aka Blackbird. Armand has a chance encounter with an ex-con named Richie Nix, when Nix hijacks Armand's car. The two become partners, although Armand is clearly the leader. While on a job in Michigan, the duo encounters Wayne Colson and his wife Carmen, witnesses to the crime. Armand and Richie need to eliminate these witnesses.
The chase that follows is one of the most suspensful and exciting sequences of events that I have ever read in any book, ending in an awe-inspiring climax that will leave you with sweaty palms and a pounding heart. Leonard capitalizes on his outstanding characterization in Killshot, making it seem like you have known Armand Degas since you were in second grade. Leonard does a superb job of painting the picture of a criminal's life, making Killshot a hard book to put down.
Killshot is one of the most well written books that I have ever read, one of Leonard's best (not an easy thing to be!) This book proves that Elmore Leonard is indeed the undisputed king of crime writing.

Rating:
Summary: A near-masterpiece.
Review: From 'Split Images' to 'Get Shorty', a run encompassing about ten books, Elmore Leonard could do no wrong -- every one of these titles is compelling. 'Killshot' ranks as the best (perhaps tying with 'Split Images') book of this period. The plotting is clever in that it is put at the service of the characters -- action unfolds from character, rather than being imposed on it. And the prose, especially the dialogue, is pitch-perfect. (Compare Leonard's dialogue with that of James Ellroy, and see why Leonard is still regarded as the master.) What makes Leonard's books so enjoyable, however, is the amount of arcane information he's able to put into his story without ever making it feel crammed. He's written about graphology, Mississippi rivermen, high-steel construction, and Elvis Presley conspiracies (all 'Killshot'); leprosy and embalming ('Bandits'); St Francis of Assisi ('Touch' and 'Bandits'); the overthrow of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic ('Split Images', 'Cat Chaser'); photography and the Secret Service ('LaBrava'); casino operations ('Glitz'); hippie politics ('Freaky Deaky'); and countless other subjects. His facility for making these things interesting almost defies belief. Surrender yourself to 'Killshot', especially the redoubtable Carmen Colson, and find your plams getting sweaty, your mouth dry, and your heart racing. You'll laugh a lot, too.

Rating:
Summary: Leonard hits the bullseye
Review: The theme of this book is one that Elmore Leonard uses often, and nearly always to great effect - a romantic couple is swept innocently into the world of crime and has to discover heretofore-unknown resources to save themselves.

The reason this works so well for Leonard is that it lets him write to two of his great strengths. First, of course, is the world of criminals and cops. His criminals are always incredibly well drawn and always very distinct and three-dimensional. I have never read it anywhere, but I would guess that Quentin Tarantino must have been a big Leonard fan in his developmental years. His screen killers bear the hallmarks of Leonard characters; i.e. impassioned conversations about everyday things (like the two hit men in Pulp Fiction discussing McDonald's Big Macs) while dwelling in the sub-culture of crime and violence.

The second and less-commented-on strength Leonard has is the ability to portray the tugs and pulls of a male/female relationship with such effortless accuracy. In the interplay of the novel's husband and wife team, the subtle, aggravating, thrilling differences between man and woman are expertly rendered with a few classic, Leonard strokes. Also, Leonard is also the master at local color and authentic detail. His research and detail always has the feel of easy, unforced truth.

But let's face it; crime is what makes Leonard tick - the deal, the scam - and the men and women licking their chops over money and guns. It is certainly all here in this book. Here, it's an extortion scheme combining the efforts of an aging, nearly burned out hit man (Armand Degas) and a clever, hyperactive sociopath (Richie Nix). As always, Leonard develops his characters with subtle, concise power. Nix slowly becomes a truly frightening, dangerous character,

My favorite element of the book is Leonard's portrait of the half Ojibwa, half Canadian hit man, Armand Degas. In a way, the book is his somehow his story. From the beginning, he seems vaguely aware that his end is coming. Leonard's portrayal of this tiring man of violence lends certain poignancy to this character that stays with the reader.

All in all, classic Leonard - meaning a work that will keep you turning pages in effortless joy.

Rating:
Summary: Not as great as some people seem to think
Review: There are many interesting ingredients: a setting on the U.S.-Canada border; a cold-blooded Indian hit man; a psycho, rep-building sidekick; victims willing to fight back, one a high-iron construction worker; an F.BI. agent with more libido than intelligence. At many points I said to myself "Oh no! They're not going to do that!" There were some tedious arguments among the killers and among the victims. The dialogue had a you-are-there authenticity. Some of the events didn't. The ending hits like a punch in the gut.

Rating:
Summary: A dud!
Review: Vintage Leonard - all of the interesting texture and humor one expects, and that wonderful sinking suspense that he seems to have lost track of lately.