The Switch

Rating:
Summary: Loved the characters!
Review: After encountering Ordell Robbie and Louie Gara in the book Rum Punch, I was greatly pleased when I found them in this previous book. Leonard makes his people real and the plots are entirely plausible.The dialogue is crisp and to the point.You feel that Robbie is someone you've met on the street. This the strength of Leonard's writing.The ending is a hoot, but predictable.

Rating:
Summary: A great crime-caper novel!
Review: Another great read set in Detorit with the usual creative slick and crooked characters. The dialogue is the best, as always. He makes it look so easy. A joy to read!

Rating:
Summary: From the Leonard Reviews: Make "The Switch" from "Rum Punch"
Review: For anyone who saw "Jackie Brown" or read the Leonard novel on which it's based, "Rum Punch," try to get your hands on this far superior first-appearance of the loveable criminal trio, Ordell Robbie, Luis Gaza, and "that fine big woman," Melanie.

This simple story of a loveless marriage whose seams truly start showing when the docile, country club wife, Mickey is kidnapped by Ordell and Luis is good, solid, 70's era Leonard. Mickey's marriage is many ways a mirror image of the married couple at the center of Leonard's previous "marital troubles cum crim" novel, "52 Pickup." Her husband is a brute who flies to the Bahamas to dally with his street savvy mistress, Melanie, a day before he serves Mickey a divorce summons.

The husband's refusal to pay ransom becomes the epiphany for the mouselike Mickey's transformation into the smart, independent woman--in some ways, she is the chrystalis for a whole series of strong female Leonard heroines who appear in later novels.

If the story sounds like the movie "Ruthless People," you can bet that the movie was probably based in part on this novel. In fact, in the vastly inferior sequel, "Rum Punch," the characters allude to the movie when recalling the events that happened in "The Switch." Frankly, the criminal trio is much more appealing here than they were in "Punch," when they became more violent, more hardened, and more cliched.

While not the best of his classic 70's novels, "The Switch" is definitely top-drawer Leonard, filled with the same sharp dialogue that has been his stock in trade for more than forty years. If you like "The Switch," I recommend you seek out "52 Pickup" and compare the ways Leonard explores the "criminal" aspects of infidelity.

Rating:
Summary: From the Leonard Reviews: Make "The Switch" from "Rum Punch"
Review: For anyone who saw "Jackie Brown" or read the Leonard novel on which it's based, "Rum Punch," try to get your hands on this far superior first-appearance of the loveable criminal trio, Ordell Robbie, Luis Gaza, and "that fine big woman," Melanie.

This simple story of a loveless marriage whose seams truly start showing when the docile, country club wife, Mickey is kidnapped by Ordell and Luis is good, solid, 70's era Leonard. Mickey's marriage is many ways a mirror image of the married couple at the center of Leonard's previous "marital troubles cum crim" novel, "52 Pickup." Her husband is a brute who flies to the Bahamas to dally with his street savvy mistress, Melanie, a day before he serves Mickey a divorce summons.

The husband's refusal to pay ransom becomes the epiphany for the mouselike Mickey's transformation into the smart, independent woman--in some ways, she is the chrystalis for a whole series of strong female Leonard heroines who appear in later novels.

If the story sounds like the movie "Ruthless People," you can bet that the movie was probably based in part on this novel. In fact, in the vastly inferior sequel, "Rum Punch," the characters allude to the movie when recalling the events that happened in "The Switch." Frankly, the criminal trio is much more appealing here than they were in "Punch," when they became more violent, more hardened, and more cliched.

While not the best of his classic 70's novels, "The Switch" is definitely top-drawer Leonard, filled with the same sharp dialogue that has been his stock in trade for more than forty years. If you like "The Switch," I recommend you seek out "52 Pickup" and compare the ways Leonard explores the "criminal" aspects of infidelity.

Rating:
Summary: First Elmore Leonard novel I've read.
Review: than Leonard's usual. But of course, that's still high praise, given that he's far and away the best crime writer of this or any other generation. The first two-thirds of the way through I was captivated, enthralled, wondering why this one, like so many others, hadn't already spawned a blockbuster movie. As the remaining pages grew thinner and thinner, though, I had my answer: an anticlimactic ending in which Leonard just seemed to run out of gas. Nonetheless, if you've read the others you should certainly read this--a 4-star effort from Elmore Leonard still beats the best that anyone else working in the genre today can muster.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Less Satisfying...
Review: than Leonard's usual. But of course, that's still high praise, given that he's far and away the best crime writer of this or any other generation. The first two-thirds of the way through I was captivated, enthralled, wondering why this one, like so many others, hadn't already spawned a blockbuster movie. As the remaining pages grew thinner and thinner, though, I had my answer: an anticlimactic ending in which Leonard just seemed to run out of gas. Nonetheless, if you've read the others you should certainly read this--a 4-star effort from Elmore Leonard still beats the best that anyone else working in the genre today can muster.

Rating:
Summary: Switch to this book now
Review: This is possibly the most enjoyable Leonard novel I have read. It really is superb, mixing violence and humour to great effect. The story is streamlined, with no unnecessary characters or plotlines, and the jokes are very funny. The ending is especially enjoyable, the type of ending you wish for but know that the author won't deliver...unless it's Elmore Leonard. It really ties things up nicely, and there's not a cliche or stereotype to be seen. That's what makes Leonard so enjoyable...it's believable people doing believable things. Funny, clever, engrossing. I couldn't put it down, and that's a cliche I don't mind using...

Rating:
Summary: First Elmore Leonard novel I've read.
Review: This was the first Leonard novel I've read, and I was disappointed. Maybe it's his reputation as being such a great crime writer, but the plot seemed familiar (i.e. the movie "Ruthless People" and others) and it ran out of steam at the end. I liked some of the characterization and some specific scenes, but it wasn't a great book.