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: 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.