Showing results by author "Elmore Leonard" in All Categories

Reformed jewel thief Jack Delaney was going straight - until he met sexy ex nun Lucy Nichols. Jack's in the funeral business and when he's sent to collect a body from a leper hospital, he finds it in Sister Lucy's care - and very much alive. Lucy's on a goodwill mission, hoping to smuggle the 'deceased' away from her dangerous ex, a Nicaraguan colonel with guns and goons aplenty. And it just so happens the colonel's also got several million dollars that could aid Lucy's quest to help mankind.

The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost - and finding one he'd be better off without. But that doesn't matter to George while he's sleeping with beautiful Mary de Boya - only when he discovers his lover is the wife of a former death squad general in exile with mob connections.

An air hostess doing the Caribbean-Florida run, Jackie also uses her job to shift large amounts of hot money. The Feds are closing in on her and the highly dysfunctional arms-dealers she works for are not getting any more functional. It would involve huge risks, but could she perhaps walk away from the whole wreckage, happy and rich?

Collecting money for the Mob isn't too different from any other job, reckons Miami loan shark Chili Palmer. He soon finds himself ordered to collect on a bad debt from Leo Devoe, a guy who died in a plane crash. But it turns out Leo isn't dead - he's living it up in Las Vegas on the compensation money. So Chili follows him to Vegas and then on to Hollywood, where he gets drawn into the world of movies....

Tony Paradiso - aka Mr Paradise - gets his kicks from watching old football games on TV accompanied by live entertainment: sexy cheerleaders shaking their pom-poms and doing rah-rah routines for his viewing pleasure. But for Chloe Robinette, playing dress-up doesn't end so well when she's caught in the crossfire of a contract hit. There are witnesses to the murders - Paradiso's right-hand man, Montez Taylor, and Chloe's roommate Kelly - but neither is giving too much away.

A classic Leonard thriller featuring Raylan Givens - the inspiration behind the hit show Justified. Palm Beach playboy Chip Ganz needs money - fast. He has spiralling debts, and his mother's gravy-train has just derailed. So he has a plan: He's going to find somebody rich, and take them hostage. With the help of an ex-con, a psycho gardener and the beautiful psychic Reverend Dawn, he chooses bookmaker Harry Arno as the lucky victim.

Mickey is bored and angry with her life as a housewife in suburban Detroit, trapped with her dreary, golf-obsessed husband. Then she is kidnapped by a deeply unimpressive criminal gang who want to trade her for a huge ransom from her—as it turns out—crooked husband. But what if she doesn’t really mind being kidnapped?

Brought to you by Penguin. Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The crazed killer is back on the Detroit streets - thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer - and this time he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked Motown judge. Homicide Detective...

‘The Ten Golden Rules for Successful Armed Robbery’ if rigidly adhered to will catapult two trainee robbers—Frank and Stick—into Detroit’s criminal elite. But for how long can they maintain the Rules’ austere discipline as the lurid, fun temptations pile up?

US Marshal Raylan Givens is back in action, with a federal warrant to serve on a dope dealer named Angel Arenas. The state troopers are impressed when the marshal struts into the convict's hotel room without drawing his gun, but Raylan soon finds that Angel's already been the victim of another crime; one that's way bigger than a bit of pot, and clearly the work of a professional...

There aren't any textbooks on armed robbery. The only way to learn is through experience, and small-time crooks Frank and Stick are determined to do as much learning on the job as possible. In 1970s' Detroit they embark on a crime spree, holding up liquor stores and supermarkets. They invent their 'Ten Golden Rules for Successful Armed Robbery' and for a short time the cash is rolling in. But then they bend their own rules, and it looks like trouble is heading their way.

Harry Arno runs a South Miami Beach gambling operation. To protect his position, he was forced to cut a deal with the local muscle, Jimmy Capotorto (Jumbo Jimmy Cap), an even fifty-fifty split. For years Harry had been padding his own stake by skimming off the top. Now a couple of local detectives - wise to sticky fingers - try to bag Jimmy by putting the squeeze on Harry. U.S. Marshalls deliver Harry to court to testify at Jimmy's trial. Even though he's a step slower than he used to be, Harry's no fool - he slips out of the country pronto.

Ironworker Wayne Colson and his spirited wife Carmen are witnesses to a shakedown scam — witnesses who must be eliminated. Enter Armand Degas (a.k.a. Blackbird), the brains of the operation, and his partner Richie Nix, an ex-con whose highest goal is to rob a bank in every state. After the Colsons enter the Federal Witness Security Program, a lively chase ensues — with two bumbling but determined killers on Wayne and Carmen's trail.

Every prison inmate needs a Road Dog - someone to watch their back, someone they can trust on the inside and out. For wealthy Cuban criminal Cundo Rey, that person is Jack Foley: charmer, ladies' man, and infamous bank robber. With the services of a shark attorney and a whole heap of cash, Cundo engineers his buddy's early release, and Jack is soon living large in Cundo's house in Venice Beach, enjoying the attentions of his sexy wife, Dawn. But Dawn has ulterior motives and a plan: to relieve her husband of his considerable fortune...and she needs Jack's help.

Set in Oklahoma during the 1930s, The Hot Kid is a powerfully entertaining story and introduces Carl Webster, one of the coolest lawmen ever to draw on a fugitive felon. At 21, Carl Webster's on his way to becoming the most famous Deputy US Marshal in America. He has shot and killed notorious bank robber Emmet Long and is now tracking Jack Belmont, the no-good son of an oil millionaire with dreams of becoming Public Enemy Number One.

The odd thing about Walter Schoen is he's a dead ringer for Heinrich Himmler. Walter is a member of a spy ring that sends US war production data to Germany and gives shelter to escaped German prisoners of war. Honey Deal, Walter's American wife, has given up trying to make him over as a regular guy. She decides it's time to stop telling him jokes he doesn't understand and get a divorce. Along comes Carl Webster, the Hot Kid of the Marshals Service, looking for an escaped POW. Carl uses Honey to meet Walter, who Carl believes is hiding the POW.

When Elmore Leonard died in 2013, he left behind a 60-year legacy of crime novels that, through their trademark wit and grit, transcended genre fiction. He also left behind a treasure trove of unpublished early stories. Their razor-sharp dialogue and headlong pacing reveal a master who honed his...

Dara Barr, documentary filmmaker, is at the top of her game and looking for a challenge. So she and her right-hand-man - a six-foot-six African-American called Xavier - head to Djibouti on the Horn of Africa to tackle modern-day pirates. As hijacked tankers line up like floating bombs, Dara and Xavier know it's time for a showdown. But which guy is going to get the prize - and what will he have to do to get it?

The Elmore Leonard Podcast explores the work and life of one of our greatest novelists: Elmore Leonard. We will interview those who knew him and his work best, and also dive deep into the novels, the short stories and the invisible threads that tie them together. If you've read the books and seen the adaptations, we've got a lot to talk about. And if you haven't, get to work. Either way, subscribe to The Elmore Leonard Podcast today.

It's not Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne's fault that they were in the real estate office when a pair of thugs walked in with extortion on their minds. But as far as aging Ojibway Indian hitman Armand Degas is concerned, the Colsons are going to have to pay dearly for seeing too much, and for the damage Wayne inflicted on Armand and his sicko partner Richie Nix with a tire iron.