|
Road Dogs: A Novel |  | Author: Elmore Leonard
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
Buy Used: $4.95
as of 3/19/2010 03:35 MDT details
You Save: $22.04 (82%)
New (42) Used (59) Collectible (12) from $4.95
Seller: coasbooks
Rating:  86 reviews
Sales Rank: 13556
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 262
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061733148
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061733147
ASIN: 0061733148
Publication Date: May 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780061733147 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
NEW. Ships from warehouse.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, May 2009: Be Cool. If Elmore Leonard hadn't already used it for the sequel to Get Shorty, it would have been a natural title for this deliciously breezy follow-up to another Leonard-to-Hollywood hit, Out of Sight. You may best recall Jack Foley, as played by George Clooney, bantering with Jennifer Lopez in the trunk of a jailbreak getaway car, but when Out of Sight ended, Foley was headed back to the clink to finish a 30-year bid. Road Dogs opens with Foley on the van to prison with Cundo Rey, a pint-size Cuban who soon engineers their early release--legally, this time. Jack's happy to be out and enjoying the California hospitality of Cundo and his wife Dawn (both Leonard veterans too, from LaBrava and Riding the Rap). But Dawn is lovely and wily (and maybe a psychic), Cundo is a murderously jealous husband who may well think Jack owes him big-time, and Jack? Well, when you've robbed a hundred-twenty or so banks, is it that easy to go straight? As so often with Leonard, the real fun is less in the action than the talk, especially from Foley, the pleasure-minded, level-headed hood: an ex-con whose biggest con may be that he is exactly who he says he is. --Tom Nissley Questions for Elmore Leonard  Q:Where did the inspiration for the title Road Dogs come from? A: Road Dogs was on a list of prison expressions my researcher Gregg Sutter got for me: inmates who watch each other’s back. I liked the sound of the words together. Q: What made you decide to bring back Jack Foley, Cundo Rey, and Dawn Navarro now? What is it about these three characters that stuck with you through the years? A: Foley was played by George Clooney in Out of Sight. I imagined George in the scenes I wrote and it worked. Dawn Navarro was the psychic in Riding the Rap, a supporting character ready for a leading role. Cundo Rey from LaBrava, another favorite of mine, also deserved a bigger role, so I brought him back.. Q: Any chance Foley and the woman he loves, Federal Marshal Karen Sisco, will be back in the near future? A: I’m not sure Foley is up to robbing another bank. But Karen Sisco, the federal marshal in Out of Sight, could show up again; maybe working for her dad, a private investigator. Q: One of the hallmarks of your writing is your gift for the telling detail. When Foley is offering Cundo Rey’s money man, Jimmy, some advice about his skimming, he tells him that Cundo won’t kill him, but he might “break your legs with a José Canseco bat.” That’s one of those small yet wonderfully deft touches that adds color without slowing the pace. How do you do this so well? A: Realism is the key to my style of writing and dialogue is what keeps it moving, always in live scenes. Rather than use my voice, my language, to describe what’s going on, I let the characters tell who they are and what they’re up to by the way they talk. Scenes are written from a character’s point of view, never mine. Q: Many of your characters are working class stiffs and tough, intelligent broads. What draws you to these kind of characters? What do you think accounts for their popularity? A: My women often upstage the guys; they’re natural, their own person, while my cops and criminals talk the way I’ve observed them through research and being on the scene. Q: What’s next for Elmore Leonard? A: Next comes Djibouti, with Dara Barr, a documentary filmmaker with the Somali pirates off the coast of East Africa.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 86
Trust no one. February 11, 2010
Michael G. (Rochester, NY United States)
This latter day Elmore Leonard novel contains plenty of what long time fans have come to expect. In fact, a number of characters, locales and plot elements have been resurrected from previous Leonard offerings. Most notably, professional bank robber Jack Foley from Out of Sight, a character brought to life by George Clooney in the movie of the same name, serves as the book's protagonist.
Much of the narrative plays out in sunny Venice Beach, the home of wealthy marielito Cundo Rey, Jack's prison buddy or "road dog". Cundo's common law wife is Dawn Navarro, a psychic adviser who seems to believe a good deal of the previous life stories she often feeds to those she is trying to con.
Road Dogs, at its essence, is a tongue-in-cheek tale of duplicity and betrayal among a group of individuals, none of whom can be trusted for more than 30 seconds. The characters are all delightfully quirky and the plentiful dialogue is both funny and authentic sounding.
Certainly, Leonard has written many better, more substantial books, including the relatively recent Mr. Paradise. But Road Dogs is still a worthwhile read, especially for Elmore Leonard fans.
Road Dogs December 13, 2009
Cai Yixin Jeremy
You know those books where you have come off feeling like you have slogged through them. This is exactly the kind of sensation one gets while going through ROAD DOGS, the latest in the long run of Elmore Leonard's illustrious bibliography. As prolific as he is, he still shows an obvious lack in story plotting, the part of the writing process which he failed to nail in the very first crime novel THE BIG BOUNCE. That's not to say Elmore's writing isn't as stellar as it was or that his dialogue isn't as good. His mastery of dialogue is by far one of the best I've seen from any writer since, well, the advent of the greatest duo in English literature, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare. And, if you've read THE HOT KID or THE BIG BOUNCE, you would know how well Elmore can pace a scene or an action sequence. He goes through paragraphs like a freight train. No word is wasted and every single one used to tremendous overall effect. It's a welcome change from the long winding prose of a Stephen King or a Thomas Pynchon, where you see far too many words employed to illustrate a single point. The story construction, though, leaves a lot to be desired.
The premise of the book looks to be a winner: Jack Foley from OUT OF SIGHT meets Cundo Rey from LABRAVA meets Dawn Navarro from RIDING THE RAP. Jack meets Cundo in Glades prison, from an arrest by Karen Sisco back In OUT OF SIGHT-not the first time Elmore does such a thing-and Dawn, on the outside, waits on Cundo to finish up serving his time, little do we know she has her manicured paws poised on robbing Cundo of his numerous land properties and mansions. It all sounds good but the execution plods for a better part of the first half, until the inevitable betrayal by a particular someone in the equation. One might argue that crime novels does have such plot mechanics but even the worst of these novels do not contain weird plot points like the one involving Danny Karmanos' 'ghost.' While humorous, it offers no storytelling value. It looks suspiciously like filler, something redundant to fill up the pages.
It does have plenty of memorable moments to tide you over. The moment where Foley finds out the whole plan remains the highest for me. That was atypical of Elmore's characterization which is indicative of his experience and his prowess at following characters around with his pen. No one character was out and there was even a clear example shown, of Elmore's use of characterization, in a late conversation between Cundo and Dawn. ROAD DOGS has that going for it.
The ending was satisfying as well and not as slip-shot as some people thought it to be. It offered a good conclusion to the mystery and showed that vice always meets with punishment. Always.
If you've come here expecting the greatest American novel, this isn't it. Instead what you are getting here is a sort of a tide-over, a beach read to keep your days busy. Not really compelling but good for a few hours entertainment. If you're used to Elmore's prose, this might be a welcome introduction to some of the most poetic lines in crime fiction and beyond. Everyone benefits.
Survival of the Charming December 6, 2009
Tim Lieder (New York, NY)
The problem with having never read Out of Sight: A Novel is that I only have the movie to reference when the book talks about Jack Foley. So his image is married to George Clooney's in my head and the problem with having George Clooney as the hero of any book or movie is that you want him to win. Like that episode of American Dad!, Vol. 2, it's really impossible to hate George Clooney. So I'm already reading the book pre-disposed to root for Jack Foley. The other two characters are also from Elmore Leonard books that I've never read but they never had movies made from them. So I only knew them from this book. I know this makes me superficial but the fact that I know one character (from the movie adaptation) and don't know the other two makes this book a bit weighted for me.
Overall, one should not give away too much in an Elmore Leonard book. He has enough genuine twists and turns and most of them are actually surprising (as opposed to most mysteries and thrillers where the ending seems phoned in well in advance). But basically, Jack Foley is in jail where he befriends Cundo Rey. Cundo Rey is waiting to get out so he can get back together with Dawn Navarro. These are characters from two other books and I imagine if I read those books I'd be very excited to see them together but for the most part, they are Elmore Leonard characters - manipulative and charming. Once everyone is out of jail, the games really begin in earnest.
This book breezes along at an even pace. The ending isn't terribly earth shattering but it's enjoyable. There's not much to recommend in the "you gotta read this now" case, but how many books are like that? But it is definitely a fun read and Elmore Leonard never disappoints. Just in the case of this book, it doesn't feel like he's bringing his A game. It's a great book to read, enjoy and forget about. And sometimes that's exactly the kind of book you are looking for (especially if you are reading classics or something like Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand which is a brain twister and need a break.)
 Fast and fun read December 1, 2009
Maggie Caldwell (California)
Road Dogs was a fun read; snappy dialogue, plot moved along smoothly, and didn't require any thought to enjoy. I did like that there was no gratuitous grittiness - my tolerance for that dropped dramatically after I had kids. This was actually the first Elmore Leonard book I've read, and it didn't bother me at all that the main characters came together from other stories. The characters come together naturally and don't depend on a backstory.
 Thoroughly pleasing November 28, 2009
J. Johnson (Manassas, VA)
This was my first time reading Mr. Leonard. He did not disappoint. The characters were well drawn and quirky, the narrative was fast moving with interesting turns and the prose was a thing of beauty. I found myself wishing I had read his previous work to have a better sense of these characters backstory.
Cundo Rey and Jack Foley are prison buddies. After Cundo's lawyer gets Jack's sentence reduced they head to Venice beach where Cundo's crew is located. Murder, sex, and betrayal all find their way into the narrative.
A great read, lots of fun, I understand why mr. Leonard has millions of devoted followers. It may have been my first Elmore Leonard novel, but it will not be my last. Highly recommened.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 86
|
|
|
Contact Wolverine Books
Privacy and Legal CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
