| Killshot (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) |  | Author: Elmore Leonard
Publisher: G K Hall & Co
Category: Book
List Price: $20.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 760396
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 413
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0816148651
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780816148653
ASIN: 0816148651
Publication Date: December 1990
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Product Description
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 hit man 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. The cops here in middle-of-nowhere Michigan can't help Carmen and Wayne out, and the best the Feds can offer is the Witness Protection Program. So ultimately it's going to have to come down to one wife, one husband, two killers . . . and one lethal shot.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 One of Elmore Leonard's greatest books August 20, 2008
KILLSHOT is Elmore Leonard at his very best. The story of a married couple being stalked by two would be killers -- a veteran hit man and an out-of-control punk -- is, like all of Leonard's books, not as interesting for the story as in the way he executes it. Like Hammett and Chandler, Leonard is less concerned with plot than setting, character, detail, texture, and conversation. The typical Leonard book leaves you with multiple unforgettable scenes, dialogue that won't leave your imagination, and images that you can't let go of.
I always find myself reading Leonard on two levels. On one level there is the story at hand. On the other level I find myself marveling at the host of wonderful tricks he employs in telling that story. His prose moves along effortlessly. For instance, at one point the two bad guys are traveling to the house of the people they want to kill. Instead of a long, mildly involved sentence or set of sentences to get them to it, Leonard merely writes, "And there is was." It is a breathtakingly effective means to get from Point A to Point B. In his famous Ten Rules for writing Leonard states that one of the keys to good writing is to cut out all the boring parts. That simple sentence illustrates it as well as anyone. Leonard's books are, in addition to being great yarns, instruction manuals on how to write effective stories.
In talking to people about Leonard, I find that many tend to read books like the paired books GET SHORTY and BE COOL. These are fine, but they are far from his best. For that, I would recommend KILLSHOT, SWAG, and LaBRAVA, along with the Western HOMBRE. There are other books that are probably their equal, but you won't find any better.
"IT'S NICE TO BE NICE..." May 26, 2008
Only Elmore Leonard can humorously dress a maniac, two-bit criminal like Richie Nix in a t-shirt with that kind of statement... and it is Richie that ultimately F*#!'S everything up in Leonard's crazy world of crime. Ritchie meets his match when he tries to roll Armand Degas "The Blackbird,"-- a real hitman, and they come to an agreement at gunpoint to do business together. Their scheme goes south when they encounter the wrong couple: The Colsons. Carmen Colson, the wife, is everything you want out of a female lead: smart, sexy, resourceful. Killshot is highly entertaining like Tishomingo Blues (one of my favorite Elmore Leonard books). Killshot's characters are solid, indelible and always hilarious. Richie Nix's girlfriend's obsession with Elvis Presley and her dialogue with Armand is laugh-out-loud funny. The locations of Killshot spoke to me personally, having grown up in Detroit-- my mother used to live in Algonac and we took trips to Toronto. Leonard, for me, stirred nostalgia from the St. Clair River Drive, Port Huron, Sarnia, the Blue Water Bridge and Selfridge Air National Guard, Harsens Island Ferry, to the 94 Freeway. I recommend Killshot and hope the film holds up to the book.
'Killshot' is a Great Crime Novel March 29, 2008
It is almost impossible to gage Elmore Leonard on his own merits anymore, as there have been so many people eager to copy his style. His books elevate the crime story to something more than a simple genre yarn, and I'm sure that he's aware of such a fact.
'Killshot' is no different. While other novels of his can be construed as being about 'people' (or 'characters') instead of 'things', I don't think such an argument can be made for 'Killshot'. While crime and character are not necessarily mutually exclusive in the book, 'Killshot' seems to be about more than just the characters or the crime. There exists in the book a lot more nuance than readers of genre fiction are used to. The Colsons, Degas, even Donna, possess that very touch of nuance that takes the book from good to memorable.
As always, Elmore Leonard doesn't allow you to care about the characters. He FORCES you to feel for them, even the more heinous of them. And he does so in a way that you, as the reader, are unaware of until later in the book. It's absolutely genius. Armand Degas - sorry, Colsons - steals every scene and pretty much the book as a whole. Although ever character is finely drawn, Degas may be the finest of them all.
I highly recommend this book to any crime fiction reader and especially to any reader of Leonard's who hasn't tackled this book.
"suspense" March 22, 2008
I've read all of Elmore Leonard's westerns and especially liked VALDEZ IS COMING and FORTY LASHES LESS ONE. STICK was my first crime novel and is very good, but KILLSHOT is great! One of the most suspenseful and engaging books I've read.
Great Read July 14, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Was not familiar with this author's work before (although movies have been made for several of his books). Thought this book was a great lark! A well-written action story with memorable characters. A wry sense of humor pervades the story-line. I found it hard to put down and have now put Elmore Thomas on my author's list for more reads by this creative writer.
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