Synopses & Reviews
Review
"[The] hottest kid turns out to be the one doing the writing....[A] quieter, deeper, more sanguine novel than Get Shorty fans are used to, one with more heft but less hair-trigger repartee than Mr. Leonard usually delivers." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"You certainly wouldn't expect [Leonard] to have produced his best novel at the age of 79, but he seems to have done it....The Hot Kid is full of textured characters....Leonard's prose is as lean and clean as ever....And the old guy's still got plenty of bite." Stephen King, The Boston Globe
Review
"As always, Leonard's prose seems effortless, his dialogue is perfect, and his humor is as dry as a moonshine martini....[A] terrific pleasure." Booklist
Review
"[W]hen Elmore Leonard's new novel The Hot Kid hits the stores...you will see once again that after all the books and all the years, Leonard remains one of the great American writers." New York Daily News
Review
"Leonard's encyclopedic knowledge of crime history and wry humor make his novels reading experiences to savor....[A] winner in the tradition of Get Shorty and Be Cool." Library Journal
Review
"[G]enial and laid-back. The whole sepia-toned caravan...is so relaxed that even the most violent felonies may leave you smiling. Leonard's gentle epic is as restorative as a month in the country." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[B]rims with the sly humor, spare prose and razor dialogue we expect from the master....[A] self-assured work by an author at the top of his game. Leonard isn't trying to impress anyone, except maybe the 1930s boy he once was..." Los Angeles Times
Review
"[A] novel that, not very far beneath the surface, is all about style, literary and otherwise....The Hot Kid is noirish and even a little pulpy at times, in the fashion of '30s movies and detective magazines." Charles McGrath, The New York Times
Review
"Clearly, Leonard's having a great time....[A] wild ride through a circuitous tall tale...all taking place in Leonard's Looneyville of lotharios, lovers and law-breakers." Providence Journal
Review
"Leonard is on fire....The Hot Kid shows Leonard at his very best, an accomplished author in total control of his material....Leonard may be in the twilight of his years, but he's still producing vibrant and vital writing." Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"Classic Elmore Leonard, which means both vintage and great fun." Detroit Free Press
Review
"Leonard is such an original storyteller that one can find his world distasteful and still be drawn into it. Strange as it may seem, the challenge of finding a character not too unpleasant to care about, and of predicting what will bring everyone together, is a large part of what makes his opening chapters so irresistible. We seem to be watching real events develop of which the novelist himself knew nothing in advance. And just as in a B movie full of unknowns, there's no telling who will make it to the end." B. R. Myers, the Atlantic Monthly (read the entire Atlantic Monthly review)
Synopsis
Carl Webster, the hot kid of the marshals service, is polite, respects his elders, and can shoot a man driving away in an Essex at four hundred yards. Carl works out of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, federal courthouse during the 1930s, the period of America's most notorious bank robbers: Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson -- those guys.
Carl wants to be America's most famous lawman. He shot his first felon when he was fifteen years old. With a Winchester.
Louly Brown loves Carl but wants the world to think she is Pretty Boy Floyd's girlfriend.
Tony Antonelli of True Detective magazine wants to write like Richard Harding Davis and wishes cute little Elodie wasn't a whore. She and Heidi and the girls work at Teddy's in Kansas City, where anything goes and the girls wear -- what else -- teddies.
Jack Belmont wants to rob banks, become public enemy number one, and show his dad, an oil millionaire, he can make it on his own.
With tommy guns, hot cars, speakeasies, cops and robbers, and a former lawman who believes in vigilante justice, all played out against the flapper period of gun molls and Prohibition, The Hot Kid is Elmore Leonard -- a true master -- at his best.
Synopsis
The undisputed master of the crime novel strikes again with this powerfully entertaining story, set in 1920s Oklahoma, that introduces one of the toughest lawmen ever to come out of the west. . . .
Carlos Webster was 15 the day he witnessed his first murder--but it wouldn't be his last. It was also his first introduction to the notorious gunman, Emmet Long. By the time Carlos is 20, he's being sworn in as a deputy United States marshal and now goes by the name Carl. As for Emmet, he's robbing banks with his new partner, the no-good son of an oil millionaire.
Carl Webster and Emmet Long may be on opposite sides of the law but their long-time game of cat and mouse will turn them both into two of the most famous names in crime and punishment.
Synopsis
Hot cars, gun molls, speakeasies, bank robbers, and murder are the game in this powerfully entertaining story from Elmore Leonard, the undisputed master of the crime novel. Set in Oklahoma during the 1930s, The Hot Kid introduces Carl Webster, one of the coolest lawmen ever to draw on a fugitive felon.
About the Author
Elmore Leonard has written more than forty books during his highly successful writing career, including the bestsellers Road Dogs, Up in Honey's Room, The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories When the Women Come Out to Dance. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Be Cool. Justified, the hit series from FX, is based on Leonard's character Raylan Givens, who appears in Riding the Rap, Pronto, the short story "Fire in the Hole," and Raylan. Leonard is the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA, and the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.