Love Leonard. ( )

This book seems a bit of a mishmash of several stories, all involving a US Marshall named Raylan Givens. Apparently, there is a TV series about this guy. The stories were mildly interesting. Raylan grew up a sho 'nuff hillbilly coal miner in Eastern Kentucky, but left for a better life, so to speak. The first bit involves his dealing with some hill folks who grow and deal in Marijuana, but who have moved on to harvesting kidneys to sell to people. Then we morph into a story about a college senior who has turned into a pro poker player. It's all a bit on the quirky side, but makes for an ok yarn. A hundred years from now, people will still read Dickens, but Leonard will be long forgotten. Not such a terrible fate, it's the fate that follows most of us. ( )

This was OK. Raylan is probably a good character on television. Most of the interest comes from the cast of kooks that surrounds him. This audio book seemed more like three episodes of a television series than an Elmore Leonard novel. ( )

Liked the dialog a lot. Not much of a story though. ( )

Everyone hails Elmore Leonard as a “master of dialogue” and I can see why. It took me a minute to get used to his rapid-fire conversation, often written in colloquial Harlan speak without dialogue tags, but once I did, I appreciated the author’s efficiency of words.

Raylan reads like a script, fast-moving and action-packed. It was an easy read and I found it entertaining in the way I find John Locke’s books entertaining. A little outlandish, often comical, and nothing you have to think too much about. The author moves from organ theft to lady bank robbers to the tale of Jackie Nevada with some back and forth between the mines and the mining company and a sprinkling of major players, inside Harlan County and out. It’s a lot to take in, and I’m not sure what I’d say the plot was in a book that has at least five or six, most of which ended up with someone being shot. But it was fun. A nice break for me from mysteries and thriller and horror, my usual genres, and a treat since I did love Justified.

Picking up a series at book three can be tricky, but this one went on sale and I bought it for “someday.” I probably missed a bit, but as a fan of the show I didn’t miss much. I knew the characters and was pleased to see the favorites (Boyd, Dickie, and Winona among them) make their appearances. Overall, I had a good time reading Raylan and I would read the rest of the series as the occasional palate cleanser. Recommended. ( )