Riding the Rap Book

For builders, the triangle is one of the sturdiest shapes to use in construction. Unlike say a weak-assed rectangle, a triangle resists lateral pressure and therefore, collapse. Plus, who doesn't like a good well-wrought threesome love triangle. Amiright?

Well, triangle, as in three criminal "masterminds" plotting evil in criminal enterprises as per Elmore Leonard is very much a crowd. The three wise men? Nope.



In an Elmore Leonard book, mayhem comes in three's and Leonard sure loves to band together idiot sociopathic criminals in triplicate. Here, he has a stoner scammer, a sort of Jamaican con man wannabe, and a hot-headed bounty hunter who loves his pruning shears.

Basically the stoner has a X-mas tree light (the one that shorts out the rest of the string of lights) idea, and bands together with the other two to abduct the bookie he owes money and hold him hostage until he pays up. And the only person who's concerned is the girlfriend of a U.S. Marshall.



That U.S. Marshall happens to be Rayland Givens, a no-nonsense dude, who likes his cowboy hat. And Givens, in order to keep the tenuous household peace with ex-stripper girlfriend agrees to look for the guy.

This was the second book in what Goodreads labels as the Givens series; he's the main character in the TV series, Justified. Here, he's just one of the many finely crafted players that Leonard expertly switches back and forth from.

I can't praise Leonard's no frills prose style enough. It's fast-paced and uncluttered without being simplistic. There's enough character insight and development without the book becoming turgid. It's sort of like Hemingway, but it's written in books by an author I actually enjoy reading. And if Hemingway could come even within a million miles of Leonard's sparkling, naturalistic dialogue, he would have been THE writer of the last century - creepy bullfight fetish and all.