I recently posted a comment indicating that it wasn’t a novel I would rate up there with most of the previous gems from Mr. Leonard. again, IMHO.
Thinking about the theme and characters, I think what’s missing for me is the cast of ‘street guys and rounders’ and with it the street ‘talk’ and, I can’t think of the word, so, ambiance.
Having the Nazi’s talking street wouldn’t work and I guess the brother could be thought of as a bit of a rounder, but obviously more of a hillbilly thug, although I’m quite sure that was EL’s obvious intention.
This critique comes from a guy that couldn’t put together a five line poem, so please accept my comments as the new guy simply missing some of the hustle of guys making their moves in Detroit, Palm Beach or Toronto.
Elmore Leonard remains the guy that all the others in this genre have tried to emulate, unsuccessfully, for decades.
I’m a number one fan and admirer.

I agree. Honey’s Room lacks some of the elements we love to see from Elmore. That said, I’d still rather read it and reread it than 99.99% of the rest of what passes for crime fiction or suspence these days.

You have guys who can’t write, like Grisham, offering interesting, if incredible, plots, and you have guys who can write, like Robert B. Parker, mailing it in with unbelievable plots.

Someone tell me who’s worth reading these days. Is there a writer out there who can even carry Elmore’s jock?

I’ve complained before about so many writers claiming Elmroe Leonard as a huge influence and then turning out over-written formulaic books, so why not do it again? You’ve got Hemingway and Elmore Leonard. Maybe Raymond Carver in the short stories (but, much like Djones pointed out Glitz the better book than Camus’ The Stranger, and “Hanging Out At The Buena Vista” is better than anything Carver ever wrote).

All over the internet these days there are discussions about how much of a rut crime fiction is stuck in and whenever anybody offers up someone worth reading, it’s usually not American. I have no idea what to make of that, but people are talking about Ken Bruen out of Ireland (and I’ve read one of his books, The Guards, and I’m willing to give him another chance, but I have to say, it was no Unknown Man #89) and Allan Guthrie out of Scotland but Hard Man isn’t there yet..

The last couple of Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels (The Naming of the Dead, especially) are easily on a par with the best of Robert B. Parker and better than Michael Connelly, but some of the earlier ones not so much.

The comparison to Elmore Leonard in a review is now pretty much a turn-off as it almost always guarantees disappointment.

How about some of Elmore’s other influences?  You guys are talking about living authors here, mostly, but have you read any Higgins or Faust or any a the others Robb and Gregg have put up here from various EL interviews and book intros, etc.? 

Only two more pages of Willy Remembers and I have to say it was quite satisfying.  Thinking a Higgins book is in order next.  Probably take a short break and read some non-fiction though first.  I owe Carly Fiorina a look through her memoir, Tough Choices.

still too early
to find the review
worthy of the totality
of place this story has
and the mysteries
of early mornings
the biblical paralells
cundo rey
ties the nazi swarm
to the caribean
who is the cat like figure
perched on the wall
the maltese falcon
evermore

Philo, maybe you need to stretch those muscles, physical and mental, a bit.
You don’t want to stick Elmore in a stereotypical box and say he has to have the street banter or his latest book is no good, do you?
He did well with Western guys early on. He has done well with crime guys lately.
But the real question is how did he do with the Nazis and spies and hangers on, besides Honey and Carl and Honey’s loose canon brother?
To be honest, I didn’t hang with Nazis in the ‘40s, and was born only in the late ‘40s. So I can’t say conclusively Elmore nailed their patter, their speech, their think; but my guess is that he did, and I can say I loved the book.
Is he being true to the character as the guy/gal speaks? That is the test. And I think he passed here with flying colors.
You don’t have to have the usual and the familiar to enjoy Elmore if you are willing, like he is, to open his mind to new milieus and let those characters be themselves in thought, word and action.
The picture of Carl and Honey and Jurgen, all stark naked, sitting on a couch waiting to be blown away by a madman while Honey is busy making fun of the boys because they, uh, like her in the flesh is one mental picture that will stay with me for quite awhile, longer than many images I have from his books. Sexy and hilarious all at once.
Anyway, we all like what we like and don’t like what we don’t like. To thine own self be true, but don’t be afraid to let something new in. You just might damn like it!

Many thanks for the unsoliceted advice on muscle flexing.
I’m new to the forum and kind of thought it might be intended for individuals to express, among other things, their ‘personal’ opinion of the books, writing style, etc.
As you wrote, Carl, Honey and Jurgen sitting naked on the couch does it for you.
Hustlers, rounders and two bit low-lifes making their moves; works better ‘For Me’.
Again, thought it was a good read but in ‘My’ opinion not as entertaining as previous novels.
But Hey, the old cliche, different strokes.

I enjoyed “Up in Honey’s Room” and think it is one of his best novels. However, it has some mistakes that surprised me. Elmore Leonard does such an excellent job of setting a novel in a time and place, and 1940’s Detroit is interesting. He usually gets the cars correctly for the time. However, in this one he made a real blooper, calling a Ford Model A a 1940 model and using it as a getaway car for the killer. Ford made the Model A from 1929 to 1931. It was a fine car, but with a 4 cylinder engine it was no speed demon. Another mistake was that some pistol shots into the engine compartment of the 1941 Pontiac would have blown up the motor. The big iron block L-head engine was unlikely to suffer harm. The radiator was vulnerable, but the car would have continued to run well until it overheated from loss of coolant, (which would have taken some time).
Mr. Leonard is of a similar age to me. I am sure he was very familiar with Ford Model A cars in his youth. That’s why I wonder if the put this mistake in to see if anyone would recognize the mistake and catch it.
Demon Deacon

calling a Ford Model A a 1940 model and using it as a getaway car for the killer.

As Elmore’s researcher, I take responsibility for this.  I think what happen was that my brain ignored the 1940 in 1940 Model A.  I remember reading the scene and telling Elmore that it was a souped up Model A to keep up with the Pontiac. The year just didn’t register. I have received several e-mails about this and we have fixed it in the paperback.  We changed it to 1940 Ford Coupe.

some pistol shots into the engine compartment of the 1941 Pontiac would have blown up the motor. The big iron block L-head engine was unlikely to suffer harm

Guys like you keep up me up nights.  And I say that as a compliment.  You can never presume to know any fact, can you?

I got this e-mail from Ray Gentile:

1. Talks about ‘hot wiring’ a 1941 Ford. Hot wiring it would be easy but, a big problem; you wouldn’t be able to steer it. When you put a key in the ignition switch, it released a locking pin on the steering column. Then, when the column was free, you moved a toggle switch from ‘off’ to ‘on’. Then you could start it AND steer it. I had a 1941 Ford many moons ago and that’s how they worked.

I explained to Ray that it wasn’t Elmore saying you could hot-wire the car, it was the character, Jurgen.  I think we snuck by on that one!

LACrimAtty - 04 November 2007 11:29 AM

Someone tell me who’s worth reading these days. Is there a writer out there who can even carry Elmore’s jock?

I sent you an e-mail so as not to derail this thread.

again the correctness of time is stretched to the limit
it is possible the souped up model was a natural outgrowth of
the criminal mind of detroit. the underground culture that most of us live in
begs for some connection to a reality that never was but should have been
has anyone read micheal crummey?

I liked the book very much.
I also feel very confident that I am going to like
almost any elmore leonard book.

But it bugged me when he referred to a 41 model a.’
The last model a was 1931 then a B model for a while.

Did anyone else notice that!

The short answer is yes.  It will be corrected in the paperback.  Always check for previous threads.

I find it interesting that we know and accept the fact that a novel is a lie. A big fat lie. Yet, we demand it to be a GOOD lie.

READER: What a second. The last model A was in ‘31. Hey, you’re lying to me!
AUTHOR: No shit.

Um, a huge difference between a lie and a mistake. A mistake they’re even correcting in the paperback. You never learned what actual deception was? The definition of a lie? Here you go:

lie
noun, (plural lies)
falsehood: a false statement made deliberately

A false statement made deliberately? Sounds like a novel to me.

Anyhow, I understand the need for accuracy. I just find it interesting.