Im reading and near finishing the Hot Kid and its wierd there isnt thread for it.

Really intresting book in that EL captures the historical era so well.  All the characters from Carl,Virgil to the criminals,gun molls are seems so accurate,real for their time.

Im glad it set in small towns,Kansas City,Oklahoma etc and not in Chicago,NYC like many similar stories about the 20s and 30s.

No reason this can’t become the Hot Kid thread.

Recall posting Hot Kid remarks in various threads early on. 
Agreed it should be it’s own topic. 
Maybe when Slater gets to it in his Messier.
(or has that already happened?)

So now the last EL book I read was When the Women Come Out to Dance.
Fabulous.
Read of Mickey’s troublesome ordeal in The Switch shortly before that, and it was superb.
A used copy of The Moonshine War sits atop the nightstand waiting it’s turn, along with a new Mr. Majestyk paperback.
The Complete Western Short Stories is back on the shelf for now, about half-read.
That would complete the Scrum Messier.

I was dissapointed there wasnt a thread for Hot Kid since alot of thoughts about the book was running around me head. 

I really liked how there were more shootouts,action then i expected.  Didnt think it would be about a Marshal that got famous for shooting criminals.  I was waiting for Carl to tell someone or think himselves what he felt about being famous.  I kept thinking is he obessed with the job because of the hole US Marshal or does he like being famous for being a famous shot ?

I didnt look forward reading the book since i wanted early,EL at his prime.  But now i want the other Carl Webster books.

Now i must read another EL where the main character is a cop or someone and not a criminal cause of The Hot kid.  Maybe City Primeval or another early EL book.

I just gave RIDING THE RAP another read through, in preparation for ROAD DOGS. Although Harry Arno was pretty much a secondary charcter in this one, I still love the guy. He cracks me up. He is the epitome of the cranky, geriatric, South Florida “used-to-be.” Whenever I read PRONTO or RIDING THE RAP, I suddenly get in the mood for a bowl of Jell-O and a couple of drinks. I’d really love to hear from him again. He’s Mr. Leonard’s age, so I’m sure there’s still plenty of fight in him. Maybe Chili Palmer will head back to Miami to film Harry’s life story. I only wish!

Anyway, you can see early on that Dawn might have an evil side; that she’s not just a con-artist. I can’t wait to see where Mr. Leonard will take us.

Gregg Sutter - 11 January 2007 08:07 PM

should stick resurface he might be a wealthy investment player…with his partner kyle…who knows…they may fall prey to some fast talkers trying to take them for a ride…and wind up paying alimony…so to speak

I think Stick is finished.  Maybe somebody else from the past will resurface.

The Hunted was the last Mr. L book I read. One of my favs, read it over about every three years or so. It’s the one novel I want to film myself. The screenplay basically writes itself on this one. The one major change, I’d move the locale to Mexico, maybe. Israel works for me, but probably too expensive to film there.

I see David Davis resurfacing. While this novel goes way back, I always envisioned Davis as a guy opened a gas station, turned into a repair shop, a comfortable living. At his age, his background, perhaps Mr. L could write a novel for the Left, where mean ol’ white man wants his land for development, Davis having to unwrap his ol’ Garand to show ‘em what’s what. A novel on the perversity of the American system, win a Nobel for the Cool One.

Ba-da-ding.

But seriously, I’d love to see Davis’s master sergeant running in the desert, shorts and boots, Eastwood playing that part. Small part, but it’s one scene - that and the shoot-out at the end - that I remember clearly. It’d be a hoot.

The Hunted is a fun read that is slick and quick but really has a lot of meat as Mr. L explore’s Davis’ and Rosen’s motivations.

The Bounty Hunters was the only EL western i had.    For a first novel it was really good.  Just like the stories Complete Westerns collection it was full of realistic,great characters,gritty,nice description of action scenes.  It was so vivid.

The westerns are truly his most underrated works.  I dig his westerns shorts,book much more than people that are seen as classic western authors.  I have read L´Amour,Zane Grey not half as interesting as EL westerns.

Hombre. Dug it, now I got a see the movie. Oh, and I re-read Road Dogs. Equally enjoyable upon a second look.

Taking a brief hiatus from EL for a month or two.  I think I read something like 30+ Dutch novels in the past 10 months. Still got Pagaen Babies and a few more westerns left.

30 EL books wow thats almost his hole career ::)

You are a bigger fan than i am.  I have several legends in crime that i feel i must read all books of.    Hammett, Richard Stark,Leonard is my target for the rest of this year.

I will go for Hombre,Valdes is Coming, Big Bounce next. 

Have you read The Bounty Hunters ?

I got completely hooked. Plus, my local bookstore had almost his entire catalog in paperback and I just went head first into Elmore Leonard.

And winters get long in Minnesota.

When I like something I REALLY like it. There’s no middle ground with me in that way.

Valdez is Coming is great. I have Bounty Hunters but haven’t read it yet.

My problem is that i have to wait to afford the books.  I have to buy them as new cuz second hand English books are rare unless they are classic crime like early Noir.

Have you read the western shorts ?  Bobby Valdez name confuse me since there are several stories in the collection.  Saint with the Six Gun/Hanging Bobby Valdes and Only The Good ones.

I have been doing a bit of an EL reread. The reason is a tad depressing as I really am struggling to find new books out there, so whenever I find myself at a loose end, out comes an EL book. So it’s been Stick, then 52 Pickup.

Me too.  I’ve never re-read books.  Until now.
Started with Pronto a few weeks ago, then went to Riding the Rap, LaBrava, The Hunted and am almost done with Cuba Libra.

*** LaBrava Spoiler Alert ***

When Elmore wanted to know if he’d killed off Cundo Rey in LaBrava (before using him again in Road Dogs), he probably got to the 2nd to last chapter and was satisfied that Cundo was only left for dead and may still be alive.  Had Elmore read the final chapter we may have had a different character watching Foley’s back in Road Dogs.  The last chapter has Buck Torres reporting that Cundo was ‘killed’ by Richard Nobles’ gun and Nobles was ‘killed’ by Cundo’s gun.

Perhaps this cat Cundo Rey’s got nine lives.

Scrum - 11 May 2010 03:05 PM

Me too.  I’ve never re-read books.  Until now.
Started with Pronto a few weeks ago, then went to Riding the Rap, LaBrava, The Hunted and am almost done with Cuba Libra.

*** LaBrava Spoiler Alert ***

When Elmore wanted to know if he’d killed off Cundo Rey in LaBrava (before using him again in Road Dogs), he probably got to the 2nd to last chapter and was satisfied that Cundo was only left for dead and may still be alive.  Had Elmore read the final chapter we may have had a different character watching Foley’s back in Road Dogs.  The last chapter has Buck Torres reporting that Cundo was ‘killed’ by Richard Nobles’ gun and Nobles was ‘killed’ by Cundo’s gun.

Perhaps this cat Cundo Rey’s got nine lives.

Good point, I noticed this too when I re-read Labrava a month back.

It’s Maurice who says in the final chapter, “Richard was killed with the Cuban’s gun and the the Cuban was killed with Richard’s gun.”

Im reading the second book of Carl Webster.  Its really fun,witty with Honey Deal.  I adore her.  I cant remember the other EL books i read being this much fun. 

Little disappointent that it isnt set in 1920s,1930s anymore though.  It had a great Untouchables feel to The Hot Kid.

I wonder why EL fans i have seen dislike this series.  I have seen weird reviews for Up in Honey’s Room that dismisses the book.

I adored the book when it came out.  I felt like I was the only one.  IT IS A CLASSIC!