Nice.

...on his new novel, RAYLAN:

‘I’ve tried to use three women who oppose Raylan in one form or another. In the first segment, the woman is a surgical nurse who resents the fact that these young doctors make $1 million and she makes $86,500, and she begins stealing kidneys – not from the hospital but out on the road… She’s the first woman that [Raylan] has ever shot.
‘I wrote about this woman who steals kidneys, and she’s the first woman that [Raylan] has ever shot.’

‘The second woman works for the coal company… and in the third one, I have a girl who is a poker player… Her stepfather is a sports bookie, and she bets on last year’s NCAA basketball game. Last year Butler lost to Duke. She goes to Butler, so she bet all the students; she bet on Duke, and they all bet on Butler, and she won $20,000. But then that night she plays with some real poker players and loses the $20,000 in about an hour. But she’s not bad, and Raylan, once he goes after her, he falls for her; he likes her a lot…

‘It’ll be a book probably next Fall. Then I don’t know what I do, but I’ve written now 45 books. I started my first one 60 years ago, and I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve had a good time. I like to write books. If I’m having a good time writing them, I might as well keep going.’

When is RAYLAN to be published?

When is THE TONTO WOMAN to be published?

Robb - 28 June 2011 08:58 PM

When is RAYLAN to be published?

February 2012

When is THE TONTO WOMAN to be published?

He has to write it first, son.

let’s get to work boys

I am *so* thrilled about this novel. At first I was worried it might be a rehash of old Raylan stories, but I can see now from the synopsis above that this is something new and fresh. I love, love, love Elmore Leonard crime novels. Is there anything better?

Andy_Rausch - 13 September 2011 03:44 PM

Is there anything better?

No.

Raylan: A Novel (Raylan Givens) [Hardcover]
Elmore Leonard (Author)

This title will be released on January 31, 2012.

Pre-order now!
JUSTIFIED Season Two Coming Soon!

Is that the cover? Surprised. Liked the 30’ retro of Djibuti. But this should definitely push sales.

“Raylan” was mentioned in Mike Lupica’s column yesterday. Lupica also states that EL is working on his next novel. Any truth to this? Any hints on the subject matter?

My pal Elmore Leonard, rooting hard for his Tigers all the way, turned 86 last Tuesday.

Read it now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RAYLAN-new-arc-Elmore-Leonard-Justified-advance-copy-February-2012-/330632283815?pt=US_Fiction_Books&hash=item4cfb3846a7#ht_500wt_1413

How about another write-a-review-pledge-for-an-arc from our fearless leader, a la Up in Honey’s Room? Gregg’s bound to get his hands on a few copies.

Hello All
Finished the ARC of Raylan.
Excellent as expected, sorry to finish it.

I am a fan of Justified thrilled to have snagged a Raylan ARC.  This book is dedicated to Graham and Tim, how super cool is that!

Here’s what I thought;

First, let me say that Elmore Leonard is still in excellent writing form! You would recognize Raylan as his work even if you hadn’t noted the author. In fact, more credit than I had realized goes to Elmore for Justified’s season 2’s stories, characters and dialogue.

Don’t worry if you are a fan of either the show or Leonard. Being a fan of one will not spoil the other because in several key areas, even though the situations seem familiar, Graham chose to resolve them quite differently from Elmore. For example there is a Mags type character but his name is Pervis and he has two sons, Dickie and Coover. You might think this is Mag’s husband but his last name is Crowe and his shenanigans are very different from Mags’.  There is also a significant character who Elmore chooses to kill in this book, in a delightful way, and who Graham has let live, a la Boyd.

Fans of Justified will find some back story that we have been looking for and a more involved presence by Winona than Elmore has entertained in his wonderful, previous Raylan stories. I also suspect, for certain reasons, that this book contains a character who will be significant in S3.

I won’t say any more because, to quote Raylan, “You don’t wanna know.”  (And don’t come back with, “I can handle that, what I can’t handle is silence.”) - I’m not talking. LOL

OK, one more thing ... if I havent’t convinced the ladies to buy the book yet, I will mention that Elmore has written a scene, in his delightfully droll way, that does have Raylan naked except for his gun and boots.

Normally i dont like tv, film versions being cover of a book but Justified is such an awesome tv show.  It feels almost exactly like reading EL stories.

I will actually enjoying seeing that cover when i get the book.

As posted on Facebook, RAYLAN will be previewed in Playboy.  Yeah, the one with Lindsay Lohan.  That is HUGE exposure for Dutch.  No, he isn’t nude.  I mean, RAYLAN will get a lot of coverage.

In a publication day review at Slate, NY-based television writer Tara Ariano praises “Leonard’s economy of prose,” but has reservations.

Excerpts:

Raylan, surprisingly, reads like an alternate-universe version of Justified, Season 2. . . . The changes [producer Graham] Yost made, in fact, led to a much better story. It’s possible that the writers of Justified understand Elmore Leonard’s best character better than Elmore Leonard does. . . .

Mags Bennett is not even a character in Raylan. In the book, the crime-bossing parent of hapless nitwits Coover and Dickie is their dad, one Pervis Crowe. For the show, of course, Yost crafted a rich yet tragic story for Mags (Margo Martindale, who won an Emmy for the role), the alternately diabolical and soft-hearted criminal mastermind who contrived a way to steal the daughter she always wanted.

Leonard is known for his laconic style, and in Raylan, little space is given over to the hero’s reflection upon his own motivations. But the author’s reluctance to devote much of his work to describing a look, or a pause, or the tension of a moment — all three of which are trademarks of [Tim] Olyphant’s Raylan — requires Leonard to make his Raylan talk. Book Raylan is taciturn by any reasonable measure, but compared to TV Raylan, he’s a chatterbox. Right from the book’s first chapter, this essential difference is inescapable.

“Give me his name,” Raylan asks a victim whose kidneys have been stolen and are being held for ransom. “I swear on my star you won’t have to pay for either one.” I swear on my star? Try to imagine Olyphant’s Raylan saying anything so melodramatic. I sure can’t.

Full review: http://slate.me/w13onF