Recommended reading: Stick by Elmore Leonard (1983):

Stick

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Arbor House.

First published 1983.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0877954364

ISBN-13: 978-0877954361

Description:

After serving time for armed robbery, Ernest "Stick" Stickley is back on the outside and trying to stay legit. But it's tough staying straight in a crooked town -- and Miami is a pirate's paradise, where investment fat cats and lowlife drug dealers hold hands and dance. And when a crazed player chooses Stick at random to die for another man's sins, the struggling ex-con is left with no choice but to dive right back into the game. Besides, Stick knows a good thing when he sees it -- and a golden opportunity to run a very profitable sweet revenge scam seems much too tasty to pass up.

Recommended reading - Rum Punch (1992):

Rum Punch

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Delacorte Press.

First published 1992.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 038530143X

ISBN-13: 978-0385301435

Description:

Pretty working-girl Jackie Burke is in a tight spot.  She's just been picked up at Palm Beach International with fifty grand and some blow stashed in her flight bag.  Lucky for her, the Feds want something Jackie's got:  the inside track to Ordell Robbie, the notoriusly slick arms dealer.  And they're ready to deal – Ordell in exchange for her freedom.  But Jackie's got another ace up her sleeve. . .Enter Max Cherry, bail bondsman.  Big, tough, basically decent Max is on the verge of divorce and tired of the same old grind.  That's where Jackie comes in.  The fifty big ones are peanuts compared to what Ordell's got locked away in Freeport.  But when a blowsy blond blowhead and a none-too-bright ex con try to muscle in on the action, it's time to pull and old bait and switch – where the good guys are played off against the bad guys – and where Jackie and Max hope to walk off into the Florida sunset with a hot half million in cold cash.

"Unputdownable! Benath it's fast moving surface, Rum Punch is a novel about growing old, about the way that time changes us, about the old dream of starting over agian and its cost." – The Washington Post Book World.

"Expertly blended. . .potent Dutch." – Chicago Sun-Times.

"Rum Punch is Leonard's best work! He brilliantly reaffirms his right to the title of America's finest crime-fiction writer." – People.

Recommending reading - The Switch (1978):

The Switch

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1978.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062206133

ISBN-13: 978-0062206138

Description:

“My favorite Leonard book….He writes the way Hammett and Chandler might write today, if they sharpened their senses of ironic humor and grew better ears for dialogue.” – Dallas Morning News.

“The best writer of crime fiction alive.” – Newsweek.

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

Dangerously eccentric characters, razor-sharp black humor, brilliant dialog, and suspense all rolled into one tight package – that’s The Switch, Elmore Leonard’s classic tale of a kidnapping gone wrong…or terribly right, depending on how you look at it. The Grand Master whom the New York Times Book Review calls, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever,” has written a wry and twisting tale that any of the other all-time greats – Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, James M. Cain, Robert Parker…every noir author who ever walked a detective, cop, or criminal into a shadowy alley – would be thrilled to call their own. Leonard, the man who has given us U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (currently starring in TV’s Justified) is at his storytelling best, as a spurned wife decides to take a rightful – and profitable – revenge on her deceiving hubby by teaming up with the two thugs he hired to abduct her.

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. Looks good until they learn the lowlife husband doesn't want his wife back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing – with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

Recommended reading - Swag (1976):

Swag

By Elmore Leonard.

aka Ryan's Rules.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1976.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062227866

ISBN-13: 978-0062227867

Description:

The smallest of small-time criminals, Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick – all of them involving guns – and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth. But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken, if one is to succeed in the world of crime, especially if the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

Recommended reading - Be Cool (1999):

Be Cool

By Elmore Leonard.

Published 1999.

Published by Mariner Books.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062265997

ISBN-13: 978-0062265999

Description:

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – Detroit News.

Get Shorty's Chili Palmer is back. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

After a smash hit and a flop, B-movie producer Chili Palmer is looking for another score. Lunching with a record company executive, Chili's exploring a hot new idea – until the exec, a former "associate" from Chili's Brooklyn days, gets whacked.

Segue from real life to reel life. Chili's found his plot. It's a slam-bang opener: the rubout of a record company mogul. Cut to an ambitious wannabe singer named Linda Moon. She has attitude and a band. She's perfect. Zoom into reality. Linda's manager thinks Chili's poaching and he's out to get even, with the help of his switch-hitting Samoan bodyguard. But somebody else beat them to the punch, as Chili discovers when he gets home and finds a corpse at his desk. Somebody made a mistake….

Recommended reading - 52 Pick-up (1974):

52 Pick-up

By Elmore Leonard.

aka Fifty-Two Pick Up.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1974.

ISBN-10: 0062266004

ISBN-13: 978-0062266002

Description:

Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell had had only one affair in his twenty-two years of happy matrimony. Unfortunately someone caught his indiscretion on film and now wants Harry to fork over one hundred grand to keep his infidelity a secret. And if Harry doesn't pay up, the blackmailer and his associates plan to press a lot harder – up to and including homicide, if necessary. But the psychos picked the wrong pigeon for their murderous scam. Because Harry Mitchell doesn't get mad ... he gets even.

"Probably no one knows this nation's rogues, bent cops, and sleazebags better than Elmore Leonard." – Newsday.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

Born on this day – Elmore Leonard:

Elmore Leonard

Writer

October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013

Credits:

Books:

The Big Bounce (1969); Unknown Man #89 (1977); Swag (aka Ryan's Rules) (1976); Stick (1982); Get Shorty (1990); Be Cool (1999); Pronto (1993); Riding the Rap (1995); Fire in the Hole (2001); Raylan (2011); Raylan Goes to Detroit (2018); Out Of Sight (1996); Road Dogs (2009); The Hot Kid (2005); Up in Honey's Room (2007); Comfort to the Enemy and Other Carl Webster Stories (2009); The Switch (1978); Rum Punch (1992); Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #1 (1998); Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #2 (1998); Elmore Leonard's Western Roundup #3 (1998); The Bounty Hunters (1953); The Law at Randado (1954); Escape from Five Shadows (1956); Last Stand at Saber River (1959); Hombre (1961); The Moonshine War (1969); Valdez Is Coming (1970); Forty Lashes Less One (1972); 52 Pick Up (1974); Mr Majestyk (1974); The Hunted (1977); Gunsights (1979); Gold Coast (1980); City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit (1980); Split Images (1981); Cat Chaser (1982); LaBrava (1983); Glitz (1985); Bandits (1987); Touch (1987); Freaky Deaky (1988); Killshot (1989); Maximum Bob (1991); Cuba Libre (1998); Pagan Babies (2000); Tishomingo Blues (2002); Mr. Paradise (2004); A Coyote's in the House (2004); Djibouti (2010); The Trespassers (2013); Confession (2013); Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories (1953); The Tonto Woman and Other Western Stories (1975); Dutch Treat (1985); When the Women Come Out to Dance (2001); The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard (2004); The Complete Western Stories (2004); Moment of Vengeance and Other Stories (2006); Blood Money and Other Stories (2006); Trail of the Apache and Other Stories (2007); Charlie Martz and Other Stories (2015); Notebooks (1990); Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing (2006); New Orleans Stories (1992); Chicago Stories (1993); Southwest Stories (1993); Florida Stories (1993); Lust: Lascivious Love Stories and Passionate Poems (1994); Alaska Stories (1995); Texas Stories (1995); San Francisco Thrillers (1995); Cape Cod Stories (2002); Florida Stories (1993); New Trails: Twenty-Three Original Stories (1994); Murder For Love (1996); Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories (1996); Naked Came the Manatee (1997); Western Movies (1997); The Best American Mystery Stories 1997 (1997); Murder On The Railways (2003); The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 (2003); Mysterious Writers: The Many Facets of Mystery Writing (2010); Books to Die For (2012); Long Night (2014); The Best American Mystery Stories 2016 (2016); Miami Noir (2020).

Movies and television:

3:10 to Yuma (1957 / 2007); 52 Pick-Up (1986); A Conversation with Elmore Leonard (2007); AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains (2003); American Cinema (1995); Arena (1991); Be Cool (2005); Border Shootout (1990); Byline Showtime (1988); Cat Chaser (1989); Charlie Rose (1995–2000); Cooper and Hemingway: The True Gen (2013); Desperado (1987); Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge (1988); Desperado: Badlands Justice (1989); Desperado: The Outlaw Wars (1989); Días de cine (2013); Elmore Leonard - But Don't Try to Write (2021); Elmore Leonard: A Detroit Classic (2010); Freaky Deaky (2012); Get Shorty (1995); Get Shorty / TV Series (2017–2019); Get Shorty: Look at Me (2005); Get Shorty: Wiseguys and Dolls (2005); Glitz (1988); Gold Coast (1997); High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane (1980); Hombre (1967); Jackie Brown (1997); Jackie Brown: How It Went Down (2002); Joe Kidd (1972); Justified (2010–2015); Justified: City Primeval (2023); Justified: Sneak Peek (2013); Karen Sisco (2003–2004); Killshot (2008); Last Stand at Saber River (1997); Les Carnets de route de François Busnel (2012); Life of Crime (2013); Maximum Bob (1998); Michigan & Trumbull (1999); Mr. Majestyk (1974); Out of Sight (1998); Pronto (1997); Schlitz Playhouse (1956); Sparks (2009); Split Images (1992); Squzz Corn N' Ole Scratch (2012); Stick (1985); The 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films: Live Action (2008); The Ambassador (1984); The Arrangement (2013); The Big Bounce (1969 / 2004); The Daily Show (2002); The Media Show (1988–1989); The Moonshine War (1970); The Oscars (2014); The Return of Desperado (1988); The Rosary Murders (1987); The Tall T (1957); The Tonto Woman (2008); Touch (1997); Valdez Is Coming (1971).

Recommended reading – Get Shorty (1990):

Get Shorty

By Elmore Leonard.

First published 1990.

Published by Mariner Books.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062120255

ISBN-13: 978-0062120250

Description:

“The coolest, hottest writer in America.” – Chicago Tribune.

Mob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind – plus his “friends” have a bad habit of dying there. So when he chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood, Chili figures he might like to stay. This town, with its dream-makers, glitter, hucksters, and liars – plus gorgeous, partially clad would-be starlets everywhere you look – seems ideal for an enterprising criminal with a taste for the cinematic. Besides, Chili’s got an idea for a killer movie, though it could very possibly kill him to get it made.

“The funniest crime thriller ever set among the hustlers and con artist of the movie colony.” – Wall Street Journal.

“A Hollywood hit…. Taut, inimitable prose and characters who could have only sprung from the mind of Elmore Leonard.”

– Detroit News.

“A terrific thriller…. The kind of entertainment that usually makes Hollywood types talk about selling their souls (or their mothers).” – Orlando Sentinel.