Elmore Leonard
Get Shorty (1990)
Author: Elmore Leonard
Genre: Thriller (Crime/Caper)
Plot Summary:
Like all good capers, Get Shorty starts small: very cool loan shark Chili Palmer's leather jacket, a gift from his wife, is "borrowed" from a Miami restaurant by mobster Ray Bones. Chili breaks Bones' nose, Chili's wife leaves him, and twelve years later Bones is still mad but Chili is in Los Angeles, tracking down Leo the dry cleaner who owes him $8000 (and who won a $300,000 settlement from an airline for "dying" in a plane crash). While in Los Angeles, Chili tries to collect another debt from struggling movie producer Harry Zimm, who is trying to get his beautiful ex-girlfriend, ex-starlet Karen Flores, to convince big-time actor Michael Weir to commit to his high-concept film. Chili helps Zimm work on Weir, and later pitches recent events as a movie to studio executives. SPOILER: Chili's attempts to move from the loan business to the movie business are thwarted by Bo Catlett, who wants out of the drug business and into the movie business, and his ex-stuntman partner, the Bear. The hijinks come to a head at a storage locker in LAX full of cash and coke. Like all good capers, all of the loose ends are tied up: Bones gets his comeuppance with the inadvertant help of the DEA, Catlett falls of his balcony, the Bear finds his heart, Harry Zimm gets Michael Weir, and Chili gets the girl.
Geographical Setting: primarily Los Angeles, although the geography is less significant than the commercial setting - at the crossroads of loan-sharking and movie-making.
Time Period: present (1990)
Series: Not part of a series, but there is a sequel, Be Cool (1999).
Appeal Characteristics:
Get Shorty features a fast-paced, character-driven plot with unexpected twists and, ultimately, poetic justice; that's a caper, folks. Also appealing are the colorful characters, including sleazy movie people, bad guys who are really good guys, and real bad guys. The narration features a lot of dialogue, dark humor, and fastidious descriptions of late 1980s menswear. This story might also appeal to those readers disillusioned with the movie business.
Similar Authors: It is universally accepted that readers who liked Get Shorty will also like its sequel, Be Cool (1999). Other similar writers of "comic thrillers" are Carl Hiassen's eco-political Florida satires (Tourist Season - 1986) and Donald Westlake's John Dortmunder mysteries (Bad News - 2001). Both of these authors write darkly funny capers with colorful characters and neat endings. Timothy Watts (Grand Theft - 2003) writes about a high-end car thief, and his writing has been favorably compared to Leonard's. Joe Gores (32 Cadillacs - 1992), Jon A. Jackson (The Diehard - 1977), and Robert Ferrigno (Flinch - 2001) all write funny but more violent crime thrillers. Readers more interested in the tough guy than the comedy might try James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz) or Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories (The Big Sleep), gritty L.A. stories featuring tough-talking, rule-breaking detectives.
Red Flags: The f-bomb, violence, some sex, drugs (dealt, not consumed), capricious adherence to moral code. Also, do not read this book if you are trying to quit smoking, as characters smoke with reckless abandon and make it seem cool.
Mr. Paradise (2004)
Author: Elmore Leonard
Genre: Mystery-Police Dectective/Hard Boiled
Plot Summary:
Mr. Paradise is a sleazy octogenarian who likes his women young and dressed like cheerleaders. When he and his paid girlfriend Chloe are murdered in his Detroit home, it’s up to police detective Frank Delso to solve the crime. Paradise’s fast talking assistant, Montez, forces Chloe’s beautiful roommate, Kelly to swap identities with the dead girl in order to steal the inheritance that Paradise left. Meanwhile, two bumbling hit men, Carl and Art, provide comic relief as they kill off Detroit’s drug dealers, eventually scattering enough clues for Delso to tie them back to Paradise and Montez. We know who the killers are from the beginning and the appeal lies in following Delso as he traces the crime back to Montez’s desire to grab hold of a piece of the old man’s fortune. Of course, Delso gets the girl--who just happens to be a lingerie model.
Geographical Setting: Detroit, Michigan
Time Period: Present Day - 2004
Appeal Characteristics:
Populated with a multitude of quirky, eccentric characters like grandson-in-law John Tintarelli who made his fortune selling bull semen. Gritty, hard-boiled language. Graphic violence. Good look at inner workings of a police department and how they solve crimes.
Similar Authors: Jon A. Jackson; George V. Higgins; Joe Gore; Robert Ferrigno; Timothy Watts
Red Flags: Profanity. Coarse language, especially language denigrating women. Casual drug and alcohol use. Prostitution. Sex, but not graphic. Descriptive violence
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