Thursday 27 June 2013

Elmore Leonard's Dutch Treat: The Hunted, Swag, Mr. Majestyk (Viking Omnibus, 1987)

It's kind of fitting that my first proper post in six weeks (for reasons outlined here) should be on Elmore Leonard, since Leonard is who I've been reading pretty much exclusively for the past few months (and who I may well continue to read pretty much exclusively for the remainder of the year, I'm enjoying him so much; we shall see). Fortuitous too: this week's instalment of Patti Nase Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books is devoted to Elmore Leonard, so my being on a Leonard kick has worked out rather nicely. I could've picked any one of the five Leonard novels I've read (or reread in one instance) recently and happily banged out a few hundred words without having to give it too much thought (in a good way: all of those novels have been great, although in truth I've yet to read a duff Leonard); but seeing as this is sort of a special occasion, I thought I'd take a look at this book:


Elmore Leonard's Dutch Treat ("Dutch" being Leonard's nickname), which is in fact three books; it's an omnibus comprising three of Leonard's novels from the 1970s: Mr. Majestyk (1974), Swag (1976) and The Hunted (1977). First published in this configuration by Arbor House in the US in 1985, the copy seen here is the notably scarce UK Viking edition from 1987 – a review copy, as it happens, as evidenced by the review slip accompanying the book:


While in the States Dutch Treat represented the hardback debut of two of the three novels (Mr. Majestyk and The Hunted, both of which were published as paperback originals), in the UK it represented the hardback debut of one of them (Swag; The Hunted was issued in hardcover by Secker & Warburg in 1978) and the first British publication overall of Mr. Majestyk. I've already reviewed Mr. Majestyk, so I'll skip daintily over that one and turn instead to The Hunted and Swag, the former of which is as lean and gripping a manhunt thriller as you could wish for, the latter a splendid example of the kind of low rent larceny Leonard specializes in.

Leonard brings his distinctive storytelling "voice" to both, but they're quite different novels, each boasting their own unique spin on well worn set-ups. While The Hunted is on the surface a straightforward man-on-the-run tale, it's the story's locale which lends it its additional edge: Israel, with its history of conflict (the scars visible now and then in the narrative) and constricted geography. It's a tiny country, almost impossible to hide in, which makes it perfect for a game of cat and mouse between a trio of hitmen and a Federal witness businessman and his new Marine buddy. The appeal of Swag (also known as Ryan's Rules), on the other hand, rests chiefly on the bickering relationship between criminals Frank Ryan and Ernest Stickley, Jr, alias Stick, who team up and embark on a string of hold-ups, following Frank's ten rules for success and happiness. But it's also a convincing, credible account of what life must be like for a middle rung recidivist – making enough to lead a fairly comfortable existence but knowing that at some point the party has to end – more than likely in a jail cell.


Something else Swag has, at least if you're familiar with Leonard's work, is a sense of a shared universe for the characters who populate the author's novels and stories. Frank shares a surname with Jack Ryan, of The Big Bounce and Unknown Man No. 89, a fact made explicit when a character in Swag remarks that he used to do some breaking and entering with Jack. Meanwhile Stick would go on to star in his own eponymous Leonard novel – and I'll be taking a look at that book, as well as some of the other Leonards I've read of late, before too long.

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Obligatory Baby and Book Blog Post


Just a quick one – free time being at something of a premium at present – to introduce Edith Emmeline* – Edie if you're in a hurry (which I invariably am these days, appearances to the contrary) – born at 12.27pm on Sunday 19 May. Mum and baby are both doing well (there were various complications but I shan't bore you with the details) and all three of us are slowly adjusting to life as a family. As you can see, I'm getting in whatever reading I can; not as much as I was pre-birth, obviously, but enough to keep me sane. I've been on an Elmore Leonard kick of late – you might be able to make out that I'm (re)reading Get Shorty in that photo – so I hope to have a post up for Patti Nase Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books Leonard special in a few weeks' time (if not, I guess Patti can always link this post). If I get the chance I'll be running some eBay auctions for a bunch of Richard Stark/Parker books pretty soon, so I'll let you know about those if I do, but other than that, I'll have to take it as it comes as regards a return to what will almost certainly be semi-regular – or, more likely, highly irregular – book blogging. More soon...

* The fact that the initials of Edie's first and middle names reflect those of Existential Ennui is, of course, entirely coincidental...