Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508090025
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY NEIL HARVEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
"Riding the Rap," Elmore Leonard's latest crime thriller, is a tremendous amount of fun, a thoroughly entertaining summer read, and possibly the mellowest book ever written about kidnapping, theft and cold blooded murder; this, Leonard's 32nd novel, is his funniest, most casually assured effort since "Get Shorty," way back in 1989.
As in Leonard's previous book, "Pronto," U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens is again searching for missing sports bookie, Harry Arno. This time, however, Arno isn't on the run, he's been abducted.
The kidnappers (a psychopathic gardener; a baked, aging sleazebag; and a slick con-man named Louis Lewis) have a pretty good plan: instead of relying on a third party to supply the ransom, they leave it up to their hostage to find a way to buy himself out. Unfortunately for the bad guys, the three of them are a set of loose cannons; they're unbalanced, careless and backstabbing from the get-go. They're also darn near incompetent."
"Riding the Rap" is a string of perfectly constructed, smoothly connected situations; from the opening chapter (a prison transfer that tries very hard to go wrong), through a scene in which two hard core felons critique the poor golf game of an S&L crook they're about to assault and shanghai, to a nifty little doublecross and, finally, the breakneck ending.
"Riding the Rap" has streamlined plotting and loads of Leonard's trademark stenographic dialogue.
It's a true blast-and-a-half.
Neil Harvey lives in Blacksburg.
by CNB