Rating:  Summary: Rock on, Leonard Review: Amazing. These explosions result in complete hillariosity. Who'd ever think blowing up a retard could go so wrong?
Rating:  Summary: Leonard at His Best Review: Among the dozens he has written, Freaky Deaky is one of Leonard's best novels. His classic forumula of creating a likeable, but imperfect protagonist, who is surrounded by characters with varying degrees of likeability and morality works really well in this novel. From the hero, the likeable, Chris Mankowski, to the slobbering drunk millionaire Woody Ricks, who everyone seems to want a piece of, Leonard has filled his novel with unique gritty characters. Half the time you aren't sure if you want to hate or pity each characters. None of them are ever exactly what you expect.The dialogue, another Leonard Hallmark trait, is superb. You'll know what I mean after you read a conversation between Mankowski and his father about a cheeseburger with green pepper and A-1 Steak sauce. If you are a fan of Elmore Leonard, or interested in gritty crime fiction, then you'll find a lot to like in this novel.
Rating:  Summary: light entertainment but nothing too special Review: An ex-bomb squad copper, a few sticks of dynamite, a variety of seedy characters and some finely-tuned double crossing dominate this thinly plotted novel, but there really isn't anything all that explosive about this book. It's just a light, entertaining read about a few mildly dangerous, self-absorbed characters and the street-wise, mild mannered cop who's on their trail.
Rating:  Summary: Leonard's Dynamite is Explosive Indeed! Review: Another of Leonard's conglomerations of bizarre characters ~ actually, most of them you can relate to ~ with strange motivations ~ some of them make sense ~ quite a bit of coincidence, and a good dash of no common sense at all. "Common sense" in the non-criminal world; maybe what these characters do is everyday behaviour for the baddies of this life. Your average person, though, let alone the average character in a book, is not prepared to blow someone up to make under a million dollars; does not do nothing when he discovers a bomb in his boss's car; does not pick up his Glock and continue detecting, after a fashion, after being suspended from the Police Department. Good thing Leonard's characters do, though, because it makes for one heck of a good read. You cannot entirely tell all of the time exactly who the good guys are; most of the time, though, they seem to be Chris Manikowski ~ the suspended cop ~ and Greta Jones, a rape victim. The bad guys, the bombers, ex-Sixties radicals back in circulation, do not end up with what they want; generally the good guys do. But from beginning to end motivations, actions, effects, and results change frequently. Fun book, again.
Rating:  Summary: Leonard at his best. Review: Bunch a pile of pillows around when you go to reading this one, because you're going to fall down laughing. From page 1!!!
Rating:  Summary: Hippies turn deadly Review: Deadly. We have this couple, Robin and Skip, two 60's radicals used to be anti-establishment, anti-the man. How things changed. Now they're ex-convicts getting ready to score a huge payback on the wealthy family that originally snitched them out. Kaboom! Deadly. In comes Chris Mankowski. The Sexy Bomb Boy. He transfers from the Bomb Squad to the Sex Crimes Division for Detroit's Finest. His very first case involving a rape leads him to a gossamers web of Austin Powder, clothes pins, lots of copper wire, a big black dude named Juicy Mouth, Busby Berkley and the Banana Dance, bushels of grass and gallons of LSD, an explosive ending, and perhaps the coolest Elmore Leonard character ever in the ex-Black Panther, Donnell Lewis. He's just wicked nasty.
Why "Freaky Deaky" hasn't been made into a movie confounds--yes, confounds--me. How can "The Big Bounce" make it to theaters before "Freaky Deaky?" Even Don Cheadle is talking about making "Tishomingo Blues." Not cool. "Freaky Deaky" is a really good story, and it's about time that a big screen version of it gets made.
Rating:  Summary: Cool. Review: Elmore Leonard is here at his coolest and most intense. This one is just as hip and funny as the best of his work. You get a somber feeling when this book ends, lets go, and you have to put it down.
Rating:  Summary: My favorite Elmore Leonard so far Review: Ever since I read Freaky Deaky, I've been looking to Leonard for an equal or better read. After around 6 Leonard novels, I still feel like this one was Leonard at his best: fast, gutteral dialogue, a talk-driven plot, and page turning intrigue.
Rating:  Summary: My favorite Elmore Leonard so far Review: Ever since I read Freaky Deaky, I've been looking to Leonard for an equal or better read. After around 6 Leonard novels, I still feel like this one was Leonard at his best: fast, gutteral dialogue, a talk-driven plot, and page turning intrigue.
Rating:  Summary: A rip-roaring scum filled piece Review: Freaky Deaky moves at a pace unlike that of most novels I have read. The need of sleep was the only hurdle that inhibited me from reading the book straight through. The characters are so well thought out, quirky, and yet believable. Leonard puts together a fantastic story that snowballs until the last page.
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