Out of Sight

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the movie
Review: OK, I know one shouldn't really compare novels and the movies that are made from them. And if you do, you should probably read the book first.

I saw the movie version of this book before I read it. The movie was more nuanced, had a better plot, and more fully realized characters. The book is good airplane reading, not too demanding. But I was a little disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Out of Sight: A Slightly Different Style, But Very Well Done
Review: Out of Sight is a new style for Leonard, it has a more romantic/sarcastic look at how things work, I enjoyed as much as any other Leonard and liked the slight change.

Rating:
Summary: not as good as the movie
Review: Out of sight is a pretty good book but is not as great as the movie which is strange because typically the other way around. The book still is a great crime novel that would please any fan of elmore leonard.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Buy!
Review: OUT OF SIGHT sounded like a great read, dramatic, fast-paced, and sensual. The synopsis, in fact, greatly understated the quality of this book. Popular author Elmore Leonard provides a sharp, intelligent, quick read in this novel. Bank robber Jack Foley and federal marshal Karen Sisco have an undeniable chemistry that Leonard explores fully in every witty, clever page of this exciting book. The humor is constantly sharp, the dialogue always plausible, and the plot intriguing and sexy. Fans of this novel should definitely see the film version, which is surprisingly true to the plot of the novel. I purchased this book through Amazon.com right after another great purchase, THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, about an unlucky writer addicted to the personals. Both are fun, recommended books. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: From Florida To Detroit, Does Love Win?
Review: Starting in a Florida prison, the opening few chapters of OUT OF SIGHT are set as a frenetic pace as bank robber extraordinaire, Jack Foley plans and executes a daring escape. Helping him in his bid for freedom is his former partner in crime, Buddy who is waiting with a car in the prison car park. Also waiting in the car park happens to be US Marshall Karen Sisco who is sitting in her car, preparing to enter the facility when Foley makes his unexpected appearance. Quickly overpowering her, they stuff her in the trunk of her car with Foley climbing in behind her and Buddy slipping behind the wheel to affect the getaway.

Unbelievably cool in the crisis involved in the jail break, Foley attempts to engage Karen in conversation, even wondering aloud whether it might be possible, if circumstances were different, for the two of them to become attracted to one another. Karen of course is incredulous and wants nothing to do with the escaped prisoner, apart from capturing him and delivering him back to prison. Thinking on the events later, after escaping from Buddy and Foley, she does find herself impressed with Foley's cool head under pressure.

There is a brief lull in the action as we recover from the excitement of the opening scenes and the thought of the next score is placed in Foley's head. This takes the form of a robbery target in Detroit, supposedly a low-risk venture made easier by some local help. After narrowly escaping capture from the US Marshalls that includes another run-in with Karen Sisco, he decides that it's time for a change of scenery and he and Buddy heads north.

By this time, it becomes obvious that there's some sort of weird fascination between Jack Foley and Karen Sisco taking place. They're somehow drawn to one another, even though they are on directly opposite sides of the law.

In Detroit, Foley and Buddy are out of their comfort zones. They don't know the city, they don't know the people and it's just started to snow. They hook up with a truly dangerous fellow ex-con named Maurice. He is their aforementioned local help, but they realise that the low-risk operation is shaping up as anything but. With nothing better on offer and against their better judgement, they go ahead with the plan but are extremely wary.

Meanwhile Karen Sisco has tracked Foley to Detroit after some very slick detective work, and after talking her way onto the Foley case. The inevitability of their meeting is obvious. What remains up in the air is what will happen after they meet and when it comes to plots created by Elmore Leonard, this means that the story could lead anywhere from here.

On the surface this is told in a light, breezy tone thanks mainly to the cool behaviour of Foley in times of crisis backed up by Buddy's comical acceptance of Foley's decisions, no matter how unusual they seemed. When the setting changed to the colder wintry city of Detroit, the tone darkened considerably to reflect the dangerous Maurice, with whom they have to deal. You get a definite sense that the significant scenes are going to take place in Detroit thanks to these strong mood changes.

Elmore Leonard mixes an easy conversational tone with tight, tough dialogue. He manages to give each of his characters their own distinctive voice thanks to his clever use of phraseology. Even though Foley and Buddy are ex-cons, in this book they can be considered the good guys and their language reflects this through a minimum of swearing and slang. In glaring comparison, we find that the Detroit "bad guys" such as Maurice, although also ex-cons, litter their dialogue with constant and extreme profanities. It's a simple but effective way to differentiate the difference between bad and downright evil.

Ultimately, OUT OF SIGHT is a love story. Sure it's an unusual love story in the extreme, but a love story just the same. With plenty of action taking place on the periphery of the Foley and Sisco mating dance, it's an absorbing book that provided me with an unexpected ending.

Rating:
Summary: A Cops and Robbers Romance Born in a Prison Break
Review: Stories about criminals trying to escape from prison have always fascinated me. They have much of the same appeal as a locked room mystery. And they also have the possibility of a good tale covering the chase after the prison is left behind. In Out of Sight, Elmore Leonard has created the most unique prison escape story that I have ever read.

Here's the situation. Jack Foley, a career bank robber, has thought of a way to use a planned escape by some other convicts to help him get out. Everything goes smoothly until . . . the way out ends up being covered by a deputy U.S. marshal carrying a shotgun who's visiting the prison to serve a subpoena. What now?

Sound interesting?

Then, Mr. Leonard throws in a role reversal. The deputy is an attractive 28 year-old woman wearing designer clothes.

I think that many of the best novels are those that propose a totally unique situation, and then let the characters deal with the situation. That seems to be how this book was written, and it's fascinating.

She doesn't shoot. He ends up taking her along, and riding in the trunk with her. They start talking . . . and discover they are interested in each other. What if they had met in some other way?

She escapes. Foley's on the run, and she's after him. What will happen to them?

As usual, the dialogue reflects Mr. Leonard's almost-perfect ear for spoken language.

Mr. Leonard's famous wit concerning the foibles of criminals is in evidence in almost every paragraph. If you are ready for lots of laughs from a crime novel, this book may well appeal to you. In fact, the book will remind you a lot of the romantic comedies that the two main characters find that they both adore. Don't be surprised if you are asked to suspend your disbelief from time to time.

On the other hand, there are some truly nasty criminals in the story who do despicable things. If such events disturb or annoy you, this book's darkness should cause you to prefer another source of romantic comedy. You will see this book as a two or three star effort. I graded the book down one star for needless violence.

After you have read the book or thought about the situation that kicks off the plot, think about where you may be missing opportunities to get to know others whom you would like. For example, I have just read a book by Stephen Ambrose in which he describes the pleasure that enemy commanders who have fought against each other find in their post-war friendships.

Speak up or act . . . or forever miss your opportunity to connect!

Rating:
Summary: Great book - dumb reviewer
Review: That dumb reviewer would be me. The last two books I have read have been Elmore Leonard novels: "Touch" and "Out of Sight". Though I am an avid film buff, and was vaguely aware of the movies of the same name, this college-educated would-be writer never put, literally, two and two together to link these books until I finished this one and read of few of the Amazon reviews. Two movies are going to be rented tomorrow, and I will look into ways to get my IQ increased. What makes me an even bigger [idiot] is that I read both of these books a few years ago, and was giving them a "refresher" reading before writing the reviews.

So without seeing the movie, I will say that I liked the book very much. Just like "Touch", it's a short novel that almost makes me think I'm not reading a full book. But unlike "Touch", which I think could have gone on a lot longer, this one pretty much ends where it should. It tells the story of a bank robber who escapes jail. While doing so, a U.S. Marshall gets taken hostage, and the two wind up riding together in the trunk of a car as part of the getaway. I should mention that the Marshall is a very attractive young female wearing a designer outfit while stuffed in the car with the escapee.

Now being a Leonard novel, you have to throw convention out the window. The "hero" is a career criminal, who would have to kill as part of his job if necessary. He has also just whacked a prison guard with a two-by-four after betraying the participants of another breakout to make his own getaway. So he's not really the kind of guy you bring home to dad if you are a woman.

But wait, it's still a Leonard novel. The Marshall has ironically already been involved with a bank robber in her life, and is impressed how the robber acts like a gentleman during her ordeal. After she gets away, she finds herself strangely drawn to the man, a fact that is noticed by her father, himself a former lawman.

So of course these two have to somehow get together again, or we wouldn't have a story. Since we know this will happen, there is no suspense there. But how both feel about it before this happens makes the novel special. As he is escaping a thirty year sentence, with more to follow if caught, and she is sworn to uphold the law, they can't possibly make it together. Or can they?

See you at the video store.

Rating:
Summary: Great book - dumb reviewer
Review: That dumb reviewer would be me. The last two books I have read have been Elmore Leonard novels: "Touch" and "Out of Sight". Though I am an avid film buff, and was vaguely aware of the movies of the same name, this college-educated would-be writer never put, literally, two and two together to link these books until I finished this one and read of few of the Amazon reviews. Two movies are going to be rented tomorrow, and I will look into ways to get my IQ increased. What makes me an even bigger [idiot] is that I read both of these books a few years ago, and was giving them a "refresher" reading before writing the reviews.

So without seeing the movie, I will say that I liked the book very much. Just like "Touch", it's a short novel that almost makes me think I'm not reading a full book. But unlike "Touch", which I think could have gone on a lot longer, this one pretty much ends where it should. It tells the story of a bank robber who escapes jail. While doing so, a U.S. Marshall gets taken hostage, and the two wind up riding together in the trunk of a car as part of the getaway. I should mention that the Marshall is a very attractive young female wearing a designer outfit while stuffed in the car with the escapee.

Now being a Leonard novel, you have to throw convention out the window. The "hero" is a career criminal, who would have to kill as part of his job if necessary. He has also just whacked a prison guard with a two-by-four after betraying the participants of another breakout to make his own getaway. So he's not really the kind of guy you bring home to dad if you are a woman.

But wait, it's still a Leonard novel. The Marshall has ironically already been involved with a bank robber in her life, and is impressed how the robber acts like a gentleman during her ordeal. After she gets away, she finds herself strangely drawn to the man, a fact that is noticed by her father, himself a former lawman.

So of course these two have to somehow get together again, or we wouldn't have a story. Since we know this will happen, there is no suspense there. But how both feel about it before this happens makes the novel special. As he is escaping a thirty year sentence, with more to follow if caught, and she is sworn to uphold the law, they can't possibly make it together. Or can they?

See you at the video store.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Love Story Since Sid & Nancy
Review: The best book I have read all year. From the interactions between Karen and Glen to Snoopy and White boy Bob, you get a real feel for what prison does to a man

Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Review: The first book I've read by Leonard & it will be the last. Predictable, unrealistic & dull. Could have been written by a 9th grade student.