![]() ![]() Any writer starting out would learn more from simply reading his work than they’d get from a lifetime of Creative Writing class. ![]() ![]() But in terms of pacing a story, Leonard is still the gold standard. In 52 Pick-up he pares those back to a few sparse details about drugs, guns, and engineering processes necessary to give the story ballast and credibility. He was also a great believer in ‘taking out the boring bits’ – long narrative descriptions which slow the story down. Leonard had the best ear for realistic urban dialogue of almost any writer I know. The characters’ dialogue is trademark Leonard – sharp, witty and believable. The main storyline is about how Mitchell handles his predicament.Īs you would expect from Leonard, even though this was one of his earlier books written in the 70s, it cracks along at a fair old pace. Turns out the model works for some local hoods who start blackmailing Mitchell, threatening to expose him if he doesn’t pay them large. Happily married to his wife Barbara for twenty-two years, he has a mid-life crisis affair with a young model from a nudie bar. Local businessman Harry Mitchell is the respectable, hard-working boss of a small Detroit engineering company. This entry was posted in Book reviews and tagged Crime fiction noir thriller on by Frankįlawed but highly readable early crime thriller by the daddy of naturalistic dialogue ![]()
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