Pagan babies (original 2000; edition 2000)

by Elmore Leonard

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
591	8	15,226	(3.31)	5

Add to your library

Add to wishlist

▾Book information

Member:	jrobles76
Title:	Pagan babies
Authors:	Elmore Leonard
Info:	New York : Delacorte Press, c2000.
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	None

Work details

Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard (2000)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

JanaFOliver, thestoryofb, private library, GrimmThymm, SalemAthenaeum, alcottacre, kcheel67, Clair.dLune, kipen

numbers

show all

▾Tags

1st (3) 2007 (2) 20th century (4) Africa (4) American (6) American literature (3) audio (4) crime (35) crime fiction (18) criminals (3) detective (7) detective and mystery stories (3) Detroit (14) ebook (3) Elmore Leonard (3) fiction (81) first edition (5) humor (8) Michigan (4) mystery (48) Mystery/Suspense (3) novel (18) own (4) read (15) Rwanda (14) suspense (4) thriller (11) to-read (13) unread (4) USA (2)

▾LibraryThing recommendations

High Noon in Detroit by Elmore Leonard (1980)
Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard (2007)
Same series: The Hot Kid (Carl Webster)
Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard (1977)
Same series: Swag (Elmore Leonard's Jack Ryan)
White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (1992)
Same series: A Little Yellow Dog, A Red Death (Easy Rawlins Mystery)
Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen (1995)
Same series: Sick Puppy, Double Whammy (Skink)

Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke (2000)
Same series: Jolie Blon's Bounce, Last Car to Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux)
Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen (1989)
Right as Rain by George P. Pelecanos (2001)
Walking Shadow by Robert B. Parker (1994)
The Last Detective by Robert Crais (2003)
Same series: L.A. Requiem (Elvis Cole)

see more recommendations for this work

refresh

▾Member recommendations

None.

▾Will you like it?

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)

In the house somewhere.

velvetink | Mar 31, 2013 |

Fast moving with well drawn characters moving around neighborhoods I know well. The backdrop of the genocide in Rwanda while the world ignored the carnage makes it more interesting. (

)

rsummer | Apr 28, 2012 |

An entertaining potboiler about a con game, an ex-con, the Detroit mafia, and a man who may or may not be a priest. (

)

Logophile | Nov 13, 2011 |

A typical (and good) Elmore Leonard. Smart dialogues, cool characters and real fun reading. (

)

adiasd | Jul 3, 2010 |

The time has come to elucidate some thoughts on one of the greatest and most diverse writers of American letters: Elmore Leonard. If you haven’t heard the name, I envy you for being able to read your first novel by this tremendous author. You may have seen, or heard, about his previous works, Get Shorty, Be Cool, The Big Bounce, but I highly recommend Pagan Babies. This novel has it all: a person imitating a priest; a hit man that doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing; a restaurateur trying to make an image of being a gangster; a standup comic who only wants a chance, but will settle for a free ride; and it all takes place in Detroit with an extra background of the Rwandan genocide. Trust me, this sounds a bit convoluted, but the end result is a great book that satisfies the thriller reader, the mystery reader, even the literary aficionado. For nothing else, pick this book up as a source to see how plain and beautiful language can be written, and kick back, relax, and enjoy the Elmore Leonard ride. This title is currently available in our library, so don’t miss out and read it today. Happy Reading! (

)

SturgisPublicLibrary | Oct 29, 2009 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (2 possible)

▾Work-to-work relationships

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Series (with order)

Canonical title

Information from the Finnish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one.

Pakanamaan lapset

Original title

Information from the Finnish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one.

Pagan Babies

Alternative titles

Original publication date

Information from the Finnish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one.

2000

People/Characters

Father Terry Dunn

Debbie Dewey

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Awards and honors

New York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2000)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Quotations

Last words

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Publisher series

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0060008776, Mass Market Paperback)

After 30-odd novels, one might think that Elmore Leonard has nothing left to prove. But Pagan Babies, a novel filled with his signatures (tight plotting, scathing wit, and that grittily realistic dialogue), shows once again why he sets the standard against which other crime novels are measured. In fact, Leonard has raised the bar. How many authors would dare use the Rwandan genocide as backdrop for a story that moves gaily between romantic comedy and a massive, labyrinthine con? More to the point, how many of them would pull it off?

Father Terry Dunn doesn't have qualms about substituting punishment for penance. If that means killing four Hutu murderers who slaughtered his Tutsi congregation, so be it. Being an instrument of divine wrath has certain disadvantages, however, so Dunn breaks camp and heads for Detroit, where he's welcomed by family, a five-year-old federal indictment for tax fraud, and a fast-talking fireball named Debbie Dewey. Fresh from a stint in prison for assaulting her former fiancé, Randy, with a Ford Escort, Debbie is out for revenge:

"I still can't believe I fell for it. He tells me he's retired from Merrill Lynch, one of their top traders, and I believed him. Did I check? No, not till it was too late. But you know what did me in, besides the hair and the tan? Greed. He said if I had a savings account that wasn't doing much and would like to put it to work... He shows me his phony portfolio, stock worth millions, and like a dummy I said, 'Well, I've got fifty grand not doing too much.' I signed it over and that's the last I saw of my money."

It's only a matter of time before Debbie's desire for cold, hard cash and Dunn's fundraising for Rwandan orphans join forces in a carefully plotted financial assault on Randy's benefactor, Tony Amilia, who just happens to be the last of the old-school Detroit Mafia. Throw in a couple of hit men to whom loyalty is a foreign word, and you've got vintage Leonard: a fast-paced, roller-coaster ride of a novel where deceiver and deceived are gloriously shifty signifiers. --Kelly Flynn

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:23:07 -0400)

(see all 5 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

Is Terry Dunn really a priest? He doesn't always appear to act like one. He comes home to Detroit, after witnessing a tragedy in Rwanda and runs into Debbie who's doing standup at a comedy club. Terry and Debie hit it off; they have the same sense of humor and similar goals in that both are out to raise money.… (more)

(summary from another edition)

» see all 2 descriptions