52 Pick-Up (1974)

I have been reading (and now re-reading) Elmore Leonard for decades and I plan to do the same, if I’m lucky, for at least another decade or two. Leonard, who is now 86 years old, shows little sign of slowing down or losing his momentum. In fact, if the television series Justified is any indication, his work is as popular as ever. Considering that almost 20 of his books have been made into Hollywood movies, and another half-dozen or so into television movies or series, that is saying something.

52 Pick-Up, first published in 1974, is one of Leonard’s earlier novels – and, despite being set in a Detroit that is almost unrecognizable today, it still holds up well. Leonard has always been one of the great masters of realistic dialogue, and dialogue is one of this novel’s strong suits. Leonard’s dialogue is special because he captures more than just cadence and accent. After a few pages of a Leonard novel, the reader begins to hear each character as a unique and recognizable voice that exposes as much about himself in speech as he does by his actions.

Our 52 Pick-Up hero Harry Mitchell is a happily married Detroit businessman who seems to have everything going for him – until he makes one fatal mistake and falls in love with a woman he meets in a bar. Harry is a full-speed-ahead kind of guy, and before long he is spending most of his spare time at the apartment he rented for the second love in his life. When blackmailers threaten to expose Harry’s affair to his wife, he refuses to play their game, preferring to confess to his wife and directly confront his tormentors. And then the blackmailers up the ante with a homicide, and it’s game on. Sometimes it is just not easy to be a blackmailer.

52 Pick-Up is not one of Elmore Leonard’s better known novels (those would have to be the ones that were turned into bigger movies and series such as Hombre, Mr. Majestyk, Get Shorty, Jackie Brown (Rum Punch), and the current Justified, but it is one that Leonard fans are sure to enjoy. These early Leonard works may be a little more difficult to find sometimes, but the extra effort is worth it.

Rated at: 4.0 ( )

This is fairly pedestrian. I don't see what the fuss is all about. ( )

An interesting crime fiction based in Detroit. This novel is all about fighting back against blackmailers. This is a pretty good book. It is basically fluff, but it is a fast read with lots of action and interesting and engaging characters. ( )

A fairly predictable, easy reading blackmail thriller set in 70's america.

Harry Mitchel an american captain of industry gets caught with a bit on the side after 22 happily married years. The minor legue punks who try and blackmail him run inot the old problem with such schemes - how to make a safe pickup, and is there any honour amoung thieves?

Well writen with goo dialog and believable characters in a range of styles, but somewhat cliched in terms of plot. Very direct with one minor subplot, and few twists. Fortunetly it's a short book where these deficiancies don't become too problematic.

Lots of sex and drugs which almost stays in character without being foist upon the plot - but doesn't add anything either this is probably a reflection of the changing times, but no detracts fromt eh enjoyment.

readable, but nothing special. ( )

Short. Sharp. Punchy. Dated.
Macho bullsh!t. 70s. Escapism. ( )