A fast moving book; a cliche but a real page turner.

It is story of two criminals: Half Ojibway Indian, half French Canadian, the Blackbird i who is a gun for sale hit man, and Richie Nix , a not-so-bright red-neck. The pair meet as Richie tries to hijacks the Bird's car and blackmail him. The Bird is impressed by Richie's nerve and they start to work together on a scam.

Everything spins on it's head when an iron worker and his wife are inadvertantly caught up in the event. Bird has a motto which is never to leave a living witness and so the chase begins. ( )

This is one of Elmore Leonard's most enjoyable books. It is basically a caper involving multiple plots that intersect around an interesting couple comprised of a real estate agent ad her ironworker husband. The characters are interesting and substantive, so that you care what happens to them. I appreciated the spirit of standing up and defending yourself when the system proves ineffectual. ( )

Story of a professional killer, Armand Degas ("Blackbird": French Canadian/native heritage), and Ritchie Nix, untrained, unprofessional killer and therefore in some ways the more dangerous of the two. They link up through a botched attempt by Ritchie to carjack Armand and kill him for whatever his in his wallet. The only reason Armand doesn't turn the tables directly is that he is intrigued by Ritchie's plan to extort $10,000 from the owner of a real estate company. This is where the Armand/Ritchie line cuts across the lives of Carmen and Wayne Colson. Carmen works as a real estate agent for the threatened owner, and Wayne is an ironworker, one of the guys who works on high steel, framing skyscrapers. Armand and Ritchie mistake Wayne for the owner of the real estate company and get more than they bargained for when they demand their money. They escape, considerably bruised, but determined that they have to kill Carmen and Wayne who can identify them. The plot is set and the story unfolds in the tension of Armand and Ritchie's plans, their mutual distrust, and the relationship between Carmen and Wayne.

Again, a good, fast-paced, well-written story with the added horror of innocent lives threatened because of unforseen, uncontrollable contact and the crossing of life lines. This being Leonard, one is also not certain that the good guys will win, or will win intact and this makes it even more of a page-turner.