Road Dogs

I don't know how this one slipped under my radar. I stumbled across it in a secondhand bookstore. A hardcover Elmore for $4? I'm in.

And judging from the cover, I figured it for one of his older books, because I just bought it. I didn't even read what it's about. When it's Elmore Leonard, I don't screw around. He wrote it, I'm going to like it (well, except for his kid's book, A Coyote In The House.

Anyway, when I saw he'd actually written this book in 2009, and tied together the three main characters from Out of Sight, La Brava. and Riding The Rap...well damn. Like Lennon said, A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

This one's short, with the typical Leonard plot of everyone out to pretty much screw everyone else (literally and show more figuratively) that he does so damn well and never gets old. But it's full of his amazing characters, fantastic observances and that fantastic dialogue that nobody else can hold a candle to.

Damn, I miss Elmore Leonard. show less

Elmore Leonard's "Road Dogs" (2009), published when he was in his 80s, shows that his narrative gifts didn't desert him near the end of his life. The novel about two prison pals, road dogs, and what happens to them after their release, entertains as much as any of his earlier stories.

Elmore Leonard books always remind me of Coen Brothers movies. That's because of their wit, the strength of their dialogue and the unpredictability of their plots. In "Road Dogs," Jack Foley, who has robbed more banks than anyone else, wins an early release because his buddy, Cundo Ray, pays for a first-rate lawyer. Then Cundo sends him to stay in one of his California mansions, while Dawn, his beautiful and supposedly chaste girlfriend, waits for his show more return in the other next door. When Cundo gets out of prison, you expect him to place some demand on Foley as repayment for his generosity. But that isn't what happens at all, this being Elmore Leonard. Instead the threat, make that threats, against Foley come from elsewhere.

One of those threats is Lou Adams, an FBI agent convinced Foley will quickly return to his old habits. In fact, he is betting on it. He is writing a book about the nation's greatest, and most polite, bank robber, but he needs an ending. He figures he will have that when Foley robs another bank and Adams is there to catch him. He closely monitors Foley's activity, even to the point of hiring even worse criminals to tail him. But as threats go, Lou Adams proves to be little more than an irritation. Again, this is Elmore Leonard here.

I shouldn't reveal more of the plot, for Leonard's surprises are best left to come in their own good time. show less

Written in 2010, "Road Dogs" is one of Elmore Leonard's last few books. It resurrected the character Jack Foley, star of the 1996 "Out of Sight" (made into a movie with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez). It's a fun story, full of the quirky, untrustworthy, (and none- too smart) characters and the convoluted machinations so familiar to readers of Leonard's fiction.

As a notorious bank robber with > 100 such robberies plus a kidnapping to his credit, Jack Foley has been sentenced to a very long term in prison. At Glades Prison in Florida, he befriends Cundo Rey; they are the “road dogs” (prison buddies) of the title. Rey sets Foley up with an expensive attorney who gets his sentence reduced. As arranged by Rey, following his release show more he meets Dawn Navarro, a supposed psychic and Rey's common law wife. Dawn supposedly has been living like a saint while awaiting Rey’s return. In fact, she’s a conniver who is angling for Rey’s millions and has been plotting for years on how to get them. She sleeps with Jack and tries to recruit him to kill Cundo Rey upon his release from prison, and uses her charms to get other characters (Tico, a supposed community organizer; and Little Jimmy, who has control of Cundo’s funds) to kill Foley. Then there’s Lou Adams, an FBI agent who wants to put Foley back in prison. He takes off work for a month to follows Foley, certain that he won’t be able to resist another bank robbery

The fun in reading this work comes from watching the scheming and manipulations, the double crossing, and of course the characters themselves. I found myself laughing out loud at times in enjoyment. The ending was something of a let-down, but that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. show less

Elmore Leonard brings back three characters from previous books for an encore performance in his latest comedic foray into the criminal world. Bank robber Jack Foley (Out of Sight), and Cundo Rey (LaBrava), meet in prison and quickly become friends, referring to themselves as Road Dogs. Rey’s lawyer has arranged for his early release from prison and Rey offers her services to Foley, who’s in for thirty years. She manages to get Foley’s prison term reduced to thirty months and Foley is released two weeks before Rey. Rey offers Foley one of his houses in Venice Beach but admonishes him to keep his hands off his girlfriend, Dawn (Riding the Rap), a psychic/ghost hunter patiently waiting for Rey’s release so she can con him out of show more his millions. When she meets Foley, Dawn knows he is her way to the money and tries to work her magic on him. Foley is intrigued but distracted by an FBI agent tailing him, waiting to capture him after he robs his next bank.

As usual, Leonard adroitly moves the story forward through realistic, at times quirky, dialogue and the inner thoughts of some pretty wacky people. He excels at delivering entertaining scenes of duplicity and complicity among characters on the wrong and right side of the law. Foley takes the lead in this comedy and is a cool guy who manages to stay one step ahead of those who have no qualms about taking him out, legally or illegally. The interplay between Foley and the others will keep the readers turning pages, laughing along the way. This is one fun read. show less

This review, much like an Elmore Leonard novel, is destined to be short and to the point. As it should be.

Road Dogs picks up where the novel Out of Sight left off. In Out of Sight we were introduced to Jack Foley, a bank robber whose escape from prison leads to his "kidnap" of U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco. Star-crossed lovers far more interesting than Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Karen are a couple who are meant to be, but can never be. Watching the sparks fly between them and their ongoing banter made Out of Sight one of my favorite Leonard novels.

Road Dogs follows Jack Foley's life after Karen Sisco. When fellow inmate Cundo Rey (a wealthy Cuban with serious outside connections) pays for a high-powered attorney to help Jack reduce the 30 show more year sentence handed down by a judge aptly nicknamed "Maximum Bob" (for his propensity to always give the maximum sentencing allowed), Jack finds his sentence significantly reduced. And he also finds himself in debt to Cundo. As a result, Jack gets mixed up with Cundo's wife, Dawn Navarro, and various plots from conning a wealthy movie star to robbing Cundo himself. All the while, a zealous FBI agent is watching Jack's every move.

As with all Leonard novels, it's hard to track where the narrative will take us, which is always part of the fun. For me, however, the real joy in a Leonard novel comes from the dialogue. No one, and I mean no one, has a better ear for the natural rhythms of everyday speech than Leonard. He can develop entire characters simply based on their conversation. Little is needed in the way of physical description; you can take the measure of a character simply from the sound of his or her speech.

Despite all of this, this is not Leonard's best novel, but even a mediocre Leonard novel is better than most popular fiction out there today. Foley still comes across as the likable scamp of a bank thief, but it lacks the sizzle that came from his interaction with Karen Sisco. I did enjoy seeing Dawn Navarro again and thought her character the most interesting in the book. A psychic with a real gift for seeing the future, she opts to make her living pulling cons and waiting to get her hands on Cundo's money. Her constantly shifting persona as she plays one man against another is like watching a reptile blend into its surroundings and waiting for its prey. I wouldn't mind seeing a book turn up in the near future strictly focused on her life after Road Dogs.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder. show less

A very satisfying book from the master, gives a satisfying (final) chapter to the story of gentleman bank robber Jack Foley, best known from "Out Of Sight". Leonard's writing style is dry, spare, low key, and the delicious and funny scenes and story slowly builds like sipping a rich and satisfying wine along with a great steak. Really great dialogue. You watch all the players frantically making their moves while Jack Foley goes with the flow, observes, nudges, and waits patiently for all the other fools to take care of themselves.

Jack hooks up with a Cuban gangster in prison, who helps him get out early, and brings him out to Los Angeles where his minions and scheming "girlfriend" are taking care of two expensive homes.

If you don't know show more Leonard, this is not a white knuckle style thriller, but a complex chess game of characters that just sucks you right in. If you are old enough to remember the Alfred Hitchcock show, very much the same flavor Read and enjoy. show less

Famous bank robber Jack Foley, nicknamed the Sweetheart Robber for his tendency to politely ask for the money rather than threatening with a gun, has finally been caught after knocking over close to two hundred banks. Facing a 30-year sentence, he resigns himself to do his time and makes friends with a fellow prisoner, the edgy, talkative murderer and drug dealer Cundo Rey, whose own sentence is much shorter. Resolved that his buddy doesn’t deserve the 30 years, Cundo hires a high-powered attorney for Jack and she gets his sentence reduced to 30 months…meaning Jack will now get out of prison a few weeks before Cundo himself.

Upon his release, Jack heads to LA to one of Cundo’s two mansions, which are owned and maintained for him show more by money launderer Little Jimmy and Cundo’s wife, the psychic Dawn Navarro. Almost instantly, Jack realizes something’s up. The sexy, confident Dawn is far from the loyal saint Cundo told him about. Naked paintings of her adorn the house Jack is staying in, and she seduces him within days. He guesses she’s only in it for the millions Cundo has made in his crooked dealings, and has spent the last eight years plotting for the day Cundo gets out. Torn between his loyalty to Cundo and his new-found affection for Dawn, Jack rides out the schemes and double-crosses that follow, all the while attempting to avoid the attention of obsessed FBI agent Lou Adams who is certain that Jack can’t resist hitting one last bank.

Fast-paced and sprinkled with sly wit and clever dialog, “Road Dogs” is a pleasure, despite a somewhat unfinished-feeling plot. show less