Customer Reviews

52 Pick-up

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How does one go about judging a suspense novel? The easiest criteria is probably the level of difficulty you have in putting the book down because of how heavily you get hooked into the plot. By this standard, Elmore Leonard's '52 Pickup' was a great novel. I read the entire 300+ pages in two sittings, which could have easily been condensed into one had I not forced myself to put it down the first time knowing I needed something to read on a 4-hour flight the next day. Leonard writes great characters, even better dialogue, and creates a thrilling cat-and-mouse game where the hero and villains are constantly gaining and losing the upper hand against each other. Watching the hero of this novel, Harry Mitchell, struggle to balance running his successful business amidst the threat of a union slowdown, reconciling his marriage after confessing to his ill-advised affair, and dealing with three thugs who are trying to extort large sums of money from him, made for some very entertaining reading.

There is another standard for judging a suspense novel that I found '52 Pickup' wasn't as successful at, which is the level of believability. The problem I had with this novel was that for the ending to work required that the respective IQ's of the three main villains had to abruptly drop about 100 points each. I just found it odd that three guys who so expertly planned their crimes in the early portion of the novel would suddenly become so gullible later in the same book. I'm not saying that Mitchell's method of dealing with his extortionists was completely unrealistic, just that I thought everything sort of fell into place too easily. In particular, I found it hard to believe that a criminal as intelligent as Alan Raimy would have been so careless in the final scene of the book. Also, while Leonard wisely made Mitchell a former war hero to make his grace under pressure a bit more realistic, I did find it to be a bit much how he seemingly never felt fear, no matter how grave his situation became.

52 PICK UP is, like all of Elmore Leonard's novels, very well written. This book was originally written in the early 1970s, but holds up very well. With a few minor adjustments, it could take place in modern times.

The story essentially deals with a blackmail plot against an adulterous businessman in Detroit. The first half, which is very strong, shows how the businessman is blackmailed, and how he initially responds. The second half, which is far weaker, deals with how the businessman decides to strike back and take justice into his own hands.

The second half of 52-PICK UP is something of a letdown, because it is not particularly believable. Leonard sets up a great, realistic story in the first half, only to resolve the story with an "action movie" type conclusion that requires a major suspension of disbelief.

This novel is further hampered by the absence of any likable characters, with the exception of the wife of the protagonist. Many of the players in this book act in a venal, brutal manner toward one another. I understand that Leonard is trying to be dark and gritty, but the non-stop nastiness does get repetitious and tiresome after a while. This novel lacks the humor of Elmore Leonard's later work.

52 PICK UP is a decent early effort, but I'd recommend trying some of Leonard's later crime books first, or one of his westerns.

You know how some guys put an "I'd rather be fishing" bumper sticker on their cars? I should put an "I'd rather be reading Elmore Leonard" sticker on mine. Sure, 52 PICKUP isn't among his very best, but even mediocre EL is miles above most other crime novels, including the guys and gals who sell gazillions of copies. Whenever I breakdown and try one of those books, I always think, "What's so great about this?" and feel cheated. Anyway, 52PU is one of his early crime books, and he was still fiddling with the knobs, getting his groove down. But that's no reason to ignore it. The classic EL elements are all there.

I know this is one of Elmore's earlier works, but he is so good. He just keeps you reading. I love the way he works history into his novels, whether they are in Cuba, Detroit or anywhere else. And his characters are alive, and they do the darndest things! Always a good read, that Mr. Leonard!

This was a 5 star thriller that fell apart at the end. 52 Pickup was written in the early 70s, so you have Leonard just as things are really starting to roll for him. Great dialogue, great characters, with crime, adultery, and porn spicing the stew. It's also one of Leonard's most brutal novels. There is one murder that is just shocking, but there is also the suggestion of sodomized rape as part of a kidnapping. You really hate the bad guys in this one. The hero, Harry Mitchell, is standard flawed good guy stuff. He's doing a slow burn while dealing with his problem -- which is his own doing, a twist for Leonard fans. The ramifications of this problem, Harry's adultery, and how it touches (and ends!)so many lives is the effective subtext of the novel. The exchanges between Harry and Barbara, Mitchell's wife, are a good showcase for those that appreciate Leonard's mastery of dialogue. But what makes them a bit different than other Leonard exchanges, is that the topic is adultery, and how a married couple tries to deal with betrayal and damaged love.

The downside: the ending. It's not just that it's something of a disappointing demise for the main bad guy. (You'd like to see Harry do something with drills and blowtorches.) No, the ending is just clumsy and from a writing view point, and not well executed. And, perhaps worse, just not believable. The exchange (or the obviously ironic "pickup" or payoff), is so clunky, that no bad guy, especially a Leonard bad guy, would of been fooled. But maybe that's the point, there is no neat package of an ending, since Harry's "mistake" was the first domino. He will have to live with the damage he has caused, especially to his wife and his deal lover the rest of his life.

I am a fan of Elmore Leonard's and have been looking for this book for a long time. I was very glad to see it finally back in print. The book was written in the early 70's before Leonard became the star that he is today. Despite that it has the same Elmore Leonard feeling of recent hits. There are shady characters intertwined with flawed good people in a plot that is always exciting while remaining plausible. In this case the protagonist Mitch is a modestly successful Detroit businessman who has an affair with a stripper. The stripper has some lowlife friends who blackmail Mitchell, threatening to reveal the affair to his wife. When Mitchell refuses to pay, the blackmailers up the ante by killing the girl and convincing him that he could be framed for the murder. Mitchell is a combat veteran; he takes matters into his own hands and the bad guys get their comeuppance. The Ann Margaret/Roy Scheider movie was quite faithful to the novel with the exception of changing the setting to Los Angeles. Ann Margaret especially captures the aging but still very attractive and sexy wife character. I have read that Leonard writes his books with suitability for movie adaptation in mind including having certain actors in mind for the main characters. Many of the movies have screenplays that are taken word-for-word from the novel.

Elmore Leonard gives the reader more in 200 pages than most authors do in 600. This tightly wound thriller has all the elements Leonard fans have come to expect-- pitch-perfect dialogue, realistically-carved characters and a slam-bang ending. And not a wasted word.

By 1974 Elmore Leonard had been writing for years. But that year he really hit his stride with the novel 52 Pick-Up. Over the next several years, Leonard would publish a string of novels set in his hometown of Detroit. These novels (52 Pick-Up, Swag, The Switch, and City Primeval) would change the direction of crime fiction.

52 Pick-Up centers on a Detroit businessman named Harry Mitchell. He's a recognizable type to Leonard fans - a flawed everyman in a tough world. In Harry's case, middle-aged boredom leads him to an affair with a young party girl. In turn, the affair leads to an attempt to blackmail Harry out of his hard-earned dollars. Harry decides to pay the blackmailers - on his own terms.

Leonard keeps 52 Pick-Up moving and does not allow the story to bog down. There is plenty of action and the not-too-bright stars of the book provide some good laughs. In addition, Leonard makes great use of the Detroit settings; 52 Pick-Up takes the reader on a tour of the Motor City's back alleys, dive bars, and mean streets.
My only real complaint about the book is the ending. The reader sees it coming. As in most suspense novels, getting to the ending is the real fun.

52 Pick-Up might not be perfect, but it is "darn good." Fans of suspense novels should not pass it up.

I am really not sure why people always crown Elmore Leonard as a great crime novelist. Sure, he makes well crafted crime stories but that's merely the atmosphere for the comedy that occurs in his work and 52 Pick Up is no exception. Harry Mitchell's black mail by a group of thugs does not feel like the biggest problem in his life. He just feels it's another piece of bull **** in his day. Mitchell is quick witted and tough but what is so funny about his situation is how he felt about his mistress; It wasn't sex but love. He was also not too tactful of breaking the news about his extra curricular activities to his wife. Harry has a head for business but common sense, at times, escapes him. Things get worse when murder is involved and the level of the tension in the book raises but still maintains a sense of humor. Mitchell slowlly turns the tides aganist the petty thugs and the results are fast paced and well executed. Bravo Mr. Leonard, you are the king of comedy.

Published in the early seventies, this is one of Mr. Leonard's earlier novels. It is written with the same wit as of his more recent work. Yet it lacks the fun of his more recent books.