Customer Reviews

Cat Chaser

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think Leonard is still cranking out good stuff, but if you want to catch Leonard before the serious buzz started to attach to him, Cat Chaser is a great place to start. George Moran, ex-Marine, ex-Detroit native, and owner of the Coconut Palms Resort Apartments, is like so many heroes in Leonard's world, a guy looking at middle-age who, nevertheless, holds to a personal code, even as he stands at crossroad that has him looking back and looking forward, while sharks snap all around. With his moral compass intact, he always seems to know what to do in any situation, even if he makes it up as he goes along. Enter another ex-grunt and ex-actor Nolan Tyner (who is a dead ringer for Owen Wilson - 15 years before Wilson even appeared in a movie!), who is now an alcoholic private investigator staked out at pool side, and things start to happen.

Oh, there's a lady that needs saving, Mary de Boya. Like Moran, she's an ex-Detroit native and, complicating things, wife to a former torturer from a south American country and now Florida real estate magnate, Andres de Boya. There's another bad guy named Jiggs Scully, who is lethally memorable - even by Leonard's villain-meter. And, of course, a lot of money under the torturer's bed , and page after page of great dialogue. (As a subplot, it's very interesting to see who is the most dangerous bad guy - de Boya or Scully, their conversations together were for me the high points of the novel. Two killers playing chess.) To tell you more would be to cheat you a bit.

When you get caught up reading a writer's work there's always one selection that always stands out. CAT CHASER is mine. The characters, the dialogue, the location (you can see where he got Cuba Libre from) all fit together like a favorite quilt you just can't get rid of. It's the hero who decides it's time to do it one more time. Maybe not for the woman, but just out of curosity. A plot worth reading and a hero as cool as LaBrava or Chili Palmer.

Not much is happening in Pompano Beach, Florida, where George Moran owns the Coconut Palms Motel. The sun rises and falls, as always, converging on his little view of the ocean. But the ex-leatherneck is not content to live forever next to the pool with a six-pack in his grip. A sentimental vacation to Santo Domingo, where Moran was shot in the leg by a sniper in '65, ignites old memories and Moran ends up going to bed with Mary de Boya, the beautiful wife of a Miami millionaire and former Dominican army general.

Once again, Elmore Leonard delivers another ruthless tale of intrigue and violence that is sure to move you in directions unimaginable.

I love Frank Mueller as a reader. Product was in good condition.
The reading is excellent. Delivery was in a timely manner.
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Dee

For fans for Elmore Leonard you already know he writes tight crime novels often strewn with humour and great characters. And despite being largely formulaic in approach (..his lead characters all seem to be the same) he succeeds in entertaining the reader. And the same holds true with 'Cat Chaser'.

With 'Cat Chaser' we have an ex-military guy in south Florida involved doing hanky-panky with the wife of a former monster from a Carribean country (Dominican Republic) before the Americans kicked him out. The outcome is inevitable but along the way we meet strange characters (the usual Miami oddballs, and a few imports from the Dominican Republic) who do some very strange things. While here are also a good number of funny bits Leonard is no match for the Florida comic crime novel master Carl Hiaasen.

Bottom line: a fun if not enthralling Elmore Leonard venture. Fans will rejoice.

With the exception of a princess phone and a couple of black and white TVs,Elmore Leonard's 1982 "Cat Chaser" is as contemporary as today's paper.

It is well crafted, full of the usual Leonard streetwise, quirky characters.

One con artist after another trying to out con the other.

Escapist reading at its best.

This was written in 2003 yet there are only 14 reviews on Amazon? I gave this a try because of the positive reviews, but I found the characters flat, unbelievable, and boring, after and initial infatuation with them(about half way through the book). It was tough to finish and the ending? Was there one? This is the second Leonard book I've read and both were disappointing, and I was counting on him to keep my train ride short.

I have to say, as a person reading WAY outside her chosen genre, I enjoyed this book pretty well. This is one of the books I acquired when my husband and I merged our libraries, and I probably would not have gotten to reading it any time soon, had it not been for Go Review That Book! [...]
I enjoyed the fast-paced writing style, as well, with the exception of how we seemed to be jumping in to the middle of the action towards the beginning. It took quite some time to really get a feel for these characters, and by the time I did, I felt like I had missed some plot points that I hadn't understood were important because I hadn't gotten to know the characters. It sort of felt as though I was reading something from the middle of a series, but as all the characters seemed to have their stories neatly tied up in this book, that must not be the case.
The resolution of the tale was quite satisfying, although throughout the book, I didn't really see how it could come to a conclusion I'd be happy with. I'm impressed with Leonard's story.

This is the usual Leonard set up--descent guy who's not afraid to get his hands dirty, an alluring woman in need of saving, and a bunch of bad guys one worst than the next--but in EL's hands it never gets old. He scores again thanks to his wry wit, needle-sharp dialogue, and wonderful characters. I'm very surprised this book isn't still in print with a major publisher. What the hell's wrong with these people? Leonard will still be selling long after we've forgotten teen vampires and ditzy chicks on spiritual journeys. Trust me on this.

One of my favorites of Leonard's (I've read most of his more recent books, only a few of his westerns), with the great dialogue and storyline seen in his stories. A former Marine who served in the Domincan Republic decides to try to find a woman who saved his life there. Great characters and dialogue.