Mr Paradise [Paperback]

Elmore Leonard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2005

Mr Paradise pays Chloe and Kelly to play cheerleaders. To dance while he watches reruns of Michigan's finest football games. At least that's the story that hired-help Montez Taylor tells cop Frank Delsa. Delsa's called in to investigate a double homicide: old man Paradise and a girl dressed as a cheerleader. He's got a witness a second cheerleader but she can't decide whether her name's Chloe or Kelly. Nobody it seems is playing it straight least of all the two trigger-happy hit men cruising Detroit's mean streets. But with a beautiful witness who might or might not want his protection, Delsa's ready to play for time Elmore Leonard is in top form with Mr Paradise which is set right back in his home town of Detroit, Motor City, scene of many of his greatest books.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's a dubious proposition from the outset, destined to lead to trouble: Chloe Robinette, a high-end former Detroit call girl, asks her lingerie model roommate, Kelly Barr, to help her entertain a wealthy octogenarian trial lawyer named Anthony Paradiso. By "entertain," she means donning a cheerleader's skimpy skirt, but going topless, and doing rah-rah routines beside a TV set while Paradiso--"Mr. Paradise"--watches videotaped football games. A bit kinky for Kelly's taste, but she finally goes along--only to be caught in the middle of a contract hit on Paradiso and Chloe. Rather than tell what little she knows of these crimes, Kelly buys into a scheme, concocted by Paradiso's right-hand man, Montez Taylor, that could lead to a huge payoff from the lawyer's estate. But only if the 27-year-old Kelly can convincingly assume Chloe's identity ...

Elmore Leonard, who's made his career writing about not-too-bright bad guys, fills Mr. Paradise with several memorable specimens of that breed. In addition to Montez, who'd resented his politically incorrect boss for cutting him out of his will, there's also a bottom-feeding defense attorney, Avern Cohn, who runs a murder-for-hire operation on the side, and his well-armed employees of the month, "tough monkeys" Carl Fontana and Arthur Krupa. Less credibly and entertainingly crafted is Frank Delsa, the widowed homicide detective whose hunt for Paradiso's killers is complicated by his attraction to the curvilinear Kelly. This romantic subplot is overly predictable and deflates early expectations that the cunning young model is playing some deeper game here, working an angle that neither Delsa nor Montez anticipates.

After penning a string of character-propelled novels set in Florida (including Glitz, Out of Sight, and the particularly winning La Brava), it's good to see Leonard exploiting the Detroit backdrop again, as he did so expertly in a few of his earlier successes (City Primeval and Killshot, for instance). Yet while Mr. Paradise is rich with comic dialogue and cop-shop color, it never goes beyond the expectations of a Leonard work. This author is too good not to take more chances. --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Fifteen years after his last Detroit novel, Killshot, Leonard (whose most recent effort was Tishomingo Blues) returns to Motor City for another exemplary crime thriller. Chloe Robinette, an escort, is on a $5,000 monthly retainer from wealthy, retired octogenarian lawyer Anthony Paradiso; her duties include dancing topless in a cheerleader's outfit for him as he watches videos of old University of Michigan football games. On a night she persuades her roommate, Kelly Barr, a Victoria's Secret model, to join her in the dancing, Chloe and Paradiso, aka Mr. Paradise, are shot dead in Paradiso's mansion by two middle-aged white thugs. The hit has been set up by Paradiso's right-hand man, Montez Taylor, who's angry at Paradiso for cutting him out of his will; Montez then asks the shocked Kelly to impersonate Chloe in order to scam valuables from Paradiso's safe deposit box, to which Chloe had a key. Enter Frank Delsa, a Detroit homicide cop, who smells a rat and falls for Kelly while sorting matters out. She falls for him, too, but will the hit men and/or Montez take her out, since she can identify them as conspirators? Like the best crime thrillers-which means like most of Leonard's work-this novel is character-driven, and in its wonderfully rich, authentically human cast the story finds its surprises. The prose, as expected from Leonard, is perfect-in 304 pages, there's not a word that doesn't belong exactly where he's placed it. Brilliantly constructed, wise and tough, this book, like so many recent Leonards, offers a master class in how to write a novel.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Penguin MD (June 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014100987X
• ISBN-13: 978-0141009872
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,665,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elmore Leonard has written more than forty novels, including bestsellers Up in Honey's Room, The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, Pagan Babies, and Glitz. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. He lives with his wife, Christine, in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leonard's in top form, March 16, 2004

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover)

Leonard is at his snappy, not-a-word-wasted best in this crime-gone-wrong page-turner. The crime is the murder of the title character, a rich, elderly Detroit crime boss. His resentful assistant, Montez Taylor, who has been written out of the old man's will, organized the hit. When he learns that Mr. Paradiso's "girlfriend," high-priced call girl Chloe, is making an unexpected visit, Montez tries to call it off, but fails.

Chloe brings along her friend Kelly, a model, who agrees to help out with a titillating cheerleading routine, and Kelly is upstairs when two gunmen burst in, killing both Chloe and Paradiso. Montez intimidates Kelly into pretending to be Chloe - there's a safety deposit box scam involved - but the nice policeman on the scene, quickly smitten Frank Desla, sees through that pretty quickly.

That's the set-up and from there it's just one thing after another in turn after subplot after switchback after double cross in gritty Detroit. Tightly plotted, but character driven, this is as zany, comic and smart as we've come to expect.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Novel, February 25, 2004

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover)

What do these reviewers expect? This is the story.

A high-end former Detroit call girl, asks her lingerie model roommate to help her entertain a wealthy octogenarian trial lawyer. By entertain, read she dons a cheerleader's skimpy skirt, but goes topless, while performing pom-pom routines beside a TV set while the lawyer watches videotaped University of Michigan football games.

The plot, to say the least, is imaginative. The characters are unique and unforgettable. The dialogue is snappy and realistic. The story moves and is entertaining.

What did these reviewers expect - a Detroit-based Hamlet? Elmore Leonard is a gifted novelist and Mr. Paradise will add to his reputation as a skilled character crafter.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big fun!, February 13, 2004

By 

nobizinfla "nobizinfla" (Windermere, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover)

Shady characters, brilliant dialogue, irony, masterful writing and a lively and humorous story line are what we expect from Elmore Leonard. "Mr. Paradise," a Runyonesque tale, has all this and more...it does not disappoint.

Eighty-four year old retired mob lawyer Tony Paradisio's favorite pastime is watching tapes of classic Michigan football victories with an escort or two cheering topless in ways not athletically encouraging.

After learning that he has been eliminated from Mr. Paradise's will, Montez (Mr. P's main man) arranges a hit that is supposed to look like a home invasion gone wrong.

The perps and Montez are members of the criminal mindless.

Throw in two corpses, a Victoria Secret model witness, an identity switch, assorted lowlifes, a safe deposit box full of loot, the hitmen's "agent" and Frank Delsa (a resourceful Detroit homicide detective)---and the chase is on.

The bad guys feel a sense of entitlement---leading to their demise. Getting caught being the real crime. Double-crosses, scams and deceptions propel the plot.

The tight prose is filled with accurate conversation in the colorful vernacular of the urban scene.

"Mr. Paradise" is a stylistic, unforgettable, witty, fast-paced read. Elmore Leonard is a consistently entertaining writer---do not under rate him just because you like him.