Customer Reviews

Road Dogs: A Novel

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 30 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 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.

Jack Foley and Cundo Rey, the titular "road dogs," form a bond in prison that ties their fates after release. Enter Dawn Navarro, a psychic grifter who has acted the part of Cundo's dutiful wife during his eight-year prison sentence, patiently biding her time for the opportunity to steal his sizable fortune from him. When Foley is released from prison before Cundo, and becomes Dawn's lover and would-be accomplice, the stage is set for a triangular struggle that pits the road dogs' buddy-bond against their feelings for Dawn and against Dawn's own ambitions. A subplot involving Lou Adams, an FBI agent who is stalking Foley in the hope of catching him in a bank robbery so that he can find a compelling ending to a book he's writing about America's most accomplished bank robber, adds another entertaining dimension.

As is typical of an Elmore Leonard work, its main strength lies in the hip, streetwise banter between this trio of hustlers and in the conflict between their loyalties to one another and their rising distrust. The plot, unfortunately, suffers from one major flaw, which becomes harder and harder to overlook as the story unfolds: why does Dawn have to wait until Cundo is released from prison before conspiring with Cundo's money man Little Jimmy to embezzle Cundo's millions? The ending is also something of a letdown.

If you can suspend disbelief enough to overcome the lazy plotting and let yourself be immersed in the cool, hustler banter, there's enough here to keep the pages flipping.

Nobody writes crime better than Leonard -- and very few wrote westerns better than Leonard. However, of all the novels he's given us, "Road Dogs" is at the bottom of the heap.

When I first heard Foley and Cundo were coming back I was ecstatic and didn't think for a second he could miss with that team. But miss and miss badly he has. As somebody mentioned above, nothing happens for 200-plus pages. Nothing. And quite frankly, this is some of the lamest "banter" ever in a Leonard novel. Plus, Dawn's plan was not only stupid and hideously planned, it wasn't even gripping. And the FBI guy tailing Foley leads to nothing.

A dog of a novel and giant disappointment for this Leonard fan.

ROAD DOGS is a minor disappointment for this major Elmore Leonard fan.
Nothing happens for the first 200 pages. Witty banter will only carry a book just so far- you need a story or plot to hold your interest. Too bad, I really wanted to like this book but for someone who has read every Elmore Leonard novel- this book was Leonard Light.

My credentials for reviewing Elmore Leonard are simple--I enjoy this genre, read lots of it and I go way back with Elmore. I started reading him with "Fifty-Two Pickup." (A great book.)

I haven't read every Elmore Leonard but in general he is very reliable for great dialogue (it's required that you mention this) and terrific plots with vivid, distinct characters.

My consumer cautions on "Road Dogs" are precisely two.

Number 1: not much happens.

Number 2: this is mostly talk.

Okay, a third: if you don't know these characters from previous books, you may be even less interested or less dialed-in to what's going on.

As a stylist, you still can't beat Leonard's rich, word-perfect dialogue and "Road Dogs" is full of it.

I'd recommend for Leonard completists only.

"Road Dogs" is my first Elmore Leonard book so I can't compare it to any of his previous books. My review is for any others who are new to Elmore Leonard and want to start with this book. I should have been prepared, having seen the movies based on Get Shorty and Be Cool, but this book was not what I was expecting. I enjoyed it and think anyone who is already a fan of his work will love this one too.

The book is very much character driven and these people are real characters. With only a couple exceptions, they are all criminals; but even the ones who aren't criminals are at least a little bent. The three main characters are all making return appearances from previous books. I assume that anyone who has read those books will have an edge in understanding and caring about those characters. Even without reading the previous books, there is plenty of information for the new reader to get the measure of these characters - at least as much as the author wants you to know. There is always a question in your mind as to whether they are sincere in what they are saying or if (when?) they're going to turn on each other. It takes a lot of talent to turn a bunch of criminals into characters a reader cares about but the author does just that. Jack, Cundo, Dawn and Little Jimmy are much more likeable than Lou Adams and the few other "straight" characters.

This is not a book with long descriptive passages of elegant prose. The reader primarily learns about the characters and the locations by what the characters say, do and think. When they speak, they have very distinctive voices. I'm not sure there is a physical description of Jack Foley. The reader understands that he is sexy by how women in the book react to him and that is has some combination of charisma and physical strength by how the men in the book (particularly his fellow prisoners) react to him and by what he can do.

My biggest criticism of the book is the abrupt ending. The plot is moving along with some twists and turns and you wonder if there's going to be another surprise and then -- poof! -- it's just over.

This was a fast and enjoyable read and I intend to go back and read the books where Jack, Cundo, and Dawn make their first appearances. Out of Sight: A Novel, LaBrava: A Novel, & Riding the Rap

I mean, this WAS a screen treatment, right? I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact this book is by the same terrific scribe who gave us "Tishomingo Blues" and "Mr. Paradise", even the selfsame writer of "Out Of Sight"!I only spent a couple of afternoons on the book and was pretty much hooked with the very familiar local setting but I could have been reading and enjoying something else; there's an awful lot to be said for knee-jerk reflexes. There I was, a jerk, with the book resting on my knee and reflecting on how disappointed I was with "Road Dogs".

Love Elmore Leonard but not this book. Didn't care about or connect with any of the characters. This book was confusing in areas. Don't recognize Venice Beach from this book either.

This is a 272-page novel by one of the all-time great novelists. You probably have to like the genre to truly appreciate the book, because the characters are probably not people you can relate to. They are career criminals, ex-cons, and losers in general. If you read the book Get Shorty or watched the movie, you understand how Elmore Leonard so fully and believably develops characters. This novel, like his others, is character-driven.

In this novel, I recognized three characters from previous works. The interaction of these characters allows the story to have some surprising twists to it. In a previous novel, it seemed Jack Foley was essentially "killed off" unless Leonard was going to write in prison novel. I didn't expect to see Foley again, but here he is.

Jack Foley is a bank robber, one who may hold the all-time record for the number of banks robbed. Most of us would consider someone in this line of "work" to be among the lowest of society's parasite class. It's a credit to Leonard that he can write such a character in a way that we see him as human and find ourselves rooting for him. He does have some redeeming qualities and comes across as deeply flawed but not hopelessly so. In fact, at his core, Foley has a certain integrity and confidence that we can only admire.

While in prison, Foley hooks up with another character from a previous Leonard novel: Cundo Rey. They become, in prison parlance, "road dogs," meaning they watch out for each other. Rey, who owns a hugely successful business on the outside, arranges for expert legal help to get Foley released early. So early, as to be just before Rey's own release. That particular scheduling allows for some interesting things to happen.

Rey's wife, Dawn Navarro, is a seductive, manipulative, and clever character from a previous Leonard novel. She's been biding her time for the eight years of Rey's incarceration.

Other characters enter the story, moving the plot along and providing challenges and assistance to the three lead characters. One is Lou Adams, an FBI agent who is determined to catch Foley again and put him away for good. Another is Little Jimmy, who is Rey's money man and who actually runs Rey's business. Where his loyalties lie is a pivotal question in this novel.

Foley finds himself immersed in a cauldron of games, emotions, subterfuge, betrayal, and deception. As in previous novels, he keeps his cool.

I enjoyed the book, though I think the note from the publisher (first page facing inside cover) was a bit of oversell. I don't consider Leonard's greatest work ever. But it's good. It's definitely got the Elmore Leonard touch to it. And it's very entertaining. Probably, this will be made into another entertaining movie. Let's hope so.

Must admit to have been an unabashed fan of Elmore Leonard for years, and his new offering, Road Dogs, is sure to satisfy old diehard fans and new ones alike.

This new offering is a sort of sequel to another earlier favorite, Out of Sight, and in the new book we find the return of some favorite characters. Bank robber Jack Foley has been released from prison. He's living in Venice, California, but his life gets complicated by Cuban gangster Cundo Rey (from LaBrava, who engineered his release, the gangster's girlfriend Dawn (from Riding the Rap, and a vengeful FBI agent who won't give up.

Many of this prolific author's works have been turned into films and/or television series, for the simple reason that Elmore Leonard knows how to entertain... but this isn't the place for that; just look them up for yourself.

This is Leonard's 43rd novel, and it proves that he still has the power to keep producing page-turners that will often make the reader laugh out loud at the frequently witty dialogue between characters. Simple scams usually turn complex in his books, and before you know it, you're into an often darkly humorous that that'll keep you turning the pages straight through to the end.

Each of those of us who are Elmore Leonard fans have our personal favorites. Along with the ones above, and in no particular order, this reader lists those as Get Shorty (also made into the film by the same name), Riding the Rap, Freaky Deaky, Killshot, and Maximum Bob.

And where does this newest offering fit in? For the long-time Elmore Leonard fan, this one is a winner. For the newly-introduced reader, it's a great place to start. It's right up there with his best: a 5-star read, that's hard to put down once you're started.