Mr. Paradise (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Late afternoon Chloe and Kelly were having cocktails at the Rattlesnake Club, the two seated on the far side of the dining room by themselves:..." (more)
Key Phrases: ugly motherfucker, two white guys, squad room, Kelly Barr, Frank Delsa, Carl Fontana (more...)

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

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060083964
• ISBN-13: 978-0060843342
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #720,353 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dan Brown, eh?, January 15, 2004

By	Phil Hoffman (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

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

A previous poster mentioned that he didn't get why Leonard is the master of dialogue. He then went on to say he was partial to Dan Brown. If someone says that they prefer the bestselling author of the month (be it Grisham, Brown, etc) that sends up a red flag in my brain immediately. I know not to trust his review or taste. Elmore Leonard IS the greatest writer of dialogue working today. He has the simplest writing style because he just lets characters actions and words speak for themselves. He takes out everything you would normally skip over when reading a book (flowery descriptive paragraphs, etc) and just leaves what we want (dialogue and action). This makes him the easiest read imaginable. Of course, that is, if you like your novels dark, twisted and hilarious. If the last book you read was The Firm or The Da Vinci Code, look elsewhere my shallow, unadventurous friend.

5 of 5 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 (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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Paradise: A crime novel, April 2, 2004

By	Carl Bowlby (Pittsfield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

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

I have only read so far one other novel by Elmore Leonard besides this new one, "Mr. Paradise, and that was "Get Shorty", which was later adapted to the screen, first published in 1990. For the record I do not consider myself, yet, a big fan of Mr. Leonard, but I am slowly warming to his brand of mystery and crime fiction. In his latest novel, "Mr. Paradise" (2004), Mr. Leonard takes us to Detroit, Michigan for the setting of this new work. In it we are introduced to Frank Delsa, homicide detective of the Detroit Police Department, who has a double homicide on his hands. One murder victim is Chloe Robinette, attractive blond escort and personal girlfriend to second murder victim, Tony Paradiso, aka Mr. Paradise, an 84 year old retired attorney. The murders take place in Mr. Paradise's home one night as an apparent home invasion attack. Early on we are introduced to the many characters dotting the landscape of this fast-paced crime novel and we see it through the eyes of detective, Frank Delsa. The pace is quick and the book is a page turner, coming in at 291 pages. The dialogue is snappy and reflects the street slang used by the African-American characters, especially portrayed by Montez Taylor, personal assistant to Mr. Paradise. Overall the book is concise and reveals the mastery of the author in this genre of fiction, peppered with the seamier side of ghetto life and the criminal element. And whereas the book is sleek and sexy it also has a tendency to get bogged down with too many extraneous characters and street slang that is at times hard to follow and often choppy. And as I haven't read a great deal of Mr. Leonard's body of work with which to compare this book I will assume this isn't his finest effort. However, having said that, "Mr. Paradise" is indeed an enjoyable and fast read that reveals an author who it can easily be said is a master of mystery and crime fiction.