Road Dogs - erismanaire.com

Road Dogs
by Elmore Leonard
If Elmore Leonard meant for there to be a theme running through this book it's probably: There is no honor
among thieves...
In Road Dogs, two buddies get out of the joint and immediately hatch up plans for new heists. But then a girl
muddies things up. Then another one makes it even more complicated. And what about the loyal prison bitch of
one of the buddies? Which side is he taking? And for that matter, whose side are any of them on?
This probably deserves 4 stars. It's good writing. It's an interesting story. But I think I was expecting something
more "Hollywood," if you will.
That's ironic, because the setting for most of the book is Los Angeles. Specifically, the expensive houses along the
canal system just off of Venice Beach. I've been there and the tiny area has a very movie set look about it. In fact,
everything about this book feels like it should be an action-packed, Hollywood heist flick, but it's not. There's a
low-key con. People go down. However, Road Dogs never does kick into high gear. It's very talky and more
cerebral than I expected.
On second thought, three stars does seem fair for a good book that I enjoyed, but what didn't light any
particularly burning fires within my reading soul.|This review, much like an Elmore Leonard novel, is destined to be
short and to the point. As it should be.
Road Dogs picks up where the novel Out of Sight left off. In Out of Sight we were introduced to Jack Foley, a bank
robber whose escape from prison leads to his "kidnap" of U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco. Star-crossed lovers far more
interesting than Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Karen are a couple who are meant to be, but can never be. Watching
the sparks fly between them and their ongoing banter made Out of Sight one of my favorite Leonard novels.
interesting than Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Karen are a couple who are meant to be, but can never be. Watching
the sparks fly between them and their ongoing banter made Out of Sight one of my favorite Leonard novels.
Road Dogs follows Jack Foley's life after Karen Sisco. When fellow inmate Cundo Rey (a wealthy Cuban with
serious outside connections) pays for a high-powered attorney to help Jack reduce the 30 year sentence handed
down by a judge aptly nicknamed "Maximum Bob" (for his propensity to always give the maximum sentencing
allowed), Jack finds his sentence significantly reduced. And he also finds himself in debt to Cundo. As a result, Jack
gets mixed up with Cundo's wife, Dawn Navarro, and various plots from conning a wealthy movie star to robbing
Cundo himself. All the while, a zealous FBI agent is watching Jack's every move.
As with all Leonard novels, it's hard to track where the narrative will take us, which is always part of the fun. For
me, however, the real joy in a Leonard novel comes from the dialogue. No one, and I mean no one, has a better
ear for the natural rhythms of everyday speech than Leonard. He can develop entire characters simply based on
their conversation. Little is needed in the way of physical description- you can take the measure of a character
simply from the sound of his or her speech.
Despite all of this, this is not Leonard's best novel, but even a mediocre Leonard novel is better than most popular
fiction out there today. Foley still comes across as the likable scamp of a bank thief, but it lacks the sizzle that
came from his interaction with Karen Sisco. I did enjoy seeing Dawn Navarro again and thought her character the
most interesting in the book. A psychic with a real gift for seeing the future, she opts to make her living pulling
cons and waiting to get her hands on Cundo's money. Her constantly shifting persona as she plays one man
against another is like watching a reptile blend into its surroundings and waiting for its prey. I wouldn't mind
seeing a book turn up in the near future strictly focused on her life after Road Dogs.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder|O escritor norte-americano Elmore Leonard (1925 – 2013) escreveu “Unha
com Carne” (Road Dogs) em 2009, um thriller, com Jack Foley, Cunda Rey e Dawn Navarro.
Foley, o maior assaltante de bancos dos Estados Unidos da América, bonito e charmoso, está a cumprir uma pena
de prisão de trinta anos, na penitenciária de Glades, Miami, Florida, onde encontra Cundo Rey, um criminoso
cubano riquíssimo, com quem inicia e mantém uma relação de amizade, e que lhe indica a eficiente e belíssima
advogada Megan Norris, para se encarregar da sua defesa, num anterior processo judicial de evasão e no recurso
judicial da sentença a que foi condenado, com o pagamento de honorários a cargo de Rey.
Para Cundo Rey, “O Jack Foley é o gatuno mais honesto que encontrei na porra da vida, e deve ser o mais
esperto.” (Pág. 44), e é nessa relação de confiança e amizade – e após a libertação de Foley duas semanas antes de
Rey – que Foley vai viver temporariamente para Venice Beach, na Califórnia, alojando-se numa das duas casas de
Rey, sendo que a outra é ocupada pela sua namorada Dawn Navarro, uma bonita vidente profissional e que
prometeu castidade a Rey durante os cerca de oito anos que este passou na prisão.
É neste triângulo de personagens – Jack Foley, Cundo Rey e Dawn Navarro – que Elmore Leonard desenvolve a
história, interligando negócios e amor, numa narrativa “rápida”, cinematográfica, com diálogos curtos mas
acutilantes, com descrições brilhantes dos cenários e caracterizações das personagens, jogando maravilhosamente
com as palavras e as mentiras, subjacente a várias temáticas, como o sexo, a violência, a confiança, a traição, a
amizade e o dinheiro.
As personagens secundárias – Jimmy Rios (o gestor dos negócios de Rey), Zorro (o guarda-costas de Jimmy), Lou
Adams (o agente do FBI, inimigo ancestral de Foley), Tico Sandoval (o pequeno marginal) e Danialle Karmanos (a
estrela de cinema e lindíssima viúva) – estabelecem elos de ligação entre as várias personagens principais e as
diferentes linhas narrativas, com voltas e reviravoltas, administradas por Elmore Leonard com muita ironia e
humor, numa lógica de imprevisibilidade e suspense.
“Unha com Carne” é um excelente thriller, com três personagens inesquecíveis – Jack Foley, Cundo Rey e Dawn
Navarro.
|Hip and snappy, ROAD DOGS concerns a pair of ex-cons who get each others back inside and outside of prison
("road dogs"). Throw in a spiritualist romance interest along with other disparate characters. Somehow the mix
works for an entertaining, somewhat light read. I've liked Mr. Leonard's Westerns more than his crime books, but
this one appealed enough to me.|Once again Elmore shows off his mastery of dialogue. You can just see the film
script flowing out as you read. It's fast and cool with some old characters reprised. You can forgive some instances
of slightly unbelievability (like when TB just hands his gun over - don't worry it's not a spoiler)because the rest
come across as very real. One thing I noticed though is that Cundo's accountant is referred to as the Monk and
Don Winslow's 'Life and death of Bobby Z' has an accountant named monk too - must be a coincidence I feel. If
you like Elmore's books you'll just eat this up.
come across as very real. One thing I noticed though is that Cundo's accountant is referred to as the Monk and
Don Winslow's 'Life and death of Bobby Z' has an accountant named monk too - must be a coincidence I feel. If
you like Elmore's books you'll just eat this up.