Leonard’s story of a not-altogether-blameless flight attendant on the run from her vicious gun-running sometime employer who sees her as a troublesome loose end, Rum Punch is “the King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times) at his sharpest and most ingeniously entertaining.
In fact, People magazine calls it, “Leonard’s best work. He brilliantly reaffirms his right to the title of America’s finest crime fiction writer.” Enjoy this sensational noir winner from the creator of the character of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, lately of TV’s hit series Justified, and see why the great Elmore Leonard stands tall in the company of America’s most legendary crime fiction masters: John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, et al.
This is probably one of Elmore Leonard’s finest books: It is certainly funny and you can trace his deep understanding of the the characters he writes about in the story. Some critiques have complained that Rum Punch is written in such a way that the reader doesn’t care about any of the characters (well, that’s not a necessity) or there are many corpses and not too many twists. However, I belive this is part of the style the author has adopted and fits into his effort to create a rhythmic and colorful theme.
Leonard has always demonstrated that he is a good story teller and I believe Rum Punch delivers on the promise of a good story.
Our Rating: 3.5
