Elmore Leonard a beaucoup officié dans le western avant de se spécialiser dans la policier. On se souvient de lui surtout pour son impressionnante biblio policière adaptée avec plus ou moins de succès : Punch Créole -probablement le plus connu- qui deviendra Jacky Brown, adapté par un certain Quentin Tarantino. Get Shorty, Be Cool, Hors d'atteinte ou plus récemment la série Justified. L'on se souvient beaucoup moins en revanche qu'on lui doit certains grands westerns de la décennie 50-60: L'homme de l'arizona, 3:10 to Yuma mais surtout Hombre, le western révisionniste porté à l'écran en 67, avec Paul Newman en rôle titre. Parmi tous les livres de Leonard, La loi de la cité (City Primeval, en VO) est probablement celui qui reflète le mieux cette influence. Pas son meilleur, disons-le clairement, mais la loi de la cité reste un neo-western solide qui bénéficie de tout le savoir faire de son auteur. La loi de la cité c'est avant tout ce face à face intense entre un inspecteur/shériff coriace et un meurtrier/bandit aussi violent que retors dans un Détroit miné par la pauvreté et les tensions raciales. Ce qui différencie ce livre de la ribambelle de bouquins similaires, c'est bien entendu la qualité de l'écriture - très cinématographique - avec toujours la marque de fabrique de Leonard : des dialogues ciselés et réalistes qui font mouche à chaque fois. Une écriture sèche et sans fioritures ponctuée par des éruptions de violence qui prennent de court, pour un effet coup de point garanti. On reprochera cependant que les personnages principaux ne soient finalement pas si éloignés des autres personnages que l'on rencontre dans les autres œuvres de Leonard: le juge ripou tendance trou du cul, l'avocate ultra professionnelle et femme forte à la carapace fêlée, l'inspecteur aux couilles d'acier mais surtout le méchant de service qui connait à merveilles les rouages du système judiciaire et l'utilise à mauvais escient pour passer à travers de ses filets. Ce sera en revanche le final, westernien par excellence, qui restera dans les mémoires avec son duel entre les deux antagonistes et cette note ambiguë et amorale, bien loin des clichés habituels du polar. La loi de la cité n'est certes pas le meilleur Elmore Leonard mais il reste très représentatif de son oeuvre et de son univers particulier. S'il ne constitue pas une lecture indispensable, il n'en demeure pas moins fortement conseillé à ceux qui veulent s'initier à ses livres.
This is an old Elmore Leonard. 1980. Subtitled High Noon in Detroit, City Primeval treats the urban cops and robbers drama as a combination of modern law enforcement and frontier justice. I’m sure Leonard must have used the police detective-protagonist, Raymond Cruz, in other novels, though this is the first time I’ve seen him. He’s unique. Hard-boiled, taciturn, yet conflicted and vulnerable. He gets involved with an equally interesting and complex criminal defense attorney who, three years before the events of the book take place, manipulated the release of a psychopath, Clement Mansell, now on a rampage. The relationship between cop and lawyer is emblematic of the tension among individual rights, public safety, morality, and the meaning of justice that permeate society. There’s a lot of angst about working around and/or through Mirandizing, search and seizure, harassment and interrogation (all issues which have become even more complicated since the book was written), just as there’s a lot of angst about love and sex amidst the dynamics of prosecution and defense and who’s doing what to whom when it comes to romance. These are all fascinating issues, but the juice of City Primeval emerges from the conflict between Cruz and Mansell. With his trademark humor, Leonard has created an appealing sociopath who not only murders on a whim, but flaunts his actions in public and private. He has a wiseass Ferris Beuller manner about him that challenges authority and turns cops and principals into bumblers and stumblers. This is all terrifically amusing until something happens to remind you that despite his smarts and wit, he’s not just a merry prankster. He doesn’t dodge or hide, he attacks, then dares all and sundry to do anything about it. He stays a step ahead of the available evidence, all but declaring his guilt while evading meaningful arrest. The “high noon” part of the title comes into play because the farther things go, the more apparent it becomes that the system is not set up to deal with Mansell. Which, of course, forces the showdown. It’s a quick and absorbing read. Worth the ride just for the sex and showdown scenes. Worth a try.
What do You think about City Primeval (2005)?
There's nothing mind-bending about the plot of City Primeval. Indeed if you squint your eyes you can almost believe you're reading Freaky Deaky, Glitz, Swag of any one of Leonard's Detriot-based books.On the surface it's another Elmore Leonard tale of a decent man falling for a decent woman all the while being preyed on by a malign yet strangely likable criminal. But boy, oh boy does Leonard make these characters sing. The pacing is great throughout, the red herring might not be a red herring after all and the ending comes as rather charming surprise. After all the actions of his bad guys are always difficult to predict.This is a quick read, partly due to its length but mostly due to the author's ability to make you want to keep turning those pages.
—Giles
This is the first novel by Elmore Leonard that I've read and I found it to be easy, straight-forward and most of the time, predictable. The characters are all a bit cliche from the bad guy that always calls the cops names, to the main female characters that are weak and vulnerable, to the good guy that always seems to know exactly what the bad guy was, or is, up to. Everything is too convenient. I did find it entertaining however. That primal part of my brain didn't want to put the book down. It moved along at such a brisk pace that I thought I might miss something if I took a break and did something else. So, it did get its hooks in me.I'm looking forward to reading more by Leonard. Something not so dated, from later in his career. But if you like hardboiled (it even says hardboiled across the cover!) then you'll enjoy this one for sure.
—Brandon James
This was my first Elmore Leonard book. I know that fans would've directed me to other, later books, but this book was, I think, a very formative book from the perspective of the author. City Primeval was the transition between Leonard's westerns and the crime books that would eventually make up his hand of aces. The 'High Noon in Detroit' subtitle was most apt. This was a showdown between Detroit detective Rsymond Cruz, described by his opening interview by a news reporter as someone perceiving himself as a Wyatt Earp, and Clement Mansell, an indiscriminate killer and set-up man who was at times labelled the 'Wildman of Oklahoma'Even in transition, Leonard laid out a hell of a crime story. The interplay between the homicide detectives, the peculiarities of Mansell and his girl, Sandy Stanton, defense attorney Carolyn Wilder's dangerous connection to Mansell, and the figure of the Albanian, Toma all bring a texture to the work. And the flow between perspective and location blended in a way that kept me turning pages. I had hoped to see more character development. I'm guessing that this could be due to the fact that it was new territory for Leonard. particularly, I was having a hard time identifying with Raymond Cruz and Clement Mansall. They were the "High Noon" and they were both complex, but I felt like some more back-story for both of them would've helped to really get behind one or the other.
—Liam Michael Sweeny
