Who would be more dangerous, two sociopathic killers teaming up or a middle-aged couple who could use some marriage counseling?Armand Degas (a/k/a Blackbird) sometimes does contract killing for a group of mobsters in Michigan and Canada, and while visiting his old hometown after murdering a man in Detroit, he meets Richie Nix. Nix is a small time armed robber and all-around punk who doesn’t think twice about shooting anyone who crosses his path. Richie has come up with a scheme to extort money from a real estate tycoon and invites Degas to help.Carmen Colson has been selling houses since her son grew up and joined the Navy, and she’d like her husband Wayne to join her in the business. Wayne is a hard drinking ironworker who does dangerous jobs on high rises, and his biggest concern is getting ready for the upcoming deer hunting season. He reluctantly agrees to meet with Carmen’s boss to talk about changing careers.When Armand and Richie show up at the real estate office, a case of mistaken identity causes them to think Wayne is in charge. Since Wayne isn’t the type of guy to be threatened by a couple of thugs, there’s a bit of a scuffle, and he manages to run them off. However, Armand and Richie don’t turn the other cheek and start coming after Wayne and Carmen for revenge.The two relationships are the heart of this book. The partnership between Armand and Richie starts well with Richie initially being impressed with a mob hit man, and Armand admiring Richie’s fearlessness. But as they spend more time together, they start seriously getting on each other’s nerves. Like a lot of Leonard villains, there’s a certain slyness disguising an overall streak of stupidity. They get so fixated on the idea of killing Wayne and Carmen that they don’t even stop to once consider why they’re doing it, and part of their revenge campaign is simply about each of them trying to show the other guy that they can be ruthless and cool under pressure.Carmen and Wayne’s relationship is set up in one incredibly well done chapter in which Leonard establishes their history and the current state of their marriage. So we know that Wayne is happy with things as they are while Carmen’s desire to shake things up leads her to push Wayne to consider an offer from the Feds to join the Witness Protection Program because the idea of a new life appeals to her.As with most Leonard novels, the plot zigs and zags with unexpected twists, and he artfully shifts the point of view around to make you sympathize with different characters so that the way you feel about someone at the beginning of the story isn’t necessarily going to be the same by the end. (view spoiler)[ I particularly like how this one starts out with Wayne as the sympathetic one. He seems like a hard working regular guy with a wife that is nagging him to change jobs to a career he’d hate, and his response to Armand and Richie sets him up as the kind of brave and capable character who’d generally end up as the hero of a book like this. However, as the story goes on, it becomes apparent that Wayne is kind of a self-absorbed ass who takes Carmen for granted, and that Carmen has been putting the needs of him and her hypochondriac mother ahead of her own. (hide spoiler)]
i finally picked this up after years of enjoying the various film-adaptations of elmore leonard stories, but having never read one of his novels.like the best films of his work (the original 3:10 to yuma, the tall t, mr. majestyk, jackie brown), this novel shows respect to all of its characters. some are good people, some are scoundrels, some are clever, some are idiotic. but leonard takes the time to turn each one of them into something with at least a shred of humanity and complexity, regardless of whether or not they find redemption in the end.in doing so, he made me care about people who aren't particularly likeable by adding the occasional important detail, such as the mix of ethnic guilt and jealousy a hitman nick-named "the blackbird" feels when returning to the ojibway reservation he grew up on. the blackbird's contradictory feelings of shame and confidence add to the novel's considerable tension. by its conclusion, i wasn't sure i wanted the character's actions brought to justice, despite a considerable amount of time devoted to establishing him as a ruthless killer..killshot is an engrossing read, but it moves at a more gradual pace than your typical page-turner. the novel slowly evolves from a familiar family-on-the-run drama into an understated exploration of personal boundaries. carmen colson, the likeable, new-agey office worker at the heart of the story, is constantly having her intimacy and privacy invaded. by the novel's conclusion, she has endured a half-dozen instances where unwanted guests make their way into her home. some readers have expressed impatience or disappointment by these plot developments, which on the surface may seem redundant. these home invasions certainly prolong the inevitable stand-off at the novel's conclusion. but they also develop carmen's sense of alienation, reflect the broader complications she feels with her husband and, finally, cultivate her strength as a character. killshot isn't simply a gangster drama - it's also the tale of a 20-year marriage between two decent, blue-collar people. its conclusion simultaneously delivers the genre thrills i signed up for and completes its portrait of a troubled but powerful protagonist.(two sidenotes: 1. the italian version of this book pictured in the "other editions" sections of goodreads is really beautiful. i'd probably have read leonard long ago if it weren't for the ugliness of all his american book covers. 2. there are plenty of great film adaptations of leonard novels, but the film version of killshot isn't one of them. steer clear of it, unless you have a burning desire to see mickey rourke play a ponytailed, ojibway-french-canadian hitman.)
What do You think about Killshot (2003)?
I have been on a cheesy crime drama spree lately, reading a few Raymond Chandler books that were great. Marlowe! I read online that Killshot was Elmore's best book... so, I dove into the pool.I didn't enjoy Killshot very much. Here's the main plot line: Some bad guy calls a real estate office out of the blue and tells them he wants $10K or he's going to drive over and beat them up. (sigh) Nothing about Killshot feels very smart: the plot, the characters, or the writing. The narration is third person, so it is pretty lackluster. This is more like a 1 1/2 star book.It's hard to describe... I love the coolness of a Phillip Marlowe, but Wayne the ironworker in Killshot feels flat as a pancake. The bad guys are dumb too. This makes some sense. Elmore's books have made into movies I don't like including Get Shorty and Jackie Brown.QOTDHe wouldn't hit her. He had never hit a woman with his fist. Well, maybe once of twice, trying to find out if Kevin had been fucking her; but that was different, they were married.- KillshotNot worth it. Next!yow, bill
—Bill Krieger
My first Elmore Leonard; I'm not sure whether there will be any more, not because of Leonard's skill as a writer - he is terse, talented and has the incalculable gift of page turning - but rather because I'm not sure I particularly want to spend too much more time with assorted killers and lowlifes. The portrayal of said killers and lowlifes - a contract killer called Blackbird and a thrill killer called Richie Nix - is, I fear, all too accurate. Mark Shea is fond of saying that 'sin makes you stupid' and in these two, Leonard makes it all too clear how that happens: a gradual deadening of all sensibility, as they slowly shed their humanity and, in the end, become creatures far less than they were ever meant to be. The couple that they target for killing are well portrayed and it's one of the book's great strengths that it portrays working-class Americans so well. As an insight into a set of different worlds, it is excellent. So, if I ever decided I want to re-immerse myself in lowlife/working-class American culture, Leonard is the man I'll turn to!
—Edoardo Albert
Looking for an American mystery for next month's book club in a hurry because some other library is doing the book I had picked. (The nerve of them!) I rememberred loving this book and it is certainly wonderfully well written with Leonard's trademark spare prose, killer dialogue and gift for psychological insight into a wide range of characters, from the female ex prison guard who likes to date convicts and believes that Elvis is still alive to the sociopathic Native American hit man. But I didn
—Ariel
