Pronto

PRONTO by Elmore Leonard is a joyride of a story about Harry Arno, an over the hills Miami bookmaker. Harry plans to retire in Italy on money he skimmed from his corpulent mob boss, Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto. The feds want Jimmy Cap so they set up Harry to give information about Cap's activities by putting out the word about his skimming activities. An assassin is sent to get Harry but he's faster with a gun. In a final jab at the law, before he skips town, Harry gives the slip to U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens for the second time since they first met six years ago. In addition, "Zip", another mob affiliate, wants to take over Harry's action, so he tells Cap that he'll take out Harry in Italy. Consequently, Harry has so many people following him that the small village of Rapallo, Italy, becomes inundated with U. S. mobsters and federal agents plus Harry's old girlfriend, ex-stripper, Joyce. During all of these events, the sixty-six year old Harry starts drinking seriously again which causes the situation to deteriorate fast. Harry is in real danger of losing his life, as are several of the other players.Leonard wrote twenty-three books before being discovered by the bestseller market in l983, the year LA BRAVA was published and won the Edgar Award. In l953, his first novel, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS, was published, but the market for westerns began to dry up. Leonard is best known for his crime novels.All of the characters in PRONTO are drawn with clarity and colors so vivid the reader would know each one if he or she ran into them on the street. U. S. Marshal Raylan Givens is a fast-draw cowboy of the Old West variety. His cream cowboy hat bobbing aloft alerts readers to his entry in any combat zone. Though Raylan laments his inability to express himself emotionally, readers come to know him and root for his success where Harry is concerned. In addition, the inclusion of the Ezra Pound stories add more spice to the understanding of Harry and his reasons for retiring to Italy. How could anyone resist researching Pound's poetry after reading a line like: "Dinklage, where art thou, with, or without, your von?" (My dictionary says "von" is a German word that indicates nobility or place of origin.) It's a nonsensical and hilarious question. Never mind what Pound meant.PRONTO is snazzy. It's loaded with notable characters and an enticing plot. The passage where Gloria, Jimmy Caps girlfriend, tells Nick Testa about Jimmy Cap's reason for wanting to visit Butterfly World is funny. The same story is repeated later from Jimmy's viewpoint. It's still funny. But Leonard's prose might be a small problem for some readers. It reads like people talk and think at the same time. His use of the language as a tool for his stories is brilliant. However, high school sophomore English students should probably not read Leonard for a few years as many of them already use sentence fragments and run-ons without his genius.Leonard's novels are addicitive. Try GET SHORTY which was made i

This is one of the best Leonard's I have read. I can't understand the previous posts about this book (particularly the most recent one) For anyone who has the slightest comprehension/appreciation of crime/suspense fiction, just read the first chapter--one of the best openings to a crime novel I have ever read. Harry Arno is one of the great Leonard characters.

I guess it's broken record time, but Elmore Leonard is the man. I've never read anyone who can absolutely glue me to the page like he does. He begins with interesting scenes, all of course moved by the amazing dialogue. Then he enters even more characters you would expect to just fade away but later on become some of the most important characters of the book. And, the strange thing is, I never FEEL like I'm reading it. I feel like its happening, a little film in my mind, with the recovering alcholic Harry, the cool cowboy Raylan and the Zip. You'll understand what I mean when you read it. They become characters you know and love and enjoy and when the book is over you want to do nothing but read on about their adventures. If this one has a follow up, I'll be first in the line to the bookstore. It glued me to the page as usual, and by the time I was finished I couldn't put it down. Rest assured one of his coolest, easy-to-fly-through novels yet.

Spaghetti with a twist Just he kind of Leonard novel that reminds us why he's earnt a reputation for being the best crime fiction writer in the business. Pronto is a beautifully crafted modern day western which pits the laconic US Marshall Raylan Givens into a to the death struggle with imported Italian Mafiosi hitman 'The Zip'. The story focuses on Raylan's efforts to stop 'The Zip' taking fatal revenge on veteran Miami sports bookmaker Harry Arno. Harry has quietly been on the skim from 300lb Godfather, Jimmy 'The Cap' Capotorto to the tune of $1000 a week for the last 20 years. Made wise to Harry's scamming by the Feds, Jimmy sends Harry a message in the form of low-life hit man Earl Crowe. Harry gets his gun off first and despite the efforts of the Feds to get him to trade what he knows, doesn't wait around for another visit from the murderous 'Zip' . Harry skips his bond and the baby sitting Marshall Givens and makes a nostalgic dash for Rapallo, Italy. Holed up in a picarequse Italian resort Harry is soon pursued by his ex-stripper girlfriend Joyce, 'The Zip', gangster sidekick Nicky Testa and Givens looking to redeem himself for letting Harry skip, knowing that if he doesn't do something, Harry's ass is grass. 'The Zip' who struts his macho stuff back in his homeland and endlessly humiliates Stronzo Nicky demonstrates his penchant for violence with a cold bloodied murder. The inevitable show down back in Miami between Givens and 'The Zip' reeks of spaghetti western; ' you've got 24 hours to leave the County, or I will come after you with a gun'. Givens - the cowboy in the city - charms us with his laconic humour, gritty moral sentiments and his steely sense of justice. Pronto is an exhibition of superb narrative delivery, crackling dialogue; believable characters and curious inside information about the criminal world. The inevitability of the endgame matters little, as Leornard weaves another masterly crooked tale. Don't miss it. Copyright©1997POR

While browsing the other day I picked a copy of this smallish tome. What a great read . I loved the characters. I had watched Get Shorty several months ago and was not disappointed with The Zip, Jimmy Cap, the Texas Ranger, Harry Arno and his girl Joyce. I must confess I read Riding the Rap first and did not know it was a continuation of this novel. Leonard's use of plot, story lines and dialogue kept me entranced . I look forward to reading all this authors vast list of mystery gems