Split Images

Snap! - the millionaire from Detroit who looks like a cheerleader rubs "his flat belly, tan and trim," while he tells the investigating cop Walter how he shot a Haitian who was supposedly coming at him with a machete in his Palm Beach back yard. Right away we are in the picture and we're hooked in order to see this narcissistic sociopath get what's coming to him. The smiling George Hamilton look-alike is dumb about details so he has to enlist Walter as chief dogsbody and cheering squad. Walter is a triggerhappy joy to behold, a Lawrence Welk fan who grew up in the Hamtramck area of Detroit -- his favorite pinup girl is Norma Zimmer, one of the Champagne girls on the Welk show. I wish I didn't remember that. Bryan, who joins the case later and eventually makes the collar, is also from Detroit. Bryan is laconic (somewhat like Spencer, Robert Parker's sleuth) but isn't burned out or addicted to the job (like Rankin's John Rebus or Connelly's Harry Bosch). When he goes on vacation he sits on the beach and reads National Geographics and drinks Jack Daniels. He's a perfect match for the just-turned-thirty writer Angela who has been scoping out Mr. Sociopath for an article about rich people. All the good guys have a sense of humor and the dialogue is great fun - especially when the cops are tweaking the criminals who don't know they're being laughed at. Leonard is the Hemingway of crime fiction -- his dialogue captures complex motivation in crisp photoshots. Nasty things happen, even to the wrong people, but Mr. Tan Belly does indeed get his comeuppance. A great read. I lived in South Florida during the eighties and Leonard brings it all back - the heat, the biting bugs in the scrub, the palmetto bugs...ahhhhhhh....

At the beginning of Split Images, two Detroit natives meet in Palm Beach after one of them has shot a Haitian burglar. Robbie Daniels is a multimillionaire industrialist fascinated by guns. Walter Kouza is a former Detroit cop with a well deserved reputation for being trigger happy. Walter is flattered that a rich guy is even interested in talking to a working stiff such as himself. So when Robbie offers Walter a job as his personal chauffeur he accepts the position without much hesitation. As it turns out, Robbie is really a psychopath who has been reading too many spy novels. He has come to think of himself as some sort of international assassin and believes that Walter's background in law enforcement will be helpful as he pursues his human quarry.The two other main characters in this darkly funny story are Bryan Hurd, a detective in Detroit Homocide and Angela Nolan, a freelance journalist. The two of them are on to Robbie's plan and work to foil him and Walter before the plan can be carried out. Bryan and Angela also become romantically involved with each other in a subplot very germane to the overall structure of the novel.Elmore Leonard is in top form here. The dialogue is realistic, funny and plentiful. The bad guys are believable enough to be interesting but unbelievable enough so you don't have to feel guilty when some of their murderous antics make you laugh. The action takes place in both Detroit and South Florida and Leonard pulls off the changes in locale with ease. The plot is developed in a very skillful manner and there is an unconventional ending which some might find shocking.I have to agree with the reviewer who said he didn't understand why Split Images isn't better known. This book is a prime example of why Elmore Leonard's reputation as a great writer is well deserved.

If there is a reader out there interested in trying Leonard for the first time, this is as good a place to start as any (from a numerous selection of good titles). Split Images is a great crime novel, and Elmore Leonard is so subtle in the way he writes, that I find myself reading along with what seems like a classic sort of hard boiled mystery only to realize slowly that I am reading something more than that. There have been a ton of hard school writers after him that adopted his nearly comic overtone, but none are as good. What would make this a good first entry into the world of Leonard is that this novel contains many elements that make it "Classic Leonard." First, it is set in Detroit. Mr. Leonard has moved around a lot in his writing, setting his novels in several areas, but Detroit will always remain his most fertile ground for a setting. I come from the Detroit area and suffice to say, Leonard nails it dead center in every respect. This is Detroit in all its aging industry and working-class struggle. His ability to describe the look and feel of Detroit is second to none, with the possible exception of Loren Estleman. Secondly, his characterization is terrific. In this novel, which is about a cop's pursuit of an unlikely team of thrill killers (one is a rich sociopath and the other is a ex-cop with a violent history), Leonard was at the top of his game. When describing Leonard's strengths, one word always comes up: dialogue. No one writes better dialogue. No one. Ever. You can nearly hear the character's voice as you read. He is so good at writing dialogue that the reader can nearly see the character speaking whether Leonard gives a physical description or not. Lastly, I can think of no other author that handles the male-female relationship with more grace and style than Leonard. The romance in this book is woven perfectly into the narrative thread so that the lover of action fiction (like me) doesn't find themselves hurrying through the mushy parts. Compare this to the Spenser books by Robert Parker, Where Spenser has a girlfriend names Susan. Lord have mercy on the poor reader when Spenser (Parker) starts yapping about or to Susan. All movement in the books stops stone cold dead while we, the reader, is so obviously meant to be impressed with the couples mature, adult relationship. All in all, Leonard is the best crime writer of the past thirty years - maybe forever.

I am at a loss to understand why this novel from Leonard does not get more attention. It is quite possibly one of his best. For one thing, it is not as formulaic (if that is a word) as some of his other novels. Sure, the 'hero' is cool, his love interest is likeable, the villain and his sidekick are real characters--all just like they are in Leonard's other novels, but they aren't the same characters. For one, the arch-bad guy is a millionaire with too much free time on his hands. Robbie Daniels has too much money and is obsessed with crime fiction (kind of like a lot of mystery fans) and the attempted assassination of President Reagan. He is not content to sit on the sidelines and read about murders anymore, he wants to get into the action.Daniels meets Walter Kouza, a police officer, after an attempted break in at his home. Daniels ends up shooting and slaying the perpetrator, then sits down to have a drink with Kouza. He asks Kouza an interesting question: If you could kill one slime ball, someone nobody in the world would miss, who would it be? Its one of many prepared lines that Daniels has at the ready, and it works. Kouza signs up to help Daniels carry out his fantasy crime.Kouza is a bit of a stereotypical character. He is an overzealous cop with a few too many shootings in the line of duty under his belt. He can't resist the offer Daniels makes to him, which includes an inflated salary, especially for a cop. Leonard probably does his best writing in this novel with Kouza, who has his act together just enough to be a somewhat successful cop, and a great side-kick for Daniels.The hero is Bryan Hurd. A detective with Homicide in Detroit. He enters the story as a witness in a wrongful death suit against Kouza in Detroit. At the hearing, he meets Angela Nolan, a freelance reporter. They hit off instantly, trading pickup lines and one liners, most of which make the reader want to groan. They do have several things in common, both are divorced and have a good idea what they want from a new relationship. One other thing, Nolan was working on a story about Daniels, and is Hurd's 'in' into the plot.This novel has a dark ending, and a bit of a twist, which I was not expecting. Having read two dozen novels by Leonard, there are certain plot elements that I have come to expect. Most were, and somewhat refreshingly, gone or changed. I genuinely felt bad for some of the characters at the end of the novel, and was happy to see others get their just deserts.Leonard fans that haven't picked this one up yet will find it refreshing. Those that haven't read anything by Leonard should enjoy it as well. If you are a crime fiction fan, this one is definitely for you.

A relatively early entry in Leonard's dedicated crime series, "Split Images" ranks near the top of the Leonard pantheon.Here he begins to solidify the types that appear again and again (although in far more grotesque forms) through his novels: The wealthy white guy with way too much time on his hands and criminal intent on his mind; the dual Detroit-Florida locales; the cops both corrupt and slightly shady. It's the first Leonard I've read and, in my opinion, one of his best, with a thoroughly appropriate and ironic resolution. You can't go wrong if you start your Leonard experience here. If all you've read are his more high profile works (Get Shorty, et al), read this to discover Leonard at his un-selfconscious peak.