When The Heat Dies Down (24/52)

Keeping on keeping on with my Elmore Leonard run. Next up in the stash was Swag: A Novel. Oh, and let me digress for a moment: why is every novel subtitled ":A Novel" now? It sounds to me like "This door to remain unlocked during business hours." Yes, of course it's a novel! What else did you think it was? A guide to armed robbery? And you're going to sue the writer and/or publisher if you try this at home and end up getting arrested? Jeeeeez.

Alright, alright, getting off the soapbox. This one was good fun like just about every Leonard story I've read (although I haven't cared so much for his early Westerns). The copy I have noted on the cover that this novel was previously published under the name "Ryan's Rules". Ryan is one of the protagonists, a used-car salesman who decides to switch to armed robbery, because the money is better. And, he figures, if you follow a few simple rules, you're not likely to get caught.

Yeah.

I liked the dialogue (always pitch-perfect coming from Leonard), and I really enjoyed how law enforcement doesn't even show up in the story until the very end. I kept wondering how "safe" Ryan and his partner in crime really were with their rules, or if the cops were hot on their heels. But they didn't know, and neither, dear reader, do you. Great fun.